“Goran Papić did everything on Stefanović’s orders” – Society

Everything that Goran Papić did, he did on the orders of the then Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, lawyer Branislav Tapuskovic, who defends the former deputy head of the Service for Combating Organized Crime, told Danas.

It should be recalled that Goran Papić was recently arrested on charges of abusing his official position by ordering the Head of the Belgrade City Police Administration to return the seized car to Marko Miljković, an associate of Veljko Belivuk. Papic was in preventive detention for 30 days after the hearing.

Branislav Tapušković points out that in April 2020, when he allegedly committed the crime of influence peddling, there were four people in the hierarchy opposite Papić.

– Above him were Minister Stefanović, Director Vladimir Rebić, UKP Director Dejan Kovačević and SBPOK Director Ilija Hodoba. He couldn’t, even if he wanted to, order the Belgrade Police Chief Milenko Munizaba to do something. He simply did not have the authority to order them, Tapuskovic says, adding that Papic is not running away from the things he did on the orders of the Police Minister.

According to him, Papić requested a polygraph examination during police questioning, but was not allowed. Papic told the prosecutor that a few days before April 15, 2020, Minister Stefanovic called him and told him that Marko Miljkovic would be questioned at SBPOK.

He indicated that they must do this work efficiently and professionally and send the minutes of the hearing to the competent prosecutor. On April 15, Minister Stefanović called Papić again, angry that Miljković had been in the Belgrade Police Department for five hours and had not yet been questioned by the SBPOK.

As Papić said in interrogation, following the minister’s order, he arranged for Miljković to be taken to SBPOK, where he was questioned as a citizen, and then returned to the Belgrade Police Department. He stressed that Minister Stefanović did not mention any cars during those conversations, nor did he himself in conversations with the leaders of the Belgrade Police Department.

At the hearing itself, none of the questions referred to the case of the wiretapping of President Vučić, nor to the organization of “vigilante forces”, which are accusations that could have been read in certain media in the previous days.

Another media accusation against Goran Papić also concerned his photo in a car which, as reported by the media, was worth 400,000. According to some media, the car belonged to Naser Kelmendi, a person who is allegedly in charge of drug trafficking in Kosovo.

Tapuskovic notes that neither of those claims is true and that the photo was taken three years ago.

– That car was owned by a Swiss businessman who was a frequent guest at a restaurant owned by Goran Papić’s father. I also have the name of that gentleman if the prosecution wants to investigate. He was then photographed in his car and, according to Tapušković, the investigating bodies should ask him to whom he ultimately sold the car.

When asked about allegations that Papic organized “vigilante forces”, Tapuskovic pointed out that it was another lie, emphasizing that Papic was in the police force for only six years.

– It is alleged that he created that parallel structure three years ago, despite the fact that at that time he worked in the Ministry of the Interior for only three years. If that’s true, why didn’t the police react earlier and arrest Papic? After all, it is a much more serious act than trading influences, so now he is not accusing him of it, but of this milder act. Finally, how is it possible that none of the people who were Papic’s superiors knew about it? Tapuskovic says, adding that he did not allow any client in his career to sign a plea agreement for an act he did not commit.

No relationship with Alejandro

Lawyer Branislav Tapušković points out that Goran Papić is not related to businessman Aleksandar Papić, although numerous media wrote that brothers were born. As he emphasized, they have hardly seen each other several times in his life.

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