Samir KajosevicPodgoricaBIRNMay 10, 202313:19Montenegrin police on Wednesday said they will start daily patrols of schools due to increasing youth violence, and following the mass shootings in neighbouring Serbia.
Elementary school in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica. Photo: BIRN/Samir Kajosevic
Montenegrin police said on Wednesday they will tighten controls around schools due to increasing youth violence in the country and after two mass shootings rocked neighbouring Serbia.
On May 3, a seventh-grade pupil shot dead a school security worker and eight pupils in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, while six other pupils and a history teacher were injured.
A second mass shooting in Serbia, which killed eight people and wounded 13, followed on May 4, in the villages of Dubona and Malo Orasje.
Montenegro’s police directorate said uniformed police officers and inspectors in civilian clothes will patrol schoolyards and areas around schools on a daily basis.
“After meetings with principals of elementary and high schools in the country, we decided to undertake controls in order to prevent youth violence and create a safer environment for students. Police officers will control school areas but also monitor social media for possible announcements of student fights,” the police directorate told BIRN.
Montenegrin police reported arrests of three 18-year-olds and one minor in the last two days for using weapons, while one minor was arrested for promoting violence on social media.
On May 9, the Basic Court in Tivat ordered 10 days in prison for 18-year-old B.B. for firing with a gas gun in the air. The same day police arrested 18-year-old J.K. in the resort of Risan, after police found knives and metal boxers in his car parked at the school car park.
The same day, in the northern town of Plav, police arrested two persons, including one minor, for using weapons. Police said that 18-year-old A.M. and his 14-year-old relative were practising shootingoin a nearby mountain while two guns and munition were found during the police search of their house.
On May 9, police arrested a 13-year-old pupil after he posted on Facebook: “I understand the shooter in the Serbian elementary school. I would do the same, but I don’t have access to guns.” The prosecution in Pljevlja dropped the charges, urging the local social centre and school to take over the case.
Interior Minister Filip Adzic on Monday called on citizens to hand over their weapons without facing any legal consequences in the wake of last week’s mass shootings in Serbia. He said that citizens can also report anonymously on a special phone line if they know someone possesses illegal weapons.
After the two mass shootings last week, Serbia has started imposing tough and in some cases controversial restrictive measures, including arrests for social media posts that appear to advocate violence, a push for more police in schools and even demands for lists of “anti-social” school pupils.
Serbian 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.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
