How the documents from the prosecution about the fall of the canopy ended up with Aleksandar Vučić
Link to original article: https://nova.rs/vesti/hronika/kako-su-dokumenta-iz-tuzilastva-o-padu-nadstresnice-zavrsila-kod-aleksandra-vucica
The President of the Republic, Aleksandar Vučić, said on Wednesday evening that he had “collected documentation” about the Novi Sad Railway Station and that it would be published on the website of the Government of Serbia, which was one of the demands of the students to end the blockade. The students said that the conditions were not met, and the question remains how she ended up in the hands of Aleksandar Vučić.
A few hours before the conference in the Presidency, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević also addressed the media and stated that the students’ request cannot be fulfilled, because “the documentation is in the High Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad”. It is not the first time that Serbian officials have given completely contradictory statements on the same topic in a short period of time, as in this case Vučević and Vučić, but, if it is assumed that the President of Serbia was telling the truth, the question remains on the basis of which papers related to the reconstruction of the Railway Station in Novi Sad ended up with him in the first place and what consequences this may have for the eventual court proceedings related to the death of 15 people and the serious injury of two others during the fall of the canopy on November 1 in Novi Sad.
According to lawyer Borivoj Borović, it was not difficult for the President of the Republic to obtain the documentation through certain lawyers close to the authorities who are participants in the proceedings and have insight into the case.
“In principle, all of this is just a show that should satisfy the students who are in a rush. It is obvious that there is an influence of the authorities on the Serbian judiciary, including in this case from the very beginning. We have a case where certain suspects are released to defend themselves or placed under house arrest, while others, including a mother of four children, are given the most severe measure of detention – behind bars. under pressure,” says Borivoje Borović.
According to his words, the speed with which the court proceedings, which have caused great public concern and which are sensitive to the current government, are being completed is impressive.
“You have the massacre in Dubona and Mali Orašje, where the first-instance verdict has already been handed down, you have the massacre at the Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School, where the proceedings are also approaching a verdict. Now we also have the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, for which it was said that the indictment will be brought before the end of the year. This speed is not exactly a characteristic of the Serbian judiciary, but it is visible the intention of the authorities that all those proceedings, which lead directly to the authorities, be completed and closed as soon as possible and that they are not in the focus of the public and here I also see a form of political influence on the judiciary,” explains lawyer Borivoje Borović.
Announcement of the Novi Sad Prosecutor’s Office
In the meantime, the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad announced its actions so far, and among other things, revealed that during the investigation of the VJT in Novi Sad, it allowed the defense to, in accordance with the law, review and copy the entire case files. Bearing in mind that this is not the usual statement of the prosecution when communicating information, it could be viewed through the prism of the evidence that the president showed last night.
“Conditions not met”
The President of the Republic, let’s recall, addressed the media on Wednesday evening from the Presidency building and presented on the table the binders that supposedly contain all the documents related to the Novi Sad Railway Station and on that occasion stated that everything will be published on the Government’s website, and the first documents have already started to appear. These are mostly papers related to construction works, but it is not clear whether the tender documentation will also be published.
In any case, the student representatives who are currently blocking more than 30 faculties in Serbia responded with three words: “The conditions have not been met.”
The students who gathered around the Presidency building made sure that the speech of the President of the Republic did not go as he had imagined. They chanted and whistled as the president spoke, which could also be heard on television. In the end, the members of the Police Brigade were ordered to clear the area so that the President of the Republic could leave the Presidency, and on that occasion there was a push between the policemen and the students, but everything passed without serious incidents.