According to media reports, tens of thousands of people again demonstrated against violence in Serbia. In Belgrade, it was the eighth consecutive protest and people took to the streets in at least eight other cities on Saturday. The demonstrations were triggered by two killings in May in which 18 people were killed.
Citizens’ anger at the protests continued to be directed at President Aleksandar Vucic, the government and the tabloids he controls, which critics say incite hatred and glorify violence.
In Belgrade, protesters temporarily blocked the city’s highway. Other demonstrations took place in the main cities of Novi Sad, Nis and Kragujevac, and in the smaller cities of Kraljevo, Subotica, Vranje, Sabac and Leskovac. Leftist and liberal opposition parties and civil movements called for the demonstration.
The two unconnected but temporarily close attacks deeply shook Serbian society: a 13-year-old boy shot nine classmates and a security guard at a Belgrade school in early May. A day later, a 21-year-old man shot at people in a village near Belgrade, killing eight of them.