The arrests of high-ranking officials and local powerful people caused a public uproar, but experts claim that key people in the government remained untouched. While individuals like Milorad Grcic have been detained, Nebojsa Stefanović or Zvonko Veselinović are still not on the indictments
Chief Prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade Nenad Stefanovic he declared that he was for 50 people were arrested in the past four days, that three are on the run, that 58 criminal charges have been filed. A total of 111 persons were prosecuted for the purposes of the "compression of corruption" announced by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić.
It is not possible to process corruption cases in real time, Stefanović pointed out, answering the question why some investigations have only been launched now.
The aforementioned suspects are charged with a large body of criminal charges such as abuse of a responsible person, abuse of official position, an investigation order was issued against 68 persons for money laundering, receiving and giving bribes, trading in influence and other acts from the corruption segments.
"As for the financial investigation, the Prosecutor's Office will issue an order on it." After the financial investigation, a decision is made on the temporary confiscation of property. At the moment, what I can tell you is that the accounts in the banks are blocked, as well as the funds with which they could possibly dispose in the future, after the new processing", the prosecutor pointed out.
After the arrests that started last week, there were numerous assessments that the government is buying time in this way, that it wants to divert the public's attention from the student protests once again.
While the government brags about the fight against corruption, it is paradoxical that these arrests, which come with the announcement of Aleksandar Vučić, actually prove what the students claim - that in Serbia, politics controls the judiciary and that the current arrests actually aim to mask corruption.
The arrest of the president of the municipality of Obrenovac, Milorad Grčić:
Yuu... Did Grcic get a ticket to the Champions League last night when he has so much cash with him? pic.twitter.com/l6w7wDSwE7
— Lodger Limansky (@paratzelzius) February 12, 2025
"Second-tier" arrested
Lawyer Čedomir Stojković rated for "Vreme": "It is quite clear that Milorad Grcic alone does not have the intellectual capacity to design any money extraction. At the same time, the entire team that is related to EPS - those who participate in tenders, intermediary companies, who import electricity from Romania and export it to Bulgaria - does not miss a hair on their head, nor does anyone mention them. That's why Grcic is actually still 'at work' and doing what he was designed for nine years ago," says Stojković.
Director of Transparency Serbia Nemanja Nenadić, speaking about the arrest of the president of Obrenovac municipality and former acting director of JP EPS Milorad Grčić and businessman Aleksandar Papić, assessed for N1 that "some items were sitting in drawers, that the Prosecutor's Office knew about them, but did not dare or want to investigate them".
"This is wrong now in all possible ways, starting with the fact that the president is not competent to announce arrests, but that is the least important thing here." Even if Nenad Stefanović, the chief prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office, came out and said that from January to March they will arrest for corruption - that would be wrong again. This means that some cases were sitting in drawers, that the prosecutor's office knew about them, that it did not dare or did not want to investigate them and that now for some reason it is starting to do so", explained Nemanja Nenadić.
Lawyer Rodoljub Šabić agreed with Nenadić and said that it was "a rather transparent show for the people".
"President Vučić indicated that some bombastic arrests will follow. And what we hear, to use an unconventional approach, is another league. These are people against whom there were criminal charges before," he said.
He believes that the arrests are "something that happens at a moment that is good from the point of view of the daily political needs of the ruling regime".
"The president announced it and it must happen." Before that, nothing happened for years and probably nothing will happen this time either", said Šabić.
He added that "someone tried to confirm what the president announced".
"I find this more than unconvincing." You can't create an atmosphere that you didn't want to have with illusions. No one believes in that anymore", he emphasized.
Untouchable friends, godfathers and associates
And who belongs to the first league of progressives who are connected to numerous affairs and criminal acts, and were never prosecuted in the previous 12 years of the Serbian Progressive Party and Aleksandar Vučić's rule?
Nebojša Stefanović, former Deputy Prime Minister, minister of defense for two terms and police for one term, was one of the most powerful people in the Serbian Progressive Party.
At the time of his political "peak", there were also announcements that he could be the successor of Aleksandar Vučić at the head of the party.
However, after numerous affairs - diplomas, Krusik, Savamala, being brought into contact with members of Belivuk's clan and Vučić's open conflict with him, he goes into a kind of political retirement and complete media illegality.
Although he is linked to numerous scandals, his status was seriously shaken only by the "wiretapping of the president" affair in 2021, when Vučić disclosed to the public the information that he had been wiretapped, and soon, in the media close to the government, the question of Stefanović was raised.
A campaign was launched against him in the pro-regime media, and he did not fare better at meetings within the party.
In May 2021, SNS committees throughout Serbia declared that Stefanović should be removed from the position of president of the City Committee in Belgrade and from public positions, so that from 2022 he practically does not exist on the political scene of Serbia.
The great patriot Milan Radoičić
The former vice-president of the Serbian List, Milan Radoičić, against whom the Kosovo Prosecutor's Office is conducting an investigation for involvement in the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, organized crime and drug trafficking, is described as one of the favorites of the authorities of Aleksandar Vučić.
After the events in Banjska, his passport was confiscated, he was forbidden to leave Serbia and he is obliged to report to the Belgrade police twice a month. Radoičić publicly took responsibility for the armed forces attack on the Kosovo police in this place.
The authorities in Serbia refuse to extradite Radoicic to Kosovo and say that he will be tried by "Serbian courts", but they do not.
Radoicic's name has been mentioned sporadically for the past ten years, and it came into focus after the murder of the leader of the Civic Initiative "Serbia, Democracy, Justice" Oliver Ivanovic.
He and the authorities in Belgrade assured the public and international organizations that Radoičić was not involved in that crime.
Marko Đurić, the director of the Office for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Serbia, Nebojša Stefanović, the Minister of Police and member of the SNS Presidency, and later the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, claimed that he knew nothing about the role of Milan Radoičić.
However, although he said that he had never spoken to Radoicic, Vucic at the press conference on September 12, 2017 credited him for taking care of the Serbs in Kosovo.
Businessman from northern Kosovo
The public first heard about Zvonko Veselinović, a businessman from the north of Kosovo, in 2011, when he was presented as one of the greatest heroes of the "defense" of the Serbs in Kosovo. In the following years, he was increasingly mentioned in the media as a friend and associate of Milan Radoičić, and he was considered one of the most powerful Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.
While the local Serbs at the barricades prevented the secession of Kosovo from Serbia for months, and Zvonko Veselinović was called a hero by representatives of all parties, his machines, excavators and trucks dug new, alternative roads on the administrative line with Kosovo. According to media research, these roads have been used for smuggling goods between Serbia and Kosovo for years.
In addition, he was tried twice in Serbia for embezzlement and abuse of position, but was acquitted both times. The same decision was made in the procedure for illegal gravel mining on Corridor 102.
Zvonko Veselinović takes over part of public transport in Belgrade
SSP Vice President Marinika Tepić claims that Veselinović financed the SNS campaign, although President Aleksandar Vučić denied this.
Like Milan Radoičić, Zvonko Veselinović is on the black list of the United States, and lately he has been mentioned as one of the most powerful people in Novi Sad.
The Godfather in McLaren
One of the most famous godfathers of the President of Serbia is the former director of Elektromrež Srbije Nikola Petrović, who is considered one of the most powerful people in Serbia, and is often called "the best man" of Vučić.
In March 2023, he caused a traffic accident in Dedinje.
At the time, Petrović was driving a "Mercedes McLaren" vehicle when he crashed into a fence in Užička street at number 46. On that occasion, he knocked over three pillars and hit an "Opel Korsa" car. Two women were injured.
The case developed into a political thriller because Katarina Petrović, a police major from Valjevo, from the information system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs leaked information about the accident to the public, from which it follows that Petrović was driving drunk and drugged, but that this was covered up.
According to the data she provided to the opposition MP Marinika Tepić, Petrović caused damage of 600.000 dinars, tested positive for cocaine and had 0,41 per thousand of alcohol in his blood.
Katarina Petrović was then arrested at the beginning of July 2023 on suspicion of abusing her official position, and the proceedings against her are still ongoing.
On the other hand, the First Basic Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade announced that Petrović not criminally liable for a traffic ticket - maybe just a misdemeanor. According to the Prosecutor's Office, cocaine was in the urine, but according to them, this is not proof.
The position of the prosecution was that there were no serious injuries in the accident, and the material damage allegedly did not exceed 200.000 dinars, and instead of criminal prosecution, misdemeanor proceedings are proposed.
Vučić's godfather Pan
One of Vučić's oldest godfathers and comrade from the radical days is Petar Panić Pana.
Although Pana was in conflict with the law many times and even imprisoned, the godfathers did not give up on each other, which can be seen by Pana's untouchability.
Pana's power also protects his sons, especially Uroš, a famous tic toker who regularly posts his traffic adventures, including humiliating traffic drivers, arrogance and risky driving, on that social network.
Until 2018 alone, 13 criminal charges were filed against Panić for 16 criminal acts, as was once published on the KRIK website.
Criminal charges were filed for violent behavior, causing light and serious injuries, extortion, illegal possession of weapons, traffic accidents, but the file also contained a criminal charge for illegal archaeological excavation.
Although a convicted felon, that godfather Pan does not mind legally owning a gun and being an active hunter, and on his profiles you can find photos of him with a rifle standing over his catch with an inevitable, broad smile.
Petar Panić was known for his rough nature before, and the number of crimes he committed is certainly much higher.
By nature, he was able to beat up a man for a parking space or to "knock" someone's car in traffic, and when that person rebelled, Pana resolved it quickly and simply. He was well connected, most of his thuggish excesses went unpunished.
"The Beater" Milojevic
Zoran Milojević, better known as Zelja, is an official of the Serbian Progressive Party who is reputed to be one of the most powerful in it. He was a member of the executive board of the party and a commissioner for Kosovo and Metohija, as well as for the Braničevski district.
Milojević acquired the epithet of the beater because witnesses of various incidents recognized him as the leader of a group of about twenty guys who were seen before and during the elections in Odžaci, Mionica, Majdanpek and other places where incidents and physical confrontations with activists of opposition parties took place.
At the end of 2018, Insider published the report of the head of the building inspection who worked on the case of illegal construction on Pančićev vrh in Kopaonik, which talks about a meeting with Zoran Milojević Zelja, an SNS official from Leposavic who was publicly linked to the construction of an illegal building. In the report, he points out that "a serious person from NP Kopaonik" suggested to her that if she plans to close the construction site, she should take the Gendarmerie with her, given that "they are seriously connected with the local police and that the police may leave me stranded during the procedure."
In his statement to Insider, Milojević claimed that he had nothing to do with the building, and that he was not at any meeting related to it.
In February of the same year, members of the special unit of the Kosovo Police arrested Milojević's son in the cafe "Tom" in Leposavic, where a certain amount of narcotics was found, Jugpress reported, noting that he had been arrested earlier for the same reason. The portal also stated that Zoran Milojević Zelja is the president of the Provincial Board of the SNS, a member of the Executive Board of the Main Board of the SNS, director of "Telecom" in Kosovo, engaged in the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, and that he was in charge of winning power in Medveđa.
And all this is just the tip of the iceberg.
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