Serbs again rally over shootings

BELGRADE, Serbia — Tens of thousands of people rallied Saturday in Serbia’s capital for a fifth time in a month in response to two mass shootings that shook the nation, even as the country’s populist president rejected any responsibility for the crisis and ignored the protesters’ demands to step down.

The crowd, chanting slogans against President Aleksandar Vucic, marched through the capital, Belgrade, to gather in front of his downtown headquarters. They released a large balloon with the inscription “Vucic Go Away.”

University students led the march, holding a banner that read “Serbia against violence!”

Independent journalists covering the march saw rightwing groups infiltrating the march to promote their nationalist agenda. Analysts say some of these groups have close ties to Serbia’s security service.

There were reports of ultranationalist supporters attacking a foreign journalist with a baton. Some of the attackers had T-shirts with the Russian Z inscription, a symbol of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

As daylight faded, participants lit up their cellphones, holding them aloft as they marched through a central Belgrade street and past the presidency building, many blowing whistles and called for Vucic’s resignation.

Protesters left hundreds of messages for Vucic written on pieces of paper by the presidency, many of them calling on him to resign.

A new protest is planned for this week.

The opposition has accused Vucic of fueling intolerance and hate speech during his increasingly autocratic rule, while illegally seizing control of all state institutions. Vucic has denied this, claiming the opposition groups want him toppled by force.

“They just need to know that dead or alive, including my children, I will fight against those who support violence,” Vucic told a pro-government TV station.