Unsuccessful attempt to discipline

"This trial is a continuation of the persecution of me at the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade. At least 17 disciplinary reports have been filed against me so far. I regularly plead to those charges. And two years have passed since the event mentioned in the report for which you called me here. So, it is not about a violation of discipline, but about mistreatment of me." Prosecutor Bojana Savović addressed the disciplinary commission of the High Prosecutor's Council with those words on Monday morning. Let us remind you that prosecutor Savović has an impeccable career, she has advanced over the years, and is considered one of the most professional and trained prosecutors in the country for investigating corruption. However, due to political ineligibility, in February 2023, the case of corruption in the Electric Power Industry of Serbia was literally stolen from her, and she was immediately dismissed from the Department for the fight against corruption, on the same day that the police arrested the suspects in that case. Since then, this prosecutor, and even members of her family, have been regularly targeted by regime tabloids. Prosecutor Bojana Savović is, as a subject of persecution and demotion, also targeted by her bosses in the High Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade. They move her from place to place, reduce her salary, she even sits on a separate floor in a small improvised office that acts as a storage room. Prosecutor Savović was the first to speak publicly about everything that was happening to her and literally started a rebellion of the judiciary in Serbia, a series of protests and public appearances by prosecutors and judges who are trying to break away from political pressure and defend independence in their work.

DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS

Now the disciplinary commission is judging her and deciding whether she damaged the reputation of the prosecutor's office due to allegations from the report filed against her by two of her direct managers - VJT chief prosecutor Nenad Stefanović and his first deputy Miodrag Marković.

Marković claims that Bojana Savović insulted him during the discussion in the four walls on December 13, 2023. "It's really pathetic and miserable what you allow yourself to do. What did you sleep on. You sold yourself for a 20 thousand higher salary and a company car... We need to work here for another 20 years. You won't have anyone to say 'good morning' to. Nobody will answer you. Everyone will kick you in the ass when they see you," the prosecutor allegedly said.

Bojana Savović told the commission that she does not use such a dictionary either privately or professionally. She confirms that she told Marković that day that he should be ashamed because he accused her that she and her colleagues were forging signatures in the notebook where the prosecutors' arrival and departure times are recorded. Savović suggested that the commission look at that notebook as proof that she is never late, nor does she leave work early, but despite years of mobbing, she is one of the most conscientious workers.

The first deputy head of VJT, Marković, also wrote the following in the application: "I took threats to kick my ass in a way as a personal insult because I am an obese person by constitution." The plaintiff's legal representative, Zdenko Tomanović, also commented on that allegation. "Even the applicant himself confirms that that act is not what insults his reputation, because he says that it is offensive to him because he is obese. So if he was not obese, then it would not be offensive?"

Prosecutor Savović pointed out before the commission that Miodrag Marković has been continuously harassing her for several years and that she does not talk to him. That it is Marković who is trying to "discipline" Savović, he himself confirmed in the report against her. "Since 'Proglas' was formed, Savović has been participating in those forums, in my opinion she is actively involved in politics and expresses her views, which is why the leadership of VJT filed several disciplinary reports. She knows that I participated in drawing up disciplinary reports and my impression is that she views me as an enemy because of that."

PRIVILEGED WITNESS

photo: marija janković

In the report filed against Bojana Savović by the chief prosecutor of the VJT Nenad Stefanović and his first deputy Miodrag Marković, they state that a certain Dušan Šćepanović was also present at the entire event in the office. Prosecutor Savović said that she did not remember his presence because of the flow, but that she knew the character and work of her colleague. "This is a privileged witness. Dušan Šćepanović graduated from a private faculty for economics and law. The aforementioned associate Šćepanović has already appeared as a witness in proceedings initiated by Stefanović against VJT employees, including couriers. Stefanović personally employed him at VJT, and then assigned him to work in the Administration, so that he was recently, with no experience, elected as a prosecutor in the First Basic Prosecutor's Office. This is a privileged witness who various privileges were granted, which were previously taken away or canceled from other colleagues - from parking spaces to professional seminars and training," prosecutor Savović stated.

ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Zdenko Tomanović, a member of plaintiff Savović's legal team, noted that the central legal question is whether the alleged communication between the plaintiffs, whatever its content, had elements of a public or private nature. Tomanović also says that a private conversation between two prosecutors, two colleagues, in a closed office space, regardless of whether an expert associate is also present, cannot be a disciplinary offense. "Precisely because private communication, whatever it is, an insult to another colleague or a criticism, cannot damage the reputation of the public prosecution service and citizens' trust in the public prosecution service. The reputation of the public prosecution service and citizens' trust in the public prosecution service cannot be damaged in the absence of the public." In numerous cases, the European Court of Human Rights considered that it is of crucial importance whether the alleged insult was of a private nature or was publicly announced. In the cases in which it was of a private nature, any measure by which it would be sanctioned was considered to have unjustifiably limited the right to freedom of expression, Tomanović said. "Even if the words 'why bother, one day they will kick you in the butt' were spoken, they symbolize an attitude, a prediction that loss of respect is a moral sanction for those who have abandoned honor - personal and professional, and turned their backs on the law and the Constitution in the name of expressing loyalty to politics and other people's interests. It is an assumption, a warning that the loss of respect is deserved precisely when you create simulated and selective justice for citizens and mock their trust in institutions. Such we could see the evaluation a few years ago in the case of the owner of 'Informer' and the spontaneous reaction of one woman to the factory of lies carried by the propaganda centers of the alienated government." The prosecutor's lawyer concluded the presentation with the question: "Who violates the reputation of the prosecutor more - the government that publicly insults the prosecutors, when one of the officials tells you that you are a digger, or Bojana, who behind closed doors symbolizes disrespect?"

REVENGE FOR THE PROSECUTOR AND DISCIPLINE THE PROSECUTOR

By the way, the first deputy prosecutor Miodrag Marković speaks badly about the prosecutor Savović and publicly, in front of the TV Informer auditorium. So far, no disciplinary prosecutor has been found to initiate proceedings on this matter.

The prosecutor's lawyers also reminded that the disciplinary commission had previously rejected Nenad Stefanović's report when he reported a colleague that he did not answer him and that he cursed him in the corridor of the Palace of Justice.

No one even filed a disciplinary report against Chief Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac when, as the media reported, she said of one of her colleagues at a session of the High Council of Prosecutors, "this guy is really a jerk." "Given the strained relations in VJT, if you judge me about the event behind closed doors, possibly in the presence of a biased witness, you can set a dangerous precedent that will lead to new disciplinary charges," prosecutor Savović concluded in her address to the commission.

The interlocutors of the weekly "Vreme" from the High Prosecutor's Council say that the disciplinary commission is under pressure to, if they do not severely punish Bojana Savović, then at least give her a warning with the aim of damaging her credibility as much as possible and for it to be a demonstrative discipline for all prosecutors who would like to work independently, according to the law and conscience instead of the "follow the law where the government tells you" model.

The people on behalf of the prosecutor

Resavska Street, where the headquarters of the High Prosecutor's Council (HSC) is located, was too narrow for all the citizens, students, activists, judges, prosecutors, law professors, members of the Proglas, the Local Front, the People's Movement of Serbia, and the Democratic Party, who came to support the prosecutor Bojana Savović. They stood for hours and were noisier than the rain. The sound of whistles and shouts of "Bojan" echoed to the library in the basement of the VST, where the public hearing was held. The Disciplinary Commission allowed only ten representatives of the public to be present under the pretext that there was "no room". However, there was room for empty tables where no one was sitting, there was also room for empty chairs hidden behind screens. Although the VST has the possibility to broadcast discussions live via the Internet channel YouTube, they did not allow that either.

The next public hearing has not yet been scheduled. In the continuation of the process, prosecutor Miodrag Marković and his witness Šćepanović should also be heard. Deputy disciplinary prosecutor Miroslav Rakić opposed the proposal to testify before the commission, prosecutor Dolovac, head of VJT Nenad Stefanović as the applicant against Bojana Savović and professors of ethics. It was the only time he spoke. Although he was sitting at the head of one of the tables, few paid any attention to him. Leaning on his elbows, he supported his head with his fists and watched the whole process with heavy lids, through his eyelashes, as if the tracts about injustice in the Palace of Justice and freedom of speech did not interest him too much. He was like a man who came to do a job.