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Danas interlocutors are skeptical of the new announcement by the President of Serbia that the state will declare war on organized crime
The video in which Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić declares war on the mafia was not enough to convince those who follow police activities in a little more detail that behind those words there will be effective police investigations and indictments. based on hard material evidence.
Photo: BETAPHOTO / GOVERNMENT OF SERBIA SLOBODAN MILJEVICRecalling that this is not the first announcement of its kind, Danas interlocutors point out that it is not clear to them what has prevented the State from addressing the problem of organized crime in the last eight years.
– I honestly think the president was joking. According to my conviction, he is a very resourceful man, lawyer Božo Prelević told Danas, who served as a police commissioner in the transitional government after 5 October.
– Why has the State not been able to deal with this problem until now? Who defended them, what prevented them? The government, after eight years of free domination, has no justification for not dealing with organized crime, Prelevic says, recalling the endless series of scandals in the recent past that have not received a legal epilogue.
In the video posted on the official Instagram profile of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić stated that Serbia “in 2012, 2013, 2014 fought against the tycoons who looted the country and wanted to destroy it.”
“We did it and we renewed the country! Today, Serbia is the first in Europe in terms of growth rate. Wages go up, pensions go up, people live better. While we were fighting for a better standard of living, for Kosovo and Metohija, for a better healthcare system, some people thought that the most profitable job was to be gangsters, to kill people. I promise, we will beat them and I guarantee it! Regardless of the personal, political or other consequences! – said Vučić.
His address came a few days after Aleksandar Šarc, previously known to the police, was shot in the parking lot of the Ušće shopping center.
The attack on Šarc, whose legal status depends on his state of health, happened a month after the death of Strahinja Stojanović, who also had a file.
Stojanovic was killed by an explosive device that was placed under his car. The detonation occurred around noon on a busy street in New Belgrade.
These recent crimes only continued through murders with the characteristics of a criminal confrontation.
According to Crick and Radio Free Europe databases, there have been a total of 166 mafia murders in Serbia-Montenegro in the last eight years.
Of that number, a final judicial decision was made for only 14 murders.
Recalling that the president’s announcement is not the first of its kind we have heard in previous years, Bogoljub Milosavljevic, a law professor who taught classes at the Police Academy for seven years, points out that he fears it will have the same effect as previous years.
– Nobody disputes that a fight against the mafia is needed. However, we have had the opportunity to hear similar announcements from various government officials who had no tangible results behind them. Driven by that experience, I assume this announcement will have a similar epilogue, says Milosavljevic, noting that it is unclear why the president decided to take that step at this point.
The previous announcement of the war on the mob occurred in October 2016, immediately after the murder of Aleksandar Stanković, a leader of the multiple convicted fanatics. Then Nebojsa Stefanovic, the interior minister, currently in his technical mandate, announced a confrontation with the mafia in an extraordinary press conference.
– We are entering this war without reservation. The state will invest all means to prevent the commission of such acts and to treat harshly the perpetrators of criminal activities, “said Stefanović. Shortly after, Aleksandar Vučić, then Prime Minister, repeated a similar message. with all those who think Belgrade is worse for them, “said Vučić, adding that” those who come from other countries cannot travel with ‘Kalashnikovs’ around Belgrade. “By the way, Aleksandar Stanković was the leader of the fan faction “Janjičari”, with some of whose members the son of the president, Danilo Vučić, was photographed on several occasions.
A retired police officer who wished to remain anonymous, calling the president’s announcement “funny and sad,” said in a statement to Danas that such announcements devalue the work of the police.
– Why did you remember the war against the mafia now? Well, that war took place every day. “Each statement by politicians of this type exerts enormous pressure on the police and often knows how to throw into the water the quality work they have been doing until then,” said our interlocutor.
Union support
The Serbian Police Union announced yesterday that it has always supported the state’s fight against corruption and crime, because everyone should know that the state of Serbia is stronger than any criminal group. “One of the greatest dangers for Serbia is the mafia and the tentacles it has released deep into society.” Serbia cannot be reformed into a modern state until we tackle this scourge, “the statement said. from the union president, Veljko Mijailović.
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