Internal Investigation of Interior Ministry Over Publication of School Shooter’s Hit List

Ana Brnabic, Bratislav Gasic, Belgrade , June 15 2023 (Photo: Serbian Government/ Pedja Vuckovic)

The Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched an in-house investigation to determine who is responsible for releasing the hit list associated with the May 3 shooting at Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School in Belgrade, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic announced on June 21.

Addressing the Serbian National Assembly during a session called to discuss the request for dismissing Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic, Brnabic stated that “the responsible parties will be held accountable” for the fact that Belgrade Police Chief Veselin Milic showed the press a list of intended victims handwritten by their schoolmate, the thirteen-year-old shooter.

Brnabic emphasized that the regime is not trying to avoid discussing Gasic’s responsibility in the mass murders in Belgrade and the Mladenovac area that took place in early May, but said that, in democratic countries, “the government proposes measures and the opposition proposes counter-measures.”

Unfortunately, Brnabic said, that is not what happens in Serbia. Instead, “the opposition only proposed measures for controlling the media market,” the prime minister explained.

According to her, given that President Aleksandar Vucic invited the opposition to sit down and talk “exactly 26 days ago,” there has been ample opportunity for a discussion, only “no one has yet answered the invitation.”

“How, then, do you want to resolve the situation or [your] demands, and how do you demonstrate your political responsibility?” Brnabic asked the opposition.