Serbian gun amnesty collects over 13,500 weapons, including rocket launchers
Serbian authorities announced on Sunday that they had collected around 13,500 weapons, including anti-tank rocket launchers, hand grenades, and automatic weapons since launching a crackdown on guns following the two mass shootings in May. The authorities have declared a one-month amnesty period for citizens to hand over unregistered weapons or face prison sentences. Populist President Aleksandar Vučić, who accompanied top police officials for the display, said that half of the weapons collected were illegal, while the other half were registered weapons that citizens voluntarily handed over. He added that the weapons would go to Serbia’s arms and ammunition factories for potential use by the armed forces.
After June 8, Vučić said that the state would respond with repressive measures, and punishments would be very strict. Serbia is believed to have one of the highest rates of gun ownership per capita in Europe, with many illegal weapons remaining from the 1990s wars. Other anti-gun measures include stricter controls on gun owners and shooting ranges.
The gun crackdown was launched after a 13-year-old boy used his father’s gun to open fire on his fellow students in an elementary school in central Belgrade on May 3. The following day, a 20-year-old used an automatic weapon to shoot randomly in a rural area south of Belgrade. The two mass shootings left 17 people dead and 21 wounded, prompting protests in Belgrade and other Serbian cities and towns.
Crackdown and pushback
Tens of thousands of people have attended two protest marches in Belgrade since the shootings, demanding the resignations of government ministers and a ban on television stations that promote violent content and host war criminals and crime figures. The opposition has accused Vučić’s populist authorities of fuelling violence and hate speech against critics, spreading propaganda on mainstream media, and imposing autocratic rule in all institutions, which they say stokes divisions in society.
Vučić rejected opposition calls for the resignation of Interior Minister Bratislav Gašić, who was also present at Sunday’s weapons display, but suggested that the government might resign, and he will announce an early election at a rally he has planned for May 26 in Belgrade. The president described the bridge blockade as harassment, and he and other officials and media under his control have sought to downplay the size of the protest.
Conclusion
Serbian authorities have collected over 13,500 weapons, including rocket launchers, in a crackdown on guns following the two mass shootings in May. The collection came after the government declared a one-month amnesty period for citizens to hand over unregistered weapons or face prison sentences.
However, opposition politicians have accused Vučić’s populist authorities of fuelling violence and hate speech against critics, spreading propaganda on mainstream media, and imposing autocratic rule in all institutions, which they say stokes divisions in society.
Despite the government’s efforts to downplay the size of protests, tens of thousands of people have attended two protest marches in Belgrade, demanding the resignations of government ministers and a ban on television stations that promote violent content and host war criminals and crime figures.
SOURCE: Ref – euronews.
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