Serbia: Thousands protest violence after two shootings

Slogan: “Serbia against violence.” Tens of thousands of people marched this Monday evening in Belgrade to demand the resignation of political leaders and against media propaganda for violence, days after two shootings that killed 17 people, including at a school.

The demonstrators gathered in front of parliament at the call of several opposition parties from the left and right. “We are here because we cannot wait any longer. We have waited too long, we have been silent for too long, we have turned away too long,” Marina Vidojevic, a Serbian language teacher at an elementary school, told the crowd. “We want safe schools, streets, villages and cities for all children,” she added before the demonstrators walked off towards the government headquarters.

In their call for a demonstration broadcast by the left-wing Ne da (vi) mo Belgrade (Let’s not drown Belgrade) party, the opposition parties demand an “immediate cessation of propaganda of violence in the media and in public space (…) and the resignation” of political leaders , in particular the Minister of the Interior and the head of the special services, accused of inaction.

Reality programs in the viewfinder

Initially, one of the demands was the departure of Education Minister Branko Ruzic, but the latter resigned on Sunday, expressing his condolences to the families of the victims of the “catastrophic tragedy”.

The opposition is also calling for a crackdown on reality TV programs that “promote violence, immorality and aggressiveness” and the closure of pro-government newspapers they accuse of spreading “false information” to harm political opponents.

“This climate was created by the (current) system, specifically first man lies at the heart of this Serbian affliction,” said Radovan Bojcic, a 67-year-old pensioner, referring to President Aleksandar Vucic, whose demonstrators also demanded his departure.

disarmament plan

Several leaders of the Serbian Progress Party (SNS, conservatives) Vučić accused the opposition of “politicizing” the two assassinations in order to attack the head of state and government.

Serbia was shocked by two shootings last week in less than 48 hours. In the first case, a 13-year-old student opened fire at a school in Belgrade on Wednesday, killing eight classmates and a security guard. Then on Thursday, a 21-year-old young man killed eight people with a machine gun in two villages south of Belgrade.

After these shootings, the President of Serbia promised to launch a massive disarmament plan. According to the Small Arms Survey (SAS) research project, 39% of Serbian residents own a firearm, the highest rate in Europe.