New “Serbia Against Violence” protest held in Belgrade

N1

The second “Serbia Against Violence” protest, organized by several opposition parties, was held Friday in Belgrade.

The first Belgrade anti-violence protest was held on Monday, May 8, following last week’s two mass shootings in Serbia that claimed the lives of 17 people. Similar protests were held in a number of Serbian cities over the past few days.

The protesters assembled Friday outside the Serbian Parliament building where they read out their demands and then marched in silence through the city to the Gazela Brigde, which they temporarily blocked.

Just like on May 8, there were no party symbols at the protest and the march was led by citizens carrying a banner that read “Serbia Against Violence.”

Representative of the Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)own movement Radomir Lazovic said that the big turnout proves that people have realized it is important for Serbia to be a violence-free country.

The protesters’ demands include an urgent end to the further promotion of violence in the media and public space, including the dismissal of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) Council members.

They also ask for a shutdown of print media and tabloids that promote hatred and violence and continuously violate the journalists’ code of ethics, as well as the revoking of national broadcasting licenses of television stations that promote violence, such as Pink TV and Happy TV.

They demand “the cancellation of programs that promote violence, immorality and aggression on televisions with a national frequency, such as reality shows.”

Also requested in the resignation of Education Minister Branko Ruzic (who has resigned), Internal Affairs Minister Bratislav Gasic and Security Information Agency (BIA) director Aleksandar Vulin.

The protest organizers issued a statement saying that the resignation of the Education Minister proves that the government only reacts to pressure by the people and that it is necessary to persevere until all demands are met.

They also demanded a Parliament session to discuss the responsibility of the Serbian Government and the security situation in the country as well as long-term solutions that must be implemented so that such (tragic) events never happen again.

Opposition MP Srdjan Milivojevic told N1 earlier on Friday that Serbian Parliament speaker Vladimir Orlic offered that the Parliament session to discuss the security situation in the country be held on Thursday, May 18.

The session requested by the opposition should also address the issue of the dismissal of Internal Affairs Minister Bratislav Gasic and that of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) Council members.

Deputy leader of the opposition People’s Party Miroslav Aleksic told N1 that the protests will continue until the last demand of the protesters is met.

“We will not stop until we secure a violence-free Serbia,” said Aleksic, adding that the protests are a struggle for a normal country and that “we must not allow them to insult us, as if such a huge tragedy never happened, a tragedy that should be a big warning to everyone in Serbia and a big slap in the face.”