cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/9685269

The management of the factory has previously faced accusations of forced laobur and inhumane working conditions.

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Opposition parties in [Serbia's] Zrenjanin City Assembly announced that the tragedy that occurred last night at the Chinese Linglong tire factory in Zrenjanin, when a 20-year-old worker died, is "another picture of the catastrophic state of safety and working conditions," reports the Beta agency.

"When organizations and opposition parties warned of numerous shortcomings and illegalities in the functioning of Linglong, Aleksandar Vučić's regime claimed that these were lies. When the competent institutions of the USA and France banned the import of tires from this factory due to slave and forced labor, as well as the poor conditions in which workers work, Aleksandar Vučić's regime turned a blind eye," they stated in a press release.

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They added that the regime in Serbia "allowed the Chinese to turn a factory on Serbian soil into a territory where domestic laws do not apply and all previous workplace injuries are concealed from the public."

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They also asked Mayor Sima Salapuri if he would now apologize to the citizens because, as they stated, he had previously laughed at all the criticism directed at occupational safety in Linglong.

The statement was signed by the Democratic Party, the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina - Vojvođani, the People's Movement of Serbia, Serbia Center, and the Movement of Free Citizens.

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Democratic Party leader Srdjan Milivojevic has called Linglong a symbol of Vucic's using Serbia as a means of trading.

"It is yet more proof that the price of Vucic's trading the state is no longer paid only with polluted soil, sold out resources and humiliation of Serbia, but also with human lives," Milivojevic stressed.

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Previously, in 2024, the German company MAN Truck & Bus, part of the Traton Group, which is owned by the German automobile giant Volkswagen, terminated the contract on the supply of tires from the factory of the Chinese company Linglong in Zrenjanin due to allegations of human rights violations during the construction of the factory, BIRN and the German Manager Magazine revealed.

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In 2025, following reports of labour exploitation at the Linglong factory in Zrenjanin, US Customs said it was halting all shipments of its tyres from Serbia.

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