Serbia's judiciary springs into action after Students' List election win, with arrests and new investigations
After the student-backed list won a landslide in Serbia's October 25 parliamentary election, arrests have begun and long-stalled corruption and abuse-of-office cases are being reopened. Legal experts say the real test will be court verdicts.
Serbia's police and prosecutors have begun making arrests and reviving long-stalled cases since the October 25 parliamentary election, in which a student-backed list defeated Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) by a wide margin. The result ended 14 years of political dominance by Vucic and the SNS, although the new majority has not yet taken control of any levers of power.
Arrests and investigations
In Novi Sad, four people were arrested on suspicion of vote-buying. In Mali Zvornik, six were detained on suspicion of helping citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina register residence in Serbia so they could vote. One of the most prominent cases is the arrest of Davor Macura, owner of Alta Bank, who is suspected of illegally accessing the bank's vault and removing the equivalent of about €383 million. It came days after the National Bank of Serbia revoked the bank's license and began bankruptcy proceedings. Macura has been publicly linked to the SNS, and the bank had significant dealings with the state and many Russian clients.
Senior police officials, the head of the Republic Hydrometeorological Institute and several managers of public companies have also been arrested over suspected abuse of office and rigged procurement.
Concerns over destroyed documents
After the vote, reports and video footage suggested that official documents might have been removed or destroyed in state institutions and public companies. On October 29, Prosecutor General Zagorka Dolovac issued a binding instruction to all chief public prosecutors to prevent the destruction of records.
Assessments
Prosecutor Bojana Savovic told DW that the sudden activity looks like an attempt to ingratiate prosecutors with the new authorities, and said she hopes speed will not undermine the quality of indictments. Tanja Arsic, an incoming MP from the Students' List, stressed that cases must rest on sufficient evidence. Savovic said success should be measured by final convictions and permanent confiscation of criminally acquired assets.
Flight incident
On November 3, an Air Serbia flight from Belgrade to Moscow was turned back while over Lithuanian airspace. Aboard were former defense and interior minister Aleksandar Vulin, Srbijagas director Dusan Bajatovic and minister without portfolio Nenad Popovic. Unofficial reports cited a security breach as the reason.
