A crowd of about 1,000 people gathered in the southern Serbian town of Vranje in a show of support for President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday.

The Infovranjske news portal said that the crowd consisted of Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) members, workers from the Simpo and Jumko plants and local public sector staff, adding that they carried banners saying Election Results Against Snipers.  

Vucic’s SNS has organized several similar gatherings in other towns following the publication of a photograph of the president standing in front of the barrel of a sniper rifle at an arms fair on the cover of Belgrade weekly NIN which was fiercely attacked by members of the ruling coalition who claimed that it was an invitation to assassinate the president. NIN reprinted the issue with a blank front page.  

None of the local SNS officials spoke to the media about the gathering.  

The SNS has been known to organize large gatherings by bussing in people from across Serbia. There have been claims that people have been forced to attend those gatherings.