'Vucic out': Serbian protesters keep heat on government

Serbians carried life-size images of top government politicians in jail jumpsuits on Saturday, marking the seventh week of countrywide demonstrations following two deadly murders.

Tens of thousands of protestors stopped a key highway in Belgrade, demanding that government authorities be held accountable for allowing a culture of violence that they blamed for the deaths of 18 people on 3 May and 4 May.

Marchers also stopped streets in Novi Sad in the north, Nis in the south, and Kragujevac in central Serbia in the first such coordinated acts of the protest campaign.

“Vucic out!” chanted the crowd in Belgrade, referring to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, as his likeness was paraded alongside that of Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and other prominent figures in black-and-white jail garb.

The protesters also demanded the resignation of Serbia’s interior minister Bratislav Gasic and secret service chief Aleksandar Vulin whom they blame for failing to stop gangs.

Accusing media of promoting violence, they also want the withdrawal of broadcast licences for television channels Pink TV and Happy TV and a ban on some tabloids.

“Time works in our favour and however long it takes we’ll persevere and in the end accomplish our goals,” said one protester, economist Vladimir Savic. “They (the government) sow poison and fear throughout Serbia.”

Vucic, whose party has been in power since 2012, had said he would agree to test his popularity in snap polls this year but the opposition says protests demands should be met first and the media given greater freedom.

Brnabic said last week she was willing to resign and invited opposition parties, who have backed the protests, for dialogue. But protest leaders have said they will not speak with the government until their demands are met.

Serbia has a deeply entrenched gun culture, and along with the rest of the Western Balkans is awash with military-grade weapons and ordnance in private hands after the wars of the 1990s that tore apart the former Yugoslavia.

However, mass shootings were rare until last month.

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