Sasa DragojloBelgradeBIRNMay 10, 202311:22In the wake of mass shootings that rocked the country, police have arrested dozens for social media posts, more police will be deployed in schools, gun licenses will be slashed and — controversially – some police departments have told schools to compile lists of problematic pupils.
Ambulances arrive at the scene as police block a street near the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in Belgrade, Serbia, 3 May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC
After two mass shootings last week that took 17 lives and injured another 20 people, Serbia has started imposing tough and in some cases controversial restrictive measures, including arrests for social media posts that appear to to advocate violence, a push for more police in schools and even demands for lists of “anti-social” school pupils.
The Independent Union of Serbian Educators criticized the request from police in Uzice, in southwest Serbia, and Kikinda, in the north, for schools to draw up lists of allegedly “asocial students”, calling it “scandalous behavior appropriate for police societies, not democratic societies“.
On Wednesday, the Interior Ministry issued an apology, claiming the order did not came from the ministry but was done independently by police departments.
“No order of this kind came from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. [But] the very text of the letter shows that it was motivated by good intentions .. .In that desire, a reckless move was made,” the state secretary in the ministry, Zeljno Brkic, said.
Authorities have meanwhile arrested dozens of people, both adults and children, for social media posts that glorify violence, seem to support mass shootings or make any kind of threats.
Branko Stamenkovic, head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for high-tech crime, said that even the least threatening message on social networks will now be checked, and this includes determining the location of the broadcast and the search and arrest of the culprit.
“Each incident will be investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the criminal code. I will emphasize once again that our threshold of tolerance for these criminal acts has always been very low, while now it is equal to zero,” Stamenkovic said on Tuesday.
Authorities also announced an increase in the number of police deployed in schools. President Aleksandar Vucic also announced a potential drug tests for pupils and students.
The recruitment of 1,200 officers over the next six months has been announced as one of the main measures to increase security in schools.
However, some experts warn that peer violence will not be eradicated in this way, and that there is a danger that problems will simply move from the school yard to the streets.
President Vucic has also announced the wider “disarmament” of Serbia, stressing that the current number of licences for arms needs to be cut by 90 per cent.
An action has also started under which anyone with illegal arms can report them to the police without incurring any penalties over the next 30 days.
By Wednesday, about 1,400 weapons, about 45,000 pieces of ammunition and about 100 mine-explosive devices had been handed over, police announced.
The opposition has criticized the measures as “populist”. It announced a new protest on Friday if their demands for resignations unveiled at a mass protest on Monday in Belgrade are not fulfilled.
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