The former Minister of Construction and Transport, a loyal associate of Aleksandar Vučić, made history: he is the first arrested minister in the history of the renewed Serbian multi-party system that had some importance and was known to the general public
Goran Vesić, a lawyer from Belgrade, 55 years old, was arrested on Arandjelovdan, November 21, 2024, and taken to custody in Novi Sad. He was heard before the High Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad, his ministerial immunity was removed and he was ordered to be detained for 30 days in order not to influence the witnesses, but also because of the possible disturbance of the public.
His party friend and boss - Aleksandar Vučić - appearing on RTS on the day Vesić was arrested, said that it was not his right, even though he was not friends with Vesić, but that they were on good terms. It was the first time that a minister from one of Vučić's governments was arrested and he did not stop it with a preventive media attack.
After being detained, Vesić went on a hunger strike. And on November 26, it was announced that he was transferred to the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases in Sremska Kamenica near Novi Sad. The tabloid "Kurir" published his medical history from the examination at the "Dedinje" hospital for cardiovascular diseases, which Vesić attended on Monday, November 18. That paper with the stamp was spread through the nets and it shows that Vesić was in some kind of pre-infarction state in the days immediately before his arrest.
Vesić was not alone. The prosecutor ordered the arrest of 12 more persons, including the former director of the Railway Infrastructure of Serbia, Nebojša Šurlan, the current director of that company, Jelena Tanasković, and the state secretary in the Ministry of Construction and Transport, Anita Dimoski.
After the hearing at the prosecutor's office, Dimoski and Tanasković were released home with house arrest, and Vesić and Šurlan were remanded in custody. Otherwise, there is no information for the public about the other detainees, among whom the engineers are responsible for the design, execution and supervision of the works carried out on the reconstruction project of the station building in Novi Sad.
STARRING STRIKE AND CRIMINAL COMPLAINT LEAKED
On Tuesday, November 26, it was reported that Vesić was taken to the hospital, but the criminal complaint against him, Dimoski and Tanasković was leaked, from which we learn something about the circumstances that led to the fall of the minister and his associates.
As reported on the nova.rs portal, the three of them are being prosecuted because, due to their negligence, a station was opened that was not safe for citizens. Here are some details:
"The suspect Goran Vesić, in the period from October 26, 2022 to November 1, 2024, and the suspect Anita Dimoski, in the period from December 13, 2021 to November 1, 2024, in Novi Sad and Belgrade, in the capacity of officials namely - suspect Goran Vesić, as minister in the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, and suspect Dimoski as acting assistant minister, who was in charge of monitoring the project of reconstruction, modernization and construction of the railway Belgrade-Subotica-state border (Kelebija), and the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure was the financier of the aforementioned project, which includes the reconstruction, extension and adaptation of the station building of the Railway Station in Novi Sad - without applying its powers from the scope of work of the state administration, on July 5, 2024, enabled the commissioning of the lobby of wing B of the railway station building in Novi Sad. And that by talking about the opening of the lobby of wing B, which they both personally attended, and about the further work and use of it by passengers, during the time when the works on the reconstruction and adaptation of the station building of the railway station were still being carried out, until November 1 , did not inform the construction inspection, which is part of the ministry, about the works in question, and for the purpose of conducting inspection supervision and for the purpose of determining by the construction inspection that there are defects in the building of the Railway Station that threaten the safety of its of use and the environment."
For Jelena Tanasković, it is stated:
"Suspect Jelena Tanasković, in the period from May 7, 2024 to November 1, 2024, in Novi Sad and Belgrade, in the capacity of acting general director of 'Infrastruktur železnice Srbije' ad Belgrade, as an investor in the project of reconstruction, modernization and construction of the railway Belgrade-Subotica-border state (Kelebija), which project includes the reconstruction, extension and adaptation of the station building, as the person responsible for the legality of its work, On July 5, 2024, she enabled the commissioning of the lobby of wing B of the station building of the Railway Station, which she personally attended, even though the investor had not registered the works before the start of the works, and construction work on the station building was still in progress. current."
STREET REANIMATION OF THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
While we are waiting for the next steps of the prosecution, which suddenly revived since last Thursday, it could be concluded from the above that Vesić and his associates are suspected of having opened the facility without carrying out all the previous actions that were necessary to make the facility safe for use. . In the days since it became known about the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, the public demanded to be told exactly who opened the unfinished building twice, because it seemed that this was the key question and that the person, or persons, bears the greatest responsibility responsibility for the fall of part of the building and, consequently, the death of 15 people.
The actions of the prosecution took place after two days of protests by the opposition in front of the Palace of Justice in Novi Sad, which houses both the courts and the prosecution. For two days, the opposition was on the brink of an open conflict with the special unit of the Gendarmerie, as the Minister of the Interior, Ivica Dacic, deployed a heavily equipped police brigade to break up the violent demonstrations. Namely, the MPs tried to pressure the prosecutor's office to do something about the death of 15 people in Novi Sad, and the court to release the political prisoners who were arrested because of the protest in Novi Sad.
The prosecution reacted on Thursday, and the court on Friday. Late in the afternoon on Friday, November 22, Goran Ješić, Miša Bačulov and others were released. The "release" happened after the action "Stop Serbia" for 15 minutes, which was carried out at dozens of major intersections across Serbia on Friday, from 11:52 a.m. to 12:07 p.m.
This action of civil disobedience infuriated the regime, so by bringing out its lower officials and members of the SNS, it tried to provoke conflicts in several locations in different cities of Serbia, but by tightening its rhetoric. After the initial slogan "we seek political and criminal responsibility", the focus was shifted towards political opponents with the cry "They want war, we want work".
As a real progressive leader, Vučić used the weekend to address the citizens several more times, especially from his accounts on social networks: he visited construction sites and left messages that nothing should stop Serbia, it must work and develop and so on. .
This advertising message - "Better work than war" - will be embodied especially through the parliament and new media appearances of the regime. The session of the National Assembly of Serbia with 25 agenda items was scheduled for November 68 - only the second in the autumn convocation. The number of items on the agenda clearly showed the government's intention to "hurry up" and "bury" everything, and to place an administrative canopy over the legislative branch of government and the public, which would cover every initiative. Basically, the regime wants to stop the protests in Serbia by any means possible, remove the opposition and citizens from the streets, bring them into the limited and limited space of the assembly and "finish" them there - as it is now said in the slang of the younger generations.
HOW ONE ANA ABOLISHED PARLIAMENTARISM
Epitomized by Ana Brnabić, the President of the Assembly, the government ignored the legitimate request of the opposition to include the debate on the confidence in the Government of Serbia on the agenda. Brnabić rejected that request and the legally based initiative, claiming that two signatures of the fugitive MPs - Sonja Pernat and Irene Živković - were compromised. On that occasion, the President of the Parliament ignored the fact that no law or regulation was violated, but claimed that it was unacceptable, accused the opposition of falsification, reminded of the "Bodrum case", which even its participants do not remember from more than 20 years ago... On in the end, she scheduled the session as agreed with her party.
Along with the rejection of the demands of the opposition, whose position was that the Parliament must discuss what happened at the station in Novi Sad, especially after two ministers resigned and, it seemed, even more so after one of them, Vesić, suspected and arrested, the regime argued the rejection of such a proposal by claiming that every discussion about the budget is a discussion about the Government and that there is no need for a separate debate.
Such a decision by the Speaker of the Parliament was assessed as legal violence, but law and justice are not something that characterize this government - as if nothing had happened and as if there was no longer any possibility to influence the decisions suspending the legal system.
Monday, November 25 will be recorded in the history of Serbia's political life: the scheduled session was interrupted due to a fight between representatives of the government and the opposition, and then continued with Brnabić just reading everything she had on the agenda, stating that there were no people registered for the debate and closing the session. On Wednesday the 27th, a vote was scheduled for all the laws proposed in the 68 points of the agenda, without any debate on them, and at the time of writing this text (Tuesday) it is not yet known whether everything went as planned by the progressives.
However, the fight in the parliament was preceded by a performative action by the opposition, which tried to prevent Prime Minister Miloš Vučević from speaking about the budget proposal for 2025 with noise and waving placards that read "Your hands are bloody" and "Corruption kills". The regime MPs reacted to the hint of that move, and there was a push in front of the part in the hall where the members of the government are sitting. For the most part, everything was more or less seen in the live broadcast.
Brnabić took a break when she realized that she could not ensure the normal functioning of the Parliament, and when she returned to the hall, she dictated what was obviously given to her during the break, so, with the messages "You will never defeat us", "Serbia will to win" and "Long live Serbia" and with a raised fist in the air, closed the session and left the hall surrounded by gorillas from security.
In the relatively short but tumultuous history of Serbian multipartyism, we have seen all kinds of things: intrusions by parents who demanded that their children not go to war, violence by former radicals, ripping out microphones and pouring water on the chairman, throwing shoes, uttering curses, waving prison uniforms, carrying out disobedient deputies and separation of opposition MPs by a cordon of police parliamentary security. But this kind of performance by the chairman has never been seen before, nor has it ever happened to "end the session in the plenum" in this way.
As in other promotional activities in the last 12 years, Vučić has shown that there is nothing he will not do if it brings rating points, so this event can also be interpreted that way. On the same day, he "spoke" on Pink TV and literally said that he was proud of Brnabić, how she successfully worked according to plan and how she sent all the messages that had been agreed upon in the right way. The opposition assessed this as the extinguishment of parliamentarism and the abolition of the Serbian Parliament
RETURN OF WRITTEN OFF
It seems that the opposition parties were also taken aback by the regime's actions, which demonstrated what it looks like to practice administrative coldness. The Speaker of the Assembly is reading as if everything is fine, surrounded by security gorillas, the opposition is standing around and making noise...
The regime, which is not able to express condolences or show sympathy, but sends its agents to see what has to be paid for funerals and memorials, as expected, reduced the National Assembly to a mere administrative form, which it did not have even in the era of one-party rule. The sessions of the former SFRY Assembly were a model of democracy for what the progressives and their regime are doing now.
The regime succeeded in its intention - it shifted the focus of the public from the tragedy, or as many say, from the murder of 15 people in Novi Sad, to some kind of incident in the Serbian Parliament; the regime decided to, metaphorically, kill the democratic order just so that there would be no talk of how they are responsible for the greatest tragedy that Novi Sad remembers.
The next day, TV stations with national coverage went to Ana Brnabić, so that she could show them what it looks like when the opposition "runs wild in the parliament" and to present the situation in the meeting hall as worse than the situation at the station in Novi Sad after the roof fell. That everything is, of course, part of an organized communication action is also shown by the fact that the hall was not cleaned on Tuesday, but cameras were first brought in to record the "chaos", and only then will the cleaners and technicians enter. The action to draw attention was aimed at regaining control over the public narrative: there is chaos in the Parliament, it was caused by the opposition that wants war, no one remembers or should remember what happened in Novi Sad less than a month ago.
So, after several weeks of hysteria, Vučić and his team believe that they have everything in their hands again and that they are slowly regaining the trust of "their public", and in this sense, further investigation will be conducted against the suspects for the fall of the canopy at the Railway Station in Novi Sad. Vučić spoke voluptuously on Pink on Monday evening, learned the wisdom of the presenters who sat across from him, read the results of public opinion polls and railed against the irresponsible opposition which, according to him, is counting the last days before its complete disappearance.
The opposition, such as it is, along with those citizens who felt the need to find themselves on the streets and at least in some way show that they do not agree with the situation in Serbia, showed that the public has power and that properly directed actions can force the regime to backed away. What has been problematic all these years, and which is a consequence of the fragmentation of numerous organizations and leaders, is that the actions are short of breath and can hardly stand the race in the long run. It shows that the opposition, as well as the general public, are unable either to focus all their energy on just one topic and stay on it until it is resolved, or to cover dozens of different topics that the government throws away or hides from the public. Part of the public expects from them some kind of plan, some schedule of moves, but we still see that this is the problem of all those who perform under the opposition "banners".
TO A FRIEND, TO A FRIEND...
While the matter is temporarily quieting down on the street, the public expects the prosecution to carry out the investigation to the end and within a reasonable time frame indictments against those for whom it has evidence that they are responsible for the death of 15 people in Novi Sad. The government renounced one of its leaders - if there are such leaders in the SNS - Goran Vesić, whom Vučić used to say were friends "since college".
If we were to go back in time, to the beginning of the nineties, it is hard to imagine how a radical from New Belgrade and an ambitious man from Kraljevo who put up posters featuring Borislav Pekić were friends. All of us who grew up in Belgrade in the nineties know that there were all kinds of people at the University, but that it was very rare to run into a radical. In that sense, Vučić was special, and that is why he was immediately elevated to the top of Šešelj's party, because it was not easy for Šešelj to recruit anyone literate, especially from Belgrade.
In this context, although everything is possible in politics, it is hard for Vesić to really think that Vučić could be any kind of friend: moreover, Vučić himself would have arrested Vesić during the bombing in 1999, if he could have caught him. This one brought him something by switching to the progressives in 2012 to 2013 - he probably passed on what he knew from the inside about Vučić's political enemies. Now that it was necessary to "sacrifice" someone, it seems that Vučić had no dilemma - he gave an acquaintance from his student days who has no god-knows what rating in the party. It is as if he measured in the focus group what would please the public and what would not disturb his internal system.
It seems that Vesić also understood this, so despite the fact that on the day of his arrest he announced via social media that he responded to the summons of the prosecution, he quickly went on a hunger strike, and was not placed in the prison where Ješić and the other political detainees were . Now the former minister, who showed inappropriate loyalty for someone involved in politics, can hardly explain to himself how it is okay to be a scapegoat even if he was told - everything will be fine, hang in there for a while and don't worry. Proceedings against him will be conducted, it is hard to imagine that he will avoid the indictment. And whether he likes to share the fate of one Dejan Anđus or Predrag Koluvija, we will find out faster than it might seem now.
Less than two days of blockade - that's how long it took to see how weak and powerless the public media service is, both from the outside and from the inside. At the moment of writing this text, it is the eighth day of the blockade, and the sixth that RTS is not broadcasting its program. They also seem to be facing a strike inside the house. And the essence of blocking RTS is not in what it publishes, but in what it keeps silent
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The rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, has been the target of top state officials and regime tabloids for months, who label him as an insidious instigator of student protests, an opportunist, "the face of evil" and "the leader of the criminal octopus." How and why a rector became "state enemy number one"
"I'm standing in the cordon, and my daughter is shouting at me 'aw, aw, killers'. What should I do? If they ordered me - I would throw down my baton and bulletproof vest and stand on the side of my child," a police officer from the south of Serbia, who works as needed in the Belgrade Police Brigade, told "Vreme"
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Who mentions the extraordinary elections when the rating of the party in power is falling, and according to all surveys, Vučić is not the most important political factor in the country, but the students?
The brutal beating of students and citizens in Novi Sad shows that the regime is not only ready to take revenge - it is actually carrying it out
If in reality the principle of balance is violated - the way the incompetent regime violated the relationship between the concrete elements at the Novi Sad Railway Station - reality will behave like a canopy: it will fail to obey
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