A country in shock: Serbia struggles with its identity after the school shooting

When it comes to armed crime, the inhabitants of the Serbian capital Belgrade are used to quite a bit: bloody settlements between organized clans have regularly made headlines in recent years. The murder by a minor on Wednesday is an entirely new dimension, which plunges the population into a deep crisis of meaning.

The fact that a 13-year-old seventh grader shot seven girls, a classmate and a supervisor at his school in the middle of the city, as well as seven other people, some seriously injured, still caused horror and bewilderment the day after.

Hundreds of mourners gathered in front of Vladislav Ribnikar’s primary school on Thursday morning to lay flowers and pray. In other cities across the country, thousands mourned in public places and lit candles.

“The terrible thing that happened in Belgrade can only be the script for a horror movie. But no, it is the bitter reality that hits us today like a painful slap in the face,” writes mother and resident Jovana Neric in an open letter To ask the question on the minds of many in Serbia after the massacre: “Where have we failed as a society?”

Depending on the political orientation, the answer is very different. Serbian Education Minister Branko Ruzic announced three days of national mourning at a media conference, citing the “obvious influence of the internet, video games and so-called Western values” on the crime. A “systematic solution” is now needed to contain it.

The Serbian media has not known another topic for 24 hours and keeps coming up with new details. The pro-government broadcaster Pink TV writes: “While Kosta K. was filming, his 10-year-old sister was sitting in the classroom next door.” The young perpetrator, who was carrying a list of the children to be killed, reportedly called the police himself after the shots were fired. In an initial police interrogation, he stated that he was a “psychopath” and “should behave himself,” Belgrade police chief Veselin Milic told state television RTS.

The role of the father in particular is prominent in the reporting. How could the renowned doctor regularly take the minor to the shooting range, President Aleksandar Vucic wondered in a statement that lasted nearly an hour. The police arrested the father because they accused him of not properly storing the weapons.

Criticism “of the country that glorifies war criminals”

After the crime “at one of the best schools in the country”, the president, who sometimes struggled with tears, proposed a package of measures, in particular lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 years – because, according to Vucic , the young perpetrator knew of his immunity from prosecution and showed no remorse during the police interrogation: “He who was an outsider in his class now feels like a hero.”

But Vucic also brought up the censorship of problematic video games and internet content and routine drug testing in schools, which should now be discussed. This should get the approval of all those who also condemn those Western values ​​that have imported to Serbia the phenomenon of school shootings, previously known only in the US.

Others, on the other hand, see the problem more deeply rooted: “That’s what happens when you constantly glorify criminals and war criminals in society and shout at every opportunity: ‘Kill the Gypsies, kill the Muslims, kill the Croats!’.” criticized a user in the social networks.

Referring to the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia, another agreed: “The problem is that there seems to be a culture of committing war crimes like national holidays in Serbia.” Then one should not be surprised if this attitude can be found in all sections of society.

Serbian-Canadian film director Boris Malagurski made a connection between the two statements: in a much-remarked post on Twitter, the notorious nationalist filmmaker denounced “decades of state and media glorification of crime and mafia” but in the same breath also the proliferation of “garbage, reality TV monsters and false values”, which are said to have caused the downfall of Serbian society.

Sensational investigation by the «New York Times»

Within Serbia, such views are likely to be held by only a minority and hardly lead to general reflection. That the New York Times Magazine published a sensational backstory about the alleged involvement of President Vucic and the Serbian cocaine mafia on the day of the Belgrade school massacre does not change that.

Award-winning American journalist Robert F. Worth meticulously chronicles Vucic’s career from his beginnings in the Belgrade ultrascene to the ministerial post in Slobodan Milosevic’s government to the state presidency. This was constantly marked by contacts and connections with the Serbian underworld and with hooligan groups in Belgrade.

In the article, Worth quotes former president and Vucic rival Boris Tadic. He accuses his successor of “bringing criminals to power” in the vain hope of bringing them under control. However, organized crime has become so ubiquitous in today’s Serbia that no one knows “who really runs this country” anymore. (aargauerzeitung.ch)