The background of the protests is the mass shootings that took place last week.
Tens of thousands of Serbians demonstrated in the country’s capital Belgrade on Friday, demanding better security in the country, limiting violence in the media and the resignation of key officials.
It was already the second “Serbia against violence” demonstration organized within a week. There have been similar ones in other Serbian cities as well.
The background of the protests are two mass shootings that took place last week, in which a total of 17 people died.
Demonstrators marching behind a black “Serbia against violence” banner blocked Belgrade’s main street and a highway intersection and a bridge over the Sava River on Friday.
– I felt the need to come here because of my children and because I want to live in a non-violent Serbia, activist Zdravko Jankovic said news agency AFP.
The protesters, mainly composed of opposition supporters, want the government to revoke the broadcast licenses of television channels that show violent content and demand that pro-government newspapers that incite tension against political dissidents be banned. They accuse them of spreading violent and vulgar content. The protesters have also demanded the resignation of the country’s interior minister and the head of the intelligence service.
The opposition parties blame the president Aleksandar Vučić and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party for corruption, repression of the media, violence against political opponents, and ties to organized crime.
President Vučić has denied the accusations. He accuses the opposition of “playing with people’s emotions” and considers the demonstrations a “political stunt”.
– They scheduled their political demonstrations to coincide with the national mourning period. Their only purpose was violence and a violent coup, the president said in a television interview.
He has announced that he will organize a demonstration for his supporters on May 26.
According to the Small Arms Survey research group, around 39 people out of 100 own guns in Serbia. Private individuals also have a lot of military weapons from the 1990s, following the breakup wars of Yugoslavia. However, mass shootings are rare in the country.
On Monday, the Serbian police started a month-long campaign, during which illegal weapons can be handed over to the authorities without penalty.
AFP-Reuters