Prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office Branko Stamenković he assessed in an interview for "Vreme" after elections for members of the High Council of the Prosecutor's Office that there were no irregularities, but that there were attempts at obstruction, such as the bomb report in Katanićeva street, where the seat of the Belgrade appeal is located.
"There were all the election places for the Belgrade appeal. Prosecutors from Valjevo, Smederevo, Pančevo came to Belgrade today to vote, and at all levels. And here is the coincidence, that it was reported that the bomb was right in Katanićeva street. I do not believe in those coincidences and I think it was an attempt to obstruct. I can praise the election committees who worked in the building, as well as the president of the Second Basic Court. Everyone continued with the election with utmost composure process", says Stamenković.
"I don't believe in electricity, this is the best possible answer from the prosecutors"
He adds that the election results are the best possible response from the prosecutors after all the attacks against them.
"My impression is that the Public Prosecutor's Office decided to support itself, to support its independence and show that it will function within the framework of the Constitution and the laws of this country, and not on the basis of individual wishes or needs. Such an electoral decision of the public prosecutors is encouraging. I think that this is the best possible answer that the Public Prosecutor's Office could give after all the attacks, even daily, almost hourly. These were attacks that the public prosecutors suffered for a long time. And those attacks are just special intensified in the last few months", points out Stamenković.
To the question of what will be the balance of power in the VST with five new members, he answers:
"I have always been against the fact that there are currents, that prosecutors align themselves according to what they support. I don't see it that way at all. Here, a lot of different prosecutors with different ways of thinking voted for certain candidates. There is no unification here, nor political alignment behind a leader. Here, on the one hand, there are prosecutors who believed that they were voting for an independent prosecutor's office that would do its job properly, and those who voted for other candidates for different reasons."
"Perhaps some are disappointed, perhaps some received various promises in the form of advancement, or some other benefits, which would be devastating for me... You should not generalize things. All prosecutors should know that no matter who they voted for - we remain one prosecution. Tomorrow everyone has to show up at work. I'm not in favor of labeling whose current won. The prosecution won," the "Vremena" interlocutor points out.
Unofficial results of the election for members of the High Prosecutor's Council
The Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office is not in conflict with anyone
When asked if anything will change now in the conflict between the Supreme Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac and the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime on the one hand and the executive and legislative authorities on the other, Stamenković answers:
"We adhere to the Constitution and the law and do our work the way it should be done. Whether it bothers anyone is another question. I don't know if the executive and legislative authorities are in some kind of conflict with us because of this. That is a question for them. We are not in conflict with any branch of government, because we work for the public of this country, for the people of this country and for our country. If other branches of government have a different idea, then it is a question for them to explain why it is so."
Mrdić's proposals to amend the law are absolutely unacceptable
Talking about to the proposal of SNS deputy Uglješa Mrdić to amend five laws related to the judiciary, the prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office says that it is a continuation of what we could hear through a part of the media that is related to the part of the executive and legislative powers.
"I say 'acts' on purpose, because we have not heard the entire executive and legislative branch of government think like that. We belong to the judicial branch of government, not the executive branch. That is why there are categories in the Constitution, and that is why the laws were passed in that way. The proposal to amend the law that is on the table tries to change the constitutional provisions on the independence of the prosecution and on the High Council of the Prosecution as the protector of that independence. They are trying to change us organically and reduce everything to one of the organs of the executive power, which is absolutely unacceptable in Europe in the 21st century. "That would be a retrograde process and the erosion of the third branch of government and the rule of law in Serbia. That is unacceptable and I want to believe that the Parliament will reject such bills if they are on the agenda of the next session," concluded Stamenković.
Results of the VST elections
According to unofficial data published by N1, Predrag Milovanović, prosecutor of the Second Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade with 141 votes, and Jovana Komnenović, prosecutor of the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, won the most votes for the five new members of the High Council of Prosecutors with 123 votes at the level of basic public prosecutor's offices.
Their opponents, the prosecutor of the Third Basic Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Boris Pavlović, and the prosecutor of the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office, Nikola Stojanović, received 118 votes and 43 votes, respectively.
At the level of higher public prosecutor's offices, Boris Majlat, the prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Šabac, received the most votes - 113 votes, while his opponent, Nikola Uskoković, the prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, won 105 votes.
At the level of appellate prosecutions, there were also two candidates in the race for membership in the High Council of Prosecutions. The prosecutor of the Appellate Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Radmila Jovanović, won the most votes - 45, while her only opponent, Zoran Vucelja, won 20.
Only prosecutor Jasmina Stanković was a candidate from the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office. Thirteen of her colleagues had no one else to vote for, so her place in the High Council was the only one safe from the beginning.
The elections for the High Prosecutor's Council have never been more significant or covered by the media. This was also contributed to by the months-long campaign in the pro-regime media and on social networks against Zagorka Dolovac and the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime, which is conducting the investigation in the "Fall of the Canopy" and "General Staff" cases. That is why the huge turnout of public prosecutors in these elections was not too surprising.
In some polling stations, the turnout was 100 percent. 762 prosecutors voted from this morning until the afternoon in the four cities where the appellate prosecutor's offices are located - Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Niš.
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