“Tens of Thousands Protest Against Violence in Belgrade Following Two Shootings”

Tens of thousands of people have once again taken to the streets in the Serbian capital Belgrade to protest against violence. Protesters also took to the streets last Monday after two shootings claimed a total of seventeen lives last week.

The demonstrators demand, among other things, that there be a restriction of violent images in the media. Some of the people are also demanding the resignation of ministers. The minister of education already resigned on Sunday, but the demonstrators want more to leave.

A group blocked a major street and a traffic junction in the capital, among other things. Activists also walked across a bridge and carried a banner reading “Serbia against violence”.

The two bloody shootings shocked the country last week. A 13-year-old student killed eight children and a security guard in an attack on a primary school. A day later, eight people were killed in a shooting following an argument in a schoolyard in a village south of the capital.

Opposition parties in the country have been dissatisfied with President Vucic and his party SNS for some time now. They accuse him and his party of autocracy, media suppression, violence against political opponents, corruption and links to organized crime.

Vucic denies the allegations and today accused the opposition of “playing with people’s emotions”. He called on his supporters to hold a large counter-protest on May 26.