Jan. 5 Day of Mourning in Serbia After Mass Murder in Montenegro

Candles (BETAPHOTO/NENAD PETROVIC)

Jan. 5 was declared a day of mourning in Serbia after a mass murder in Cetinje, Montenegro, on Jan. 1.

The Serbian cabinet called the day of mourning at a Jan. 4 session, Prime Minister Milos Vucevic announced in an Instagram post.

Cetinje resident Aleksandar Martinovic killed 12 people in the Montenegrin town on Jan. 1, including family members and close friends, before fleeing the scene. After being surrounded by police, Martinovic committed suicide.

In multiple Serbian cities, people lit candles in tribute to the casualties, protesting university students added 12 minutes to their 15-minute demonstrations for remembering the 15 lives lost in a structure collapse in Novi Sad, and state officials expressed condolences to their Montenegrin counterparts and the people there. Montenegro has declared three days of mourning, from Jan. 2 to 4, while Republika Srpska declared Jan. 3 a day of mourning.