After two massacres last week, tens of thousands of people demonstrated against violence in Belgrade today. The participants of the rally gathered in the Serbian capital in front of the parliament and moved via the city highway to the suburb of New Belgrade, as reported by the media.
Among other things, they called for the closure of private television stations that whitewashed violence and mafia crime and made propaganda for President Aleksandar Vucic’s government.
Liberal and left-wing opposition parties and civil movements called for the protest. The triggers were two acts of violence that are not directly related.
17 dead within two days
On Wednesday last week, a 13-year-old student shot dead eight classmates and a security guard in a Belgrade school. A day later, a 21-year-old shot at people in a village near Belgrade, killing eight of them.
In the run-up to the demonstration, the police had declared that blocking the Belgrade city highway would be against the law. However, she did not intervene when the demonstration brought traffic to a standstill. The rally was peaceful.