The tenth Belgrade protest "Serbia against violence" ended tonight in front of the Police Department for the City of Belgrade, from where it was invited to the next gathering on Tuesday, July 11 in front of the Special Court, where inspector Dušan Mitić should continue testifying in the case of Jovanjic.
The final destination of today's protest, which began at 19 p.m. in front of the House of National Assembly, was the Police Department in order to show support for inspectors Dušan Mitić and Slobodan Milenković, responsible for the prosecution of the Jovanjic case, the estate where the marijuana plantation was found.
In front of the entrance to the administration building, there were only a few policemen, about thirty meters away from the protest participants, and they were separated by the fence surrounding the Police Administration.
Large pictures of Interior Minister Bratislava Gašić and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić were projected on the wall of the Police Administration building, while their statements were broadcast over the public address system, mostly Gašić's in which he explained his communication with Predrag Koluvija, accused as the owner of the Jovanijca marijuana plantation.
Protesters were invited to turn on the lights of their mobile phones, which they did in large numbers with the message "We are the light, they are the darkness".
A group of students, undisturbed by the police, placed a box not far from the building containing, as they explained to the Beta agency reporter, "grass", with the inscription "Under the protection of the state" and "Jovanjica".
The crowd chanted "Kaća, Kaća!", in support of the police officer Katarina Petrović, and occasionally shouted "Vučić, go away!" and "There are enough of us!".
Banners leading the column were carried by students, and the song "Count on us" was broadcast over the public address system.
The "Serbia against violence" protest in Belgrade began with a minute of silence for the recently deceased guard of the Serbian military cemetery Zejtinlik in Thessaloniki, Đorđe Mihailović, and for several people killed in Belgrade during the previous week.
The protestors headed along Takovska Street from the House of the National Assembly to the Radio-Television of Serbia (RTS) building, from where they will continue to the Police Department for the City of Belgrade in Despot Stefana Boulevard.
The participants of tonight's procession stopped in front of the RTS building loudly protesting and chanting "Resignation, resignation!", on the way to the building of the Police Administration for the City of Belgrade, which is the goal of today's civil protest.
At the head of the column, the participants, mostly students, carry large banners "Serbia against violence" and "Students against violence".
Participants of the protest also chanted "Vučić, go away!" and "You'll give Gasic!".
As previously announced, the goal of today's protest is to support Belgrade inspectors Slobodan Milenković and Dušan Mitić, who discovered marijuana on the Jovanjic estate.
Host and commentator Smiljan Banjac said from an improvised stage on a truck in front of the House of the National Assembly of Serbia that they want to send a message from today's rally that the citizens of Serbia are with inspectors Milenkovic and Mitić.
"It is devastating that we citizens have to stand up for the protection of police officers, just because they want to do their job honorably. It is the duty of all of us, because Milenkovic and Mitić, as well as the police officer from Valjevo, Katarina Petrović, worked in the public interest to protect us "Only with such people can we hope for a Serbia without violence," said Banjac.
He called on citizens on Tuesday at 9:XNUMX a.m. in front of the Special Court to support Inspector Mitic, who continues to testify in the case of Jovanjic.
Activist from Majdanpek, Vladimir Božić, said that last year he and the activists defended Mount Starica from the blasting of the "Zidjin" company, but that they lived to be detained.
He said that all protesting citizens must be ready for the kind of sacrifice that activists across Serbia are making - whistleblowers, professors, students, journalists, as well as individuals "that no one has ever heard of".
"They will threaten you, your families, that will be done by some non-humans who will later be referred to as unknown persons in all prosecution files," Božić said.
According to him, this is possible if all citizens unite, overcome all differences and share together.
"Let's start by bringing out the corrupt individuals of this system, one by one, into the light of day," said the activist from Majdanpek.
Faculty of Political Sciences student Anđela Radosavljević spoke about the "targeting" of student Pavle Cicvarić and his family by the authorities because of his address at a protest a few weeks ago.
"They reminded us what we are fighting for, which is to stop all violence," said Radosavljević and added that everyone who is speaking now knows what they have to be ready for.
She said that young people will never again accept that they have to be silent, not to vote and not to be interested in politics.
"I don't want a country where citizens live in fear, where they don't have freedom of speech, where those who fight for a better country are called hyenas and vultures and where, if you feed dogs, kittens or goldfish, you have no right, you should be ashamed in the words of one minister. Why are you peeking into someone else's yard and not yours? Your yard should be this country and its citizens," said the student about the minister.
She stated that the minister's words were not misinterpreted and that they do not forgive him for what he said.
Before the speech, as at all previous protests, the composition "Emotions", written by the student Andrija Čikić, one of those killed in the Belgrade Elementary School "Vladislav Ribnikar" at the beginning of May, was broadcast over the public address system.
After the speech, a protest march is planned to the Police Department for the City of Belgrade in Bulevar despot Stefana, so that the citizens, as announced by the organizers, would support the honorable police officers, and especially the two inspectors who discovered marijuana on the Jovanjica agricultural estate, and who are due to testify next Sunday on trial.
It was announced that the motorcade will briefly stop in front of the Radio-television of Serbia (RTS) in Takovska Street, where the request for the dismissal of the management of the public media service will be repeated.
The "Serbia against violence" protests began after the mass murders on May 3 and 4 in the Belgrade Elementary School "Vladislav Ribnikar" and the villages around Mladenovac and Smederevo, where a total of 19 people were killed.
The technical organizers of the protest are the opposition parliamentary groups United, the Democratic Party, the People's Party, Moramo-Zajedno and the Green-Left Club, but they stress that the protest is not partisan.
Protests this Sunday, as the organizers said, are being held in about thirty cities and municipalities across Serbia.
Tonight, participants of the tenth protest "Serbia against violence" gathered in front of the House of the National Assembly of Serbia in Belgrade, and the road was blocked around Nikola Pašić Square shortly before 19.00:XNUMX p.m.
Those gathered and those who kept arriving carried the banners "Violence is when RTS lies", "Violence is when you persecute honest policemen", "The biggest violence in our society is Aleksandar Vučić and SNS", and whistles and vuvuzelas are heard.
A large banner "Students against violence" was also brought.
Across the street from the Parliament, in the Pionirski Park that separates it from the Presidency building, a small exhibition was set up with a dozen pictures of Interior Minister Bratislava Gašić and President Aleksandar Vučić, with quotes from their statements.
In the picture of Gašić, among others, there is his quote "Jedna zednica je persuka bila", which refers to his communication with Predrag Koluvija, who is accused of being the owner of the largest marijuana plantation in Serbia, on the Jovanjica estate.
At the end of the picture of Vučić is his statement "Gašić is my extremely loyal friend".
The exhibition was organized by students who brought banners "10 for courage", "Students don't keep quiet" and "We will pass this exam".
The organizers announced that today the participants of the "Protest against violence" will go in a procession to the Police Department for the City of Belgrade, and on the way they will stop for a short time in front of the Radio-Television of Serbia (RTS) in Takovska Street, where they will remind of their request to replace the leadership of the public media service.
Among the demands of the protest, which is technically organized by a part of the pro-European opposition, is the cancellation of the national frequency of Pink and Happy television stations, the shutdown of tabloids that promote hate speech, and the removal of REM Council members.
The resignations of Interior Minister Bratislava Gašić and the director of the Security and Information Agency, Aleksandar Vulin, are also being sought.
Tepić: Policewoman Katarina Petrović can only be protected by the public
The vice president of the Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) Marinika Tepić said today that only the public can protect the police officer from Valjevo, Katarina Petrović, who was initially detained and then released to defend herself.
"Only the public can protect her, as well as inspectors Dušan Mitić and Slobodan Milenkovic," Tepić told the Beta agency at the "Serbia against violence" protest.
According to her, policewoman Petrović realized how much support she had only after she was released from custody.
Police officer from Valjevo, Katarina Petrović, was arrested on July 3 because she submitted a police report to Marinika Tepić about an accident caused by the godfather of the President of Serbia, Nikola Petrović, under the influence of alcohol and drugs, about whom Tepić previously spoke in the Serbian Parliament.
She was released from detention on Friday, as a "Protest against violence" was held in Valjevo, where her release was demanded, and she was announced to go to Belgrade if that did not happen.
The Higher Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade changed the criminal offense for which Katarina Petrović is charged, from disclosing an official secret to disclosing confidential information, which transferred the proceedings against her to the Basic Prosecutor's Office in Valjevo.
Lutovac: The key theme of the gathering is support for honorable police officers who want to do their job professionally
This Saturday, July 8, the opposition parties organizing the protests announced that the goal of the protest march will be the Police Department of Belgrade, reports Radio Sobodna Evropa.
The head of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party, Zoran Lutovac, said before the protest that the "key topic" of the gathering is "support for honorable police officers who want to do their job professionally."
Lutovac added that they want to provide support to inspectors like Slobodan Milenkovic and Dusan Mitić who discovered the marijuana plantation on the "Jovanjica" estate.
As announced, the participants of the protest will make a short stop in front of the state Radio-Television of Serbia (RTS) on their way to the Police Department, where they will "recall the request for the removal of the management of the public media service".
The "Serbia against violence" protests have been organized in several cities of Serbia for two months, at the invitation of some of the opposition parties. The reason for the mass gatherings is the reaction of citizens and part of the opposition to the state's response after two mass murders that took place at the beginning of May, in which 19 people died.
On Friday, July 7, gatherings, which are organized once a week, have already been held in several cities in Serbia, including Niš, Jagodina, Zrenjanin, Gornji Milanovac, Šabac, Vranje and Čačak.
In Novi Sad, a group of citizens blocked the Varadinski Bridge for two hours on Friday.
That bridge is the main road to the Petrovaradin Fortress, where the Exit music festival takes place from July 6 to 9.
On July 7, a protest was also held in Zaječar, where a few hundred citizens walked through the city's central streets as a sign, as it was pointed out, of their dissatisfaction with the situation locally and in the country.
The first "Serbia against violence" protests were organized on May 8 in Belgrade, Novi Sad and several other cities. Two mass murders took place on May 3 and 4.
Nine children and a security guard were killed on May 3 in an armed attack by a 13-year-old student at the Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School in Belgrade. A day later, in a separate incident, an attacker killed eight and wounded 14 people in the villages of Malo Orašje and Dubona near Mladenovac.
After that, the authorities increased the presence of the police in schools and called on citizens to hand over their weapons to the police.
The organizers of the protest are demanding the dismissal of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Bratislava Gašić, and the director of the Security and Information Agency, Aleksandar Vulin.
At the request of more than 60 members of the opposition, the Serbian Parliament debated the dismissal of Minister Gašić for almost a month, but the ruling majority refused to vote of no confidence.
The organizers of the protest also demand the cancellation of the national frequency of two private televisions - Pink and Happy, because they claim that they promote hatred and violence.
Among the demands is the dismissal of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) and the shutdown of print media and tabloids for the same reasons.
The government accused the opposition of "politicizing the tragedy" with protests.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said earlier that the organizers "deserve only contempt", but called for dialogue and announced the possibility of early parliamentary elections.
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