Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Friday he had banned all public assemblies planned for Saturday and Sunday in Belgrade, including a gay pride parade, because of high security risks.
Expressing their disagreement with the gay parade announced for Sunday, two right-wing associations announced their "Family Walk" and "Prayer Walk" parades, one for Saturday and the other for Sunday.
Speaking on B92 TV, Dacic said the assemblies were not being banned because of their purpose, but to prevent the endangering of lives and property. He added that as long as he was in office, his ministry would not ban a gay pride parade but that it would ban all assemblies carrying a security risk.
Dacic said the decision was final and irreversible and that police would stop any public assembly in the capital "with all means available."
Serbian President Boris Tadic supported the ban.
At last year's gay pride parade on October 10, the first after nine years, about 250 rioters were arrested and about 150 police officers injured in clashes between about 6,000 opponents to the parade and the police. According to the Belgrade mayor, the damage caused exceeded one million euros.
