A gruesome campaign, that is, a real war that the regime is waging against judiciary, first of all the prosecutor's office, that is, the supreme public prosecutor Zagorke Dolovac, the president of the High Council of Prosecutions (HPC) Branko Stamenković and the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime (TOK), can be completed on December 23 this year, with a victory for the authorities. On that day, five new members of the VST are elected from the ranks of prosecutors. That is, the chief public and public prosecutors directly elect their representatives in this extremely important body, and the results will definitely determine not only the further fate of the judiciary, but also the entire country.
If on that day the majority in the Supreme Court is won by the representatives of the regime, then it is a sign that the judiciary has been conquered and that Serbia is taking an important step from an authoritarian system towards a totalitarian dictatorship. Let's forget about any court proceedings against state officials, the prosecution will be in the firm hands of Vučić and his entourage, and will primarily serve to deal with political dissidents.
The Supreme Court of Justice has 11 members, of which two are by function - Supreme Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac and Minister of Justice Nenad Vujić. Five are elected from the ranks of prosecutors, and four are elected by the Assembly of Serbia from the ranks of the so-called prominent lawyers. In short, if the "regimes" pass the elections on December 23, the government will put this institution under full control.
Judicial management
And then there is additional judicial management, already announced in public. TOK is transferred to the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade as a separate department, i.e. placed at the mercy of the chief prosecutor Nenad Stefanović. TOK head Mladen Nenadić and his associates will fly. And indictments and indictments against state officials will be "eaten by the cat." Maybe someone will be held accountable for the tragedy in Novi Sad, but not those who are most responsible. And corruption? That simply will not be in the indictments. The "General Staff" case will be last year's snow.
And now, due to the complicated procedure, due to the fact that the media does not report on it enough, little is known about the importance of these elections. Even in the independent public, it is often heard that it is only a "conflict between two interest groups", and not a truly important event for all citizens.
Realistically, for a long time, Dolovac and her associates have been the personification of numb institutions, so it is not surprising that many are confused by the big turn, that they have become the target of the regime's cruel campaign. Even if interest groups are involved, it is clear that the elections are between those who dared to confront the all-powerful regime on the one hand, and those who will be blind followers, a bulky sledgehammer in Vučić's hands, on the other. Everything else can be subject to subsequent analysis.
And the story about "interest groups" is inexorably reminiscent of the story about political parties. Like, they just want to come to power! You can think! Well, that's what they are for, among other things.
Who are the candidates?
Elective members of the Supreme Court of Justice are elected from the ranks of prosecutors from the following prosecutor's offices: one from the ranks of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office, one from the appellate public prosecutor's office, the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime and the Public Prosecutor's Office for War Crimes, one from the higher public prosecutor's offices and two from the basic public prosecutor's offices.
For the elections on December 23, Jasmina Stanković submitted her candidacy from among the members of the Supreme Court. There are no opponents. At the level of appeals, TOK and war crimes, the candidates are Radmila Jovanović and Zoran Vucelja. Jovanović was nominated by the Belgrade Appellate Public Prosecutor's Office, while Vucelja collected signatures himself. Namely, at this and lower levels, the candidate can be proposed either by the collegium of the prosecutor's office, or the applicant can collect 15 signatures.
At the level of higher public prosecutor's offices, the candidates are Boris Majlat and Nikola Uskoković. Majlat was proposed by several colleges, and Uskoković, who is Nenad Stefanović's right-hand man, had to collect signatures. Uskoković was originally a candidate of VJT Belgrade, but the VST deemed his candidacy illegal. Namely, Stefanović did not invite all elected prosecutors to attend the collegium, and the secrecy of the vote was also violated. In order to recognize who voted how, people were asked to write their first and last names instead of just circling an option. Handwriting is easy to recognize in prosecutorial work.
The list of basic prosecutors' offices includes: Boris Pavlović, Predrag Milovanović, Jovana Komnenović, Nikola Arsić and Nikola Stojanović. Meanwhile, Arsić was away, Milovanović collected signatures, as did Stojanović.
Those familiar with the situation tell us that the government has already prepared the distribution of functions after the election and the remaining management. Nenad Stefanović replaces Zagorka Dolovac, and Boris Pavlović (head of Belgrade VJT) comes in his place. Allegedly, Predrag Milovanović has the ambition to become the president of the High Council of Prosecutors. And allegedly, Zoran Vucelja is also a candidate close to the authorities.
While we are writing this text, the authorities have placed "their" prosecutors on Kopaonik, where they are preparing for high-altitude preparations for December 23. Like, some kind of seminar.
The most important date in the modern history of public prosecution in Serbia
We asked Branko Stamenković, the current president of the Supreme Administrative Court, what his opinion was about the elections on December 23 and the candidates in them. He did not want to comment on the candidates for new members of the council, but he sent us this answer:
"In my opinion, December 23 is the most important date in the modern history of the public prosecution in Serbia. On that day, all holders of public prosecutor's office will elect five new members of the High Council of Prosecutions who come from among public prosecutors, and thus bear responsibility for the results of the elections. Although the media space is full of information, many of which are false, that it is about the reckoning of some kind of 'current' within the public prosecution, as well as interested observers who are recommended, the truth is fundamentally different.
We will vote for what kind of immediate future of public prosecution we want. Will it be a public prosecution that protects the public interest by prosecuting criminals, or will we allow other, much more personal interests to rule us? Will we protect the Constitution and its basic principles such as the rule of law, civil, human and minority rights and freedoms, democracy and European principles and values, or will we allow them to be subject to interpretation according to needs? Will we be an independent public prosecutor's office, or will we vote for the annulment of constitutional and legal standards that were achieved a long time ago, and strengthened in 2022, and thus open the door to reducing the public prosecutor's office to another administrative body of the executive power? In the end, will we ourselves allow the introduction of unprecedented concentration of authority and power, with the establishment of a monolithic and inviolable hierarchical command that is absolutely not characteristic of modern European and world prosecutors' offices, or will we also preserve our professional independence on a personal level because all of us prosecutors make up the public prosecutor's office?
The answers and responsibility will only be ours, the prosecutor's."
