Tens of thousands of protesters blocked a Belgrade highway on Friday to demand the resignation of senior officials and the regulation of violent content in the media following two mass shootings. It's the second time people have taken to the streets in large numbers this week after the shootings that swept terror in the small Balkan country last week.
Several opposition parties, ranging from left to right, called for the demonstration after the killing of 17 people, including eight students in Belgrade, in two shootings that occurred within 48 hours of each other. "I felt the need to come here for my children and because I want to live in a non-violent Serbia," Zdravko Jankovic, a 48-year-old activist, told AFP.
'Mourning of the nation'
Protesters are demanding the revocation of the licenses of TV stations that broadcast violent broadcasts, as well as the banning of pro-government newspapers that inflame tensions with what they deem vulgar articles about dissenting voices.
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The demonstrators are also demanding the resignation of the Serbian interior minister and the head of the intelligence services and calling on the parliament to meet in extraordinary session to discuss the authorities' reaction to the shootings. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic calls the protests a "political" coup. "They plan their demonstrations during the mourning of the nation for the sole purpose of violence and the violent seizure of power," he said on television.
The Head of State announced a demonstration of his support for 26th May which in his opinion will be "the largest gathering in Serbian history". After the killings, the Serbian president promised a plan to disarm the population on a large scale. According to the Small Arms Survey (SAS) research project, 39% of Serbian residents own a firearm, the highest rate in Europe.