ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Serbian authorities: 13,500 weapons collected in amnesty, including rocket launchers

Share
BELGRADE, Serbia -

Serbian authorities on Sunday displayed some of around 13,500 weapons they say have been handed over since this month's mass shootings, including hand grenades, automatic weapons, and anti-tank rocket launchers.

The authorities have declared a one-month amnesty period for citizens to hand over unregistered weapons or face prison sentences as part of a crackdown on guns following the two mass shootings that left 17 people dead, many of them children.

Populist President Aleksandar Vucic accompanied top police officials on Sunday for the weapons' display near the town of Smederevo, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of the capital, Belgrade.

Vucic said the approximately half of the weapons collected were illegal while the other half were registered weapons that citizens nonetheless handed over. He added the weapons will go to Serbia's arms and ammunitions factories for potential use by the armed forces.

"After June 8, the state will respond with repressive measures and punishments will be very strict," he said of the post-amnesty period. "What does anyone need an automatic weapon for? Or all these guns?"

Serbia is estimated to be among the top countries in Europe in guns per capita. Many are left over from the wars of the 1990s and held illegally.

Other anti-gun measures are to include stricter controls of gun owners and shooting ranges.

Authorities launched the gun crackdown after a 13-year-old boy on May 3 took his father's gun and opened fire on his fellow-students in an elementary school in central Belgrade. A day later, a 20-year-old used an automatic weapon to shoot randomly in a rural area south of Belgrade.

The two mass shooting left 17 people dead and 21 wounded, stunning the nation and triggering calls for changes in the country that has been through decades of turmoil and crises.

Tens of thousands of people have rallied in two protest marches in Belgrade since the shootings, demanding resignations of government ministers and a ban on television stations that promote violent content and host war criminals and crime figures.

Vucic on Sunday rejected opposition calls for the resignation of Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic, who was also present at Sunday's weapons display. But the president suggested that the government might resign and that he will announce an early election at a rally he has planned for May 26 in Belgrade.

"We have no intention of replacing (interior minister) Gasic, who is doing a great job," said Vucic. "What have police done wrong?"

Opposition politicians have accused Vucic's populist authorities of fueling 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.

On Friday, the protesters in Belgrade blocked a key bridge and motorway in the capital to press their demands. Protests also have been held in other Serbian cities and towns, in an outpouring of grief and anger over the shootings and the populist authorities.

Vucic has described the bridge blockade as harassment, while he and other officials and media under his control sought to downplay the numbers of protesters.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

BREAKING

BREAKING

A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

Local Spotlight

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.