In Belgrade, the biggest protest against violence so far

GG/STA

19. 5. 2023, 22.02

Updated: May 19, 2023, 10:05 p.m

At the beginning of the protest under the slogan Serbia against violence, in the afternoon, those gathered in front of the assembly were called to walk to the Gazela bridge and the Branko bridge, because their demands were not met, Serbian media reported. Deputies ended the second day of the session dedicated to the discussion of the security situation after the recent two deadly attacks in which a 13-year-old and a 20-year-old killed a total of 18 people, as well as several demands of the opposition, today before the start of the protest. The session will continue on Tuesday.

She addressed the gathering Jelena Mihailović, a mother from a small town, who reiterated the demands of the opposition, such as the replacement of all members of the media regulation board, the abolition of reality programs and shows that promote violence, as well as print media that promote violence. They are also demanding the removal of the interior minister Bratislava Gašića and the director of the security intelligence agency Bia Aleksandra Vulina and acceptance of the resignation of the Minister of Education Branko Ružić. They also demand the withdrawal of national frequencies from the pro-government commercial television stations Pink and Happy.

Mihailović expressed their readiness to block Serbia because “Serbia must stop so that they leave”. After her speech, the President of Serbia is gathered Aleksandar Vučić called for resignation. Those gathered carry the signs “Put everything down!”, “Serbia against the darkness” and “Young people do not want the reality of Serbia, young people want change”.

The column of protesters then went towards the Gazela bridge and blocked the highway in the direction of Zagreb and Niš. The crowd of protesters is so large that not all of them could reach the bridge, as the main column of protesters is joined by people from side streets, reports the Serbian portal N1. On the video clips of the portal, you can see an impenetrable crowd of protesters. The protesters left the bridge towards New Belgrade. Several opposition MPs and politicians also took part in the protest.

The anti-violence protests are organized by the pro-European opposition after two shooting attacks that shook the country. In an attack on May 3, a 13-year-old student killed nine students and a security guard at his Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in Belgrade. A day later, a 20-year-old man killed eight people, mostly young people, in three villages near Mladenovac. Before today, the Road to Violence protests were also held on Monday, May 8, and Friday, May 12. In the past few days, among others, farmers, employees of a psychiatric clinic and workers of Elektroprivreda Srbije protested, according to N1 Serbia.

Meanwhile, this afternoon Vučić addressed the participants of the gathering of his Serbian Progressive Party in Pančevo. He assured them that he will not surrender, no matter what pressure they put on him, because Serbia is the most important.