Tens of thousands of people marched on June 9 in another anti-government protest in Belgrade criticizing the government’s response to two mass shootings last month in which 18 people died.
The protesters called for the resignation of President Aleksandar Vucic and stuck messages to the door of the government building, including one that said, “Enough is enough.”
Cardboard figures depicting Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic in black-and-white striped prison suits were also left in front of the government building.
The march was the sixth “Serbia against violence” protest since the first shooting on May 3, and, like the others, blamed a culture of violence for the shootings. The key demand of the protesters is “stopping the promotion of violence in public space.”
Actor Milan Maric addressed the crowd, saying that while the victims’ lives cannot be returned, “we can make sure that this doesn’t happen again. We want Serbia without violence, Serbia with hope.”
Serbia was rocked by unprecedented back-to-back mass shootings last month. The May 3 shooting was at a school in Belgrade and claimed 10 lives. A teenage boy who attended the school was arrested at the scene. The second mass shooting occurred the following day and left eight people dead. A 21-year-old man was arrested in that shooting.
In addition to calling for Vucic to resign, the protesters demanded the resignation of Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic and security agency chief Aleksandar Vulin, whom they blame for failing to bring criminal groups to justice.
Vucic previously rejected the dismissal of Gasic but did not comment on Vulin.
The protesters also want the withdrawal of national broadcast licenses for television channels Pink TV and Happy TV and a ban on some tabloids they blame for promoting violence. A change of the management of the Radio Television of Serbia was also mentioned as a demand.
The protesters vowed to start “new actions” if their demands are not met by the end of next week.
Brnabic on June 7 said the protesters’ demands were political. She offered to resign but also invited the opposition parties — which have backed the protests — to take part in dialogue.
Protest leaders have said that they will not speak with the government until all their demands are met.
Vucic said on June 7 that it was clear that there would be extraordinary parliamentary elections and that it was only a matter of choosing the month they will be held. Early elections, however, are not on among the protesters’ demands.
Vucic told Reuters on June 9 that his government was not at fault.
“Is the government to blame for crimes that happened? I cannot accept that.”
With reporting by Reuters and AP
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-anti- government-protests-vucic/32452624.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2023/06/mil-230609-rferl02.htm
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