Thousands of people gathered today in the town of Cetinje, in the southern, small Balkan country, to pay tribute to Wednesday. Anger and pain dominated the gathering.
A 45-year-old man opened fire Wednesday inside a restaurant and four other locations in this city of 12,000, killing 12 people and wounding four.
During the vigil, more than a thousand people remained silent for 12 minutes in memory of the 12 victims, including two children.
Those people, who went there to “support the city and the families of the victims”, left flowers and lit candles in the center of Cetinje, which saw its second massacre in less than three years.
Criticism of the Authorities
In 2022, a man killed 10 people in Cetinje, including two children, before killing himself.
Many criminal groups operate in the Cetinje area, and conflicts erupt sporadically between mafia factions.
The authorities were criticized by the opposition and part of the population, who estimated that the forces of order did not react sufficiently and quickly, as the shootings lasted 30 minutes and in five different places. It took police about six hours to track down the attacker, who shot himself in the head while surrounded by her.
Organizers have called for a second rally this evening in front of the interior ministry in Podgorica, the capital. Earlier today, they demanded the resignation of Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic and Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defense Aleksa Becic.
They also called for the demilitarization of society, the confiscation of illegal weapons, and the creation of a police force within local communities.
According to the Swiss NGO Small Arms Survey (SAS), around 245,000 firearms are in circulation in Montenegro, a country of just over 620,000 inhabitants.
New measures
Montenegrin authorities on Friday announced measures to curb the number of illegal weapons on the market, including changes to the law, increasing penalties for illegal gun possession, strengthening the conditions for acquiring weapons, as well as a two-month campaign to to encourage owners of illegal weapons to surrender them voluntarily.
With the prospect of joining the European Union, Montenegrin authorities are committed to fighting organized crime and corruption that undermine the country.
RES/EMP
