Europe

Tens of thousands gather in anti-government protest in Serbia

Demonstration marks one month since two school shootings amid public concern at culture of violence

A Serbia flag is held as thousands of protesters march in Belgrade at a rally to call for the resignation of top officials and curtailing violence in the media, after two mass shootings a month ago that killed 18 people. Photograph: Andrej Isakovic/AFP
A Serbia flag is held as thousands of protesters march in Belgrade at a rally to call for the resignation of top officials and curtailing violence in the media, after two mass shootings a month ago that killed 18 people. Photograph: Andrej Isakovic/AFP
Sat Jun 03 2023 - 21:09

Tens of thousands of Serbs joined an anti-government protest in Belgrade on Saturday, blaming a culture of violence for the deaths of 18 people in two mass shootings and calling on the interior minister to resign.

The protest marked the one-month anniversary of the country’s first school shooting on May 3rd, when a teenager killed 10 in an elementary school. In the second shooting on May 4th, a 21-year-old man killed eight in a town outside Belgrade.

In response to the shootings, the government announced school summer holidays would start on June 6th, two weeks earlier than planned.

Opposition parties which organised the protest – the fifth in the space of a month – say the government of President Aleksandra Vucic has failed to tackle the promotion of violence in the media and allowed it to permeate society.

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Recent Serbian reality TV shows have featured convicted criminals, including murderers, and shown men beating up women.

Protesters on Saturday shouted “Vucic leave” and held up banners with the slogan “Serbia against violence”.

Nenad Hadzi Maricic, an actor who was the main speaker at the event, voiced the protesters’ demands which include the dismissal of interior minister Bratislav Gasic and secret service chief Aleksandar Vulin as well as the immediate halt of all TV programmes that promote violence.

Mr Vucic denies the allegations and says the government needs to be challenged in an election. Pink TV has pledged to stop airing a reality show which features a man convicted of murder from next week.

“We must remain persistent in our demands,” Aleksandar Saran, one of the protesters told Reuters. “Our demands are not abstract, we just want to live in a healthy environment.” – (Reuters)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023