Serbia against Violence Protest Held in Belgrade

Protest in Belgrade, June 3 2023 (BETAPHOTO/AMIR HAMZAGIC)

Another Serbia against Violence protest took place in Belgrade on Sept. 2 with moderator Smiljan Banjac saying in front of the Ministry of Education that "all of society needs to stand" by inspectors Slobodan Milenkovic and Dusan Mitic, who he said "did their jobs honorably."

Banjac read a press release from the Tomanovic law office which included a statement by inspector Milenkovic that his life was threatened after being fired from his post in the Belgrade police narcotics department on orders of Serbian Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic, and called on the protesters for their "unreserved support" when he testified in the Jovanjica case before the Special Court on Sept. 6.

The protesters left stickers reading, "Next year in prison" depicting Aleksandar Vucic, Ana Brnabic, Zeljko Mitrovic, Dragan Vucicevic and Aleksandar Sapic in striped suits near the entrance to the building of the education and justice ministries. While speakers spoke, protesters occassionally chanted, "Resignations, then prison."

The protest concluded with a reading of demands. Citizens' protests in Belgrade, and later throughout the country were sparked after two mass shootings -- at the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in Belgrade on May 3 and in villages near Smederevo and Mladenovac. The demands voiced at the protests, which are being technical organized by part of the pro-European opposition, include revoking national coverage for the Pink and Happy TV stations and shutting down tabloids that promote hate speech and violence.

The protesters also want the dismissal of Serbian Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic, Security and Information Agency director Aleksandar Vulin, and the managements of the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation and the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media.