Mtens of thousands of people have again protested against gun violence in the Serbian capital of Belgrade more than two weeks after gun attacks that killed 18 people. The demonstrators initially blocked two important bridges in the city, but leading opposition politicians later called on them to remain on the streets until their demands were met. At the third demonstration under the motto “Serbia against violence” the participants again demanded the resignation of high-ranking politicians and an end to the glorification of violence in the Serbian media.
Among other things, the demonstrators are demanding that the government revoke the broadcasting licenses of television stations that disseminate violent content and ban pro-government newspapers that fuel tensions by inciting hatred against political dissidents. They are also insisting on the resignation of the interior minister and the head of the secret service.
The protests are already among the largest since the mass demonstrations that led to the resignation of then ruler Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.
Government condemns protests
Representatives of President Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party denounced the protests as “politicizing” the bloody attacks aimed at attacking Vucic. Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, who is closely allied with Vucic, accused “foreign secret services” of stirring up unrest in order to destabilize Serbia.
The president himself had announced a large-scale “disarmament campaign” after the deadly attacks. He himself announced a demonstration for the coming week, which he says will be the “largest gathering in Serbian history”.
In the first of the two gun attacks, a student shot dead eight children and a security guard with his father’s gun in a Belgrade school in early May. One girl died on Tuesday, almost two weeks after the attack. Less than 48 hours after the bloody crime at school, a 21-year-old killed eight people in several villages near Belgrade. Education Minister Branko Ruzic then resigned.
According to government information, more than 760,000 firearms are registered in the country of 6.8 million people. According to the Small Arms Survey (SAS) research project, 39 percent of the population owns a gun – in no other European country is the proportion so high.
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