Serbia’s Opposition Parties Call for Protest Following Mass Shootings

After two mass shootings last week that took 17 lives and injured another 20 people, Serbia's opposition has called for a protest on Monday May 8, called "Serbia against violence" with several demands, including bans of reality shows and tabloids spreading lies and violence, and sackings of politicians and heads of the media regulatory body, REM.

At the beginning of the rally, the demands will be read out, after which the protesters will head in silence to the building of the government of Serbia, without speeches of politicians and "with the greatest respect and sympathy for the pain we all feel due to these unprecedented tragedies", the official announcement said.

Last Wednesday, a 13-year-old school pupil shot dead eight other pupils and a security worker in a Belgrade school, injuring six other pupils and a history teacher.

On Thursday night, a 21-year-old killed eight people and wounded 13 people in several villages in the municipality of Mladenovac, near Belgrade.

The opposition demands the "urgent stopping of further promotion of violence in the media and public space", removal of the Council of the Regulatory body for Electronic Media, REM, a shutdown of print media and tabloids that promote hatred and violence and continuously violate the journalistic code, confiscation of national TV frequencies that promote violence, such as Pink TV and Happy TV, and "immediate cancellation of programs that promote violence, immorality and aggression on television with a national frequency, such as reality shows".

They also ask for the dismissals of the Minister of Interior, Bratislav Gasic and the director of the State Security Agency, BIA, Aleksandar Vulin.

Education Minister Branko Ruzic already submitted his resignation on...