Antigovernmental Protests in Serbia Warned Radicalisation

In Belgrade on June 17th, the seventh protest with the motto “Serbia against violence” has been held. During the rally in the Serbian capital, it was warned that the protests would be radicalised by next week if the protesters' demands are not met, writes the REL.

After the organizers gave talks, protesters began marching along a highway, where traffic closed until 9: 00 a.m.

Protests have also been held in Novi Sad, Nis and Kraguyevc.

Protests began after two mass killings shook Serbia at the beginning of May. Protesters are demanding the dismissal of the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Security and Information Agency, but members of the Electronic Media Regulatory and the leadership of Serbia's Public Service.

Protesters are also demanding the closure of images that spread violence and take national frequencies on television promoting violence through their programmes.

Smiljan Banjaq, a journalist on a radio who participated in the protest in Belgrade, said citizens naively believed “that a terrible tragedy would turn us on”, but instead they were only offended.

If requirements are not met, we will take more concrete action in the next protest”, he said.

He said that next time, except for Belgrade, Nis and Novi Sad, ten more cities will be blocked.

“O violence will stop, or Serbia will stop”, he stressed, broadcast the REL.

Pavle Cicvaric, a student at the University of Belgrade, said previous generations in the years of dealt with the regime that had promoted violence.

They succeeded, and now it's up to us to break down the same regime. The students will no longer remain silent and act on any injustices that will become”, he said.

These protests in Serbia have started a month ago, and they are being called by parliamentary groups in opposition, such as the People's Party, the Democratic Party and the Left Green coalition. However, opposition parties have said protests are not political.

Meanwhile, at the request of 61 deputies in Serbia's Parliament, it has started discussing the dismissal of Interior Minister Bratislava Gashic. Serbian Prime Minister Anna Brnabiq also attended the session, which said that “absolutely” will not propose Gashi's dismissal. According to her, he is doing the job responsibly and seriously.

Parliamentary debate on this issue will continue on 21 June. The Serbian government has accused the opposition of “politicising the tragedy”.