After the democratic changes in our country which took place in 2001, citizens of Serbia expected a quick and efficient reform of judiciary. Unfortunately, corruption and crime, a disease that grew tenacious and widespread roots way back in the time of Slobodan Milosevic, wars and economic sanctions, proved too tough to tackle by several governments. Only with President Tadic, Prime Minister Cvetkovic and Justice Minister Malovic, there came the necessary courage and commitment to tackle this bane. In order for the process to start, several crucial milestones had to be covered primary of which being the complicated and delicate process of judiciary reform. Furthermore, the entire process needed to be started from scratch.
Until then, the judiciary flagrantly violated its basic principles of the rule of Law,proper functioning while facilitating the conduct of political influence in the judiciary, manipulated processes, electoral fraud, non-disclosure and non-impunity of perpetrators of serious crimes. The last election of judges was held in 1998, when Milosevic's SPS and the ultranationalist SRS radical party were in power.
Adoption of the new Constitution in 2006, created the legal framework for implementation of the comprehensive judicial reform and of the procedure of general election in the judiciary. Besides this, the analysis has demonstrated that:
According to the public opinion, judiciary was perceived as the second most corrupt sector in the country. An analysis conducted by the Ministry of Justice showed that during a five-year period more than 4,500 criminal proceedings have reached the statute of limitation. Of total number of convictions reached in criminal proceedings, prison sentences were handed down in only 17% of cases, most of them below the minimum provided by law. Civil, especially commercial proceedings, last too long, more than several years.
The reform has been designed to boost the efficiency of judicial proceedings, guarantee access to justice to all citizens, create improved conditions for better-quality and faster trials under reasonable deadlines, and to eliminate all the faults and mistakes noted in hitherto practice.
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Efficient court proceedings,
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Stepping up the fight against organized crime and corruption,
3. Protection of investments through the commercial courts proceedings.
Main phases of the reform are as follows:
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The implementation of the procedure of general election for all judges and prosecutors, since the achievement of the set objectives is possible only if Serbian judiciary has honorable, worthy and competent prosecutors and judges.
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Change of procedures in criminal and civil cases, as well as in cases of enforcement of verdicts.
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Modification of work organization: a) Modification of the court network – decrease in the number of courts with small number of judges, b) Introduction of new programs that provide accountability – an insight into the case management process, c) Introduction of new legal professions – notaries and Court Enforcement Officers employed by private companies.
General election:
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After receiving the joint letter sent by Commissioner Füle and Commissioner Reding, Ministry of Justice has initiated a direct contact with the Directorate for Enlargement in order to urgently address all opened issues and get EU guidelines.
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Number of measures have been undertaken in order to remove the shortcomings pointed out in the Annual Report as well as in the letters of commissioners (Barroso, Füle, Reding):
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Standing compositions of the HJC and SPC have been constituted,
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Improved procedure and conditions regarding the right to vote, the nomination and election of members of the standing composition of HJC and SPC through the amendments and supplements to the legislation,
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Standing compositions of the HJC and SPC are in the process of implementing the review procedures for all the categories of bearers of judicial functions (non-elected, first time elected, elected for the permanent function).
After one year and half, analysis of the court performance demonstrates that key goals of the reform are being reached. Following facts serve as the confirmation to this conclusion:
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New judiciary institutions have been established (Supreme Court of Cassation, Appeals courts, Administrative Court) which significantly contribute to the efficiency of and relieve the pressure on the existing network of courts.
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Penal policy is strictly and coherently applied (prison sentences have been handed down in 55% of cases compared with the total number of pronounced sentences),
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Efficiency of the commercial courts is increased – statistics show 86% percent success rate in solving cases for this year,
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Confiscation of assets in the total amount exceeding 300 million Euros,
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Introduction of software which will follow individual cases and serves to finally register all cases at all court levels in Serbia;
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Introduction of a software system which enables random selection of judges.
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Adjustment with international conventions and Serbia's obligations stemming from the membership in international organizations and expert bodies (GRECO, MANIVAL, etc),
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Promotion and speeding-up of procedures,
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Promotion and facilitation of regional cooperation,
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An initiative has been launched for signing bilateral agreements on extraditing own citizens among Western Balkan countries (Croatia, Montenegro) designed to enable extraditing for criminal acts involving organized crime and corruption,
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An essential institution of modern judiciary has been established - Judiciary Academy which is designed to, by establishing adequate, continuous and specialist training, guarantee a meritorious election of new judiciary officials.
Some indicators of reform
During 2010, judges of the Civil Law Department of the First District Court, which also happens to be the biggest court in Serbia, were working on between 500 and 550 cases. Only in the first quarter of 2011, the judges are averaging 350 cases. In 2010, the judges in Civil Law cases solved 15.95% of the cases, which this result doubled in the first quarter of 2011 to 32.52% In January, 2010, there were 36,969 cases, while the number went down in the same month 2011 to 32,990.
The First District Court has recorded in every sphere of its work a high increase of solved cases from 50.47% in i.e. family cases to 160% in executive proceedings, meaning, e.g. that in 2010 2,370 cases were finalized while in the first quarter of this year as many as 6,162.
Courts of Appeal, in contrast with the first six months of last year, have shown a massive improvement rate and solved 75% of their case load.
* The percentage of solved cases and speed of trials will additionally increase after the adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and the Law on Civil Law Proceedings (LCLP).
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Solutions laid down by the new CPC and LCLP will create conditions for the citizens to no longer wait for decades to get the final effective verdict – or to be more precise, these laws will enable a civil suit to last two years and a criminal case one. Despite the fact that under the European standards a civil suit can last up to three years, we have opted for more rigid solution to allow citizens to achieve their rights in shortest time possible. The laws should be in the Parliament by June this year.
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The new CPC puts the investigation in the hands of prosecutors instead of courts.
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The procedure for collecting evidence is more precisely defined.
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A new institution is introduced – a deal between the public prosecutor and the defendant to plea guilty to a criminal act, a deal on testimony of the defendant, and the deal on defendant’s testimony.
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Cut down in the number of available special legal remedies;
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Introduction of a special procedure to modify an already effective verdict.
- Institutes that allow the prosecution to make an out of the court settlement further contribute to more court procedure and an efficient justice. For example, the principle of Opportunity – applied last year on more than 5,000 persons – allows the Prosecutor to drop further charges if the defendant fulfils an obligation, i.e. pays compensation or donates funds to charity. This is mainly used in property disputes, for example in cases of illegal building.
Fight against corruption
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Reform of judiciary is in direct correlation with suppressing corruption through its main goals – the improvement of normative, procedural, personal and institutional functioning of the judiciary.
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Competences of the Office of Prosecutor for Organized Crime have been expanded to cover criminal offences of high profile corruption, when the defendant, i.e. person taking a bribe, is an official who has been elected, nominated or appointed on his or her public function by the National Assembly, Government, High Judicial Council or State Prosecutorial Council (criminal offences of the so-called high profile corruption).
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Legal framework was completed and harmonized with international standards by adopting the following laws: Law on Anti-corruption Agency, Law on Seizure and Confiscation of Proceeds From Crime, Law on Protection of Personal Data, Law on Liability of Legal Persons for Criminal Offences, Law on Judicial Academy.
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Institutions were established - Anti-corruption Agency (January 2010), Directorate for Management of Seized and Confiscated Assets (March 2009)
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Ministry of Justice and the Anti-corruption Agency have drafted the Law on Financing of Political Activities which got positive experts opinions from the CoE, ODIHR-OSCE and EC.
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Statistics of the Republic Prosecutors Office has shown a 50% increase in the number of proceedings initiated against criminal offences of corruption in 2011 (until today), comparing with 2010.
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A number of criminal proceedings have been launched against senior officials. Sentences have been handed down in many cases, like the one from March 2011 when 21 defendants were given a total of 60 years in prison for customs fraud. The group made several million euros on smuggling.
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Ministry of Justice, Anti-corruption Agency and Ministry of Interior initiated a review of the National Anti-corruption Strategy and its Action Plan in the light of the fact that legal framework was completed and key institutions established;
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The new Criminal Procedure Code was adopted. This Code will contribute to more efficient work of the judicial bodies in the fight against organized crime and corruption. The draft Code has passed expert public debate and obtained a positive expert opinion of the CoE;
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Establishment of better coordination between the institutions which can contribute to the preventive function in suppressing corruption.
Concrete actions
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The first verdict in high profile corruption case was reached in December 2010, when the Special Court in charge of war crimes and organized crime found guilty and sentenced former Deputy Prosecutor for the city of Pozega, Caslav Milojevic, to four years of prison for bribery. The former Prosecutor was also fined with RSD 500,000 (approx. 5,000 eur) and disbarred.
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In November 2010, the office of Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime has launched an investigation into alleged corruption, embezzlement, and violation of medical procedure against eight persons, including Nenad Borojevic, director of Serbia’s top cancer research hospital. Borojevic and his group are suspected of series of embezzlements in the procedure of public procurement of cancer treatment drugs between 2007 and 2009. The Prosecution believes that the group had agreed and inflated prices of drugs covered by the universal medical insurance and purchased them from favoured pharmaceutical companies.
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In January 2011, the Special Court in charge of Organized Crime has opened the trial of former director of Serbian State railways, Milenko Sarancic, and three of his closest aides accused of damaging the company for 1,235,000 euro.
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March 2011 – Twenty one defendant sentenced to a total of 60 years of prison over customs fraud. The group made more than several million euros from smuggling.
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March 2011 – The Prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into alleged corruption, abuse of office, and money laundry against the former general manager of state company Roads of Serbia Branko Jocic. The group is suspected of embezzlement of funds received from the European Bank for reconstruction and repairs after a landslide in municipalities of Krupanj and Loznica. The group has paid 43 million RSD to a privately-owned company Rotijer for the reconstruction it never performed. Rotijer than bought a 63 m2 apartment for Jocic’s mother for which it paid 2.5 million RSD. In January 2011, a district court sentenced Jocic to two years for forging documents, and overstepping the budget in excess of 190 million RSD.
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In May 2011, an investigation was launched against 17 persons over reasonable doubt that they committed several acts of abuse of office and money laundry between 2005 and 2008, during construction of regional road between Pozarevac and Kostolac, and maintenance of regional roads, thereby damaging the state budget for more than 300 million RSD.
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An investigation was launched against former general manager of state company Roads of Serbia, Branko Jocic, former member of the Main Board of Serbian Power Company (EPS), Radosav Savatijevic, and another 15 persons. The Prosecution believes that they charged Roads of Serbia and Directorate for Construction of the municipality of Pozarevac for road construction and maintenance they never performed. As a result, a number of persons and private companies acquired illegal profits. Most of the works have been carried out without proper documentation and approvals. Works on construction of regional road between Pozarevac and Kostolac were given to the company PZP Beograd without proper public procurement notice, and the work was carried out without permission. Works on maintenance of regional roads have been given to the same company despite the fact that it had no authority to perform that kind of work. Furthermore, the group has drained money from Roads of Serbia for purchasing more than 86,000 tonnes of asphalt that was never used on aforementioned roads.
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In May 2011, the Special Court for Organized Crime launched an investigation into alleged embezzlement and abuse of office by the owner of Nibens Corporation, Milo Djuraskovic and his aides. The Prosecution believes that the group has damaged Krusevac-based “Fam” company for more than 32 million euros, while Djuraskovic himself acquired more than 15 million euros. The investigation includes a number of Djuraskovic’s closest aides who accumulated several functions in a number of other companies. Among them are Dejan Jevtic and Risto Ristic from Belgrade, Fam’s general manager Branislav Jovanovic from Krusevac, member of Fam’s Main Board Liljana Kostic, and Chief Financial Officer Milica Bradic; it further included top officials from “PZP Beograd” Boro Jelic and Srdjan Filipovic. They are suspected of acquiring illegal financial gain for Djuraskovic in the period between 2007 and 2010 by delivering payouts from Nibens Group and by using the company’s business structure under their direct or indirect control. They were taking loans from commercial banks for “Fam” company and than transferred the money – in agreement with Djuraskovic – to accounts of another private firm, the Share Corporation.
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Former Kolubara coal mine General Director, Dragan Tomic, and 16 other suspects were arrested on suspicion of abuse of office and embezzlement of more than EUR 10mn. Besides Tomic who was the Kolubara director from 2004-2008, police also arrested Dragan Jovicic, who succeeded him in 2008-2009, former Serbian Power Company (EPS) Board of Directors and Pam-ek, Aros beton, Beokran komerc and Beoogrev companies owner Radoslav Savatijevic, and another 14 former and current Kolubara officials and owners of private enterprises. The arrests follow months of pre-trial investigation by the Office of Prosecutor for Organized Crime. The police submitted volumes of evidence which is now under procedure. More than 30 persons are now included in this procedure. The prosecution has launched this case back in 2008.
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The Office of Prosecutor for Organized Crime is leading a pre-trial investigation which lead to the arrest of nine persons in Novi Sad, over reasonable doubt that they abused their positions as members of Executive Board and Overseeing Board of Metals Bank, and allowed illegal credit lines that had drained more than 1.615.000.000,00 RSD from the bank in the period between 2006 to October 2008.
The sheer complexity of high profile corruption cases and the number of accused contributes to slow court procedures – which is why these cases take longer, but certainly not the lack of political will or the lack of legal or technical frame.
Serbian authorities have been warning that no one will be spared in the fight against corruption, and that no one’s position in a party or government could make him above the law. In the latest move, on Tuesday, Oct 4, the police arrested the Mayor of the Alibunar district in Serbia, Danijel Kismarton, for allegedly receiving 5,000 euros in bribes. Kismarton is a member of the ruling DS party.
ONGOING TRIALS
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Darko Saric’s criminal group – trial is under way in front of the Special Court for Organized Crime for smuggling of 2 T of cocaine from South America, the same group stands a separate trial for laundering more than 20 million euros acquired through the sell of cocaine. Similar proceedings – for smuggling 2,174 kg of cocaine – are under way in Italy, Slovenia, Brazil, and Uruguay. In the meantime, two fresh indictments have been brought for the same criminal acts. A number of businessmen, lawyers, and mangers have also been brought to dock...
The example of Darko Saric’s criminal group clearly shows the strength of Mafia, but also its ability to intertwine with state and political structures. Saric and his group have for years been laundering the money earned from cocaine as investors in Serbia’s privatisation cycle.
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Trial of former general manager of Serbia’s State Railways, Milenko Sarancic and three of his closest aides is under way in front of the Special Court for Organized Crime. They are accused of damaging the company for 1,235.000 euros.
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Another trial under way in front of the Special Court is that of a group widely known as “SMS Mafia”. The group is accused of lottery fraud – they engineered text messages to collect prizes - five apartments and 125 cars.
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Trial of Sreten Jocic, AKA Joca Amsterdam, and Belgrade wing of his criminal group. They are accused of assassinating Ivo Pukanic, owner of Zagreb-based weekly Nacional, and his associate Niko Franic on October 23, 2008 in Zagreb.
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A marathon trial is under way against “Bankruptcy Mafia”. Thirty six persons are accused on 105 accounts, and the estimated damage to the state budget is around 50 million euros. The group had been forcing state companies into bankruptcy in order to sell them for undercut prices. Examples include “C-Market”, “Postal Bank”, “Rad” and “Slavija”. Among the accused are managers, lawyers, judges...
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Former mayor of the northern town of Zrenjanin, Goran Knezevic, together with a number of building inspectors, developers, and municipal officials are also on trial as a part of the larger anti-corruption drive... Trial of Knezevic and his group is approaching the end and prosecution has requested further expert testimonials in order to prove that the municipality was damaged for at least 150 million RSD.
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In the Higher Court in Belgrade, a trial of former manager of Red Star Belgrade, Dragan Dzajic and two of his associates, Vladimir Cvetkovic, and Milos Marinkovic over alleged seizure of 10 million euros from the transfer of five football players to foreign clubs. A procedure for temporary confiscation of their property is under way.
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A group of 20 persons accused of setting a fire on a mosque in Belgrade during the violent demonstrations in March 2004 is now under way.
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A former President of Serbia’s Football Association, Zvezdan Terzic, and three of his associates are now standing trial in Belgrade over alleged seizure of four million euros from the transfer of players from Serbian to foreign football clubs. Terzic was on the run for a number of years.
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Arrest of the former director-general of the Republic Institute for Health Insurance (RZZO) Svetlana Vukajlović and another two persons, suspected of abuse of office in the process of procurement of vaccines against the H1N1 virus took place in late September 2011. The arrest was made under the order of the Prosecutor for Organized Crime.
Fight against organized crime
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Decisive fight against organized crime and corruption in all fields.
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A large number of criminal groups have been broken up.
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Persons seen by the general public as local and regional leaders of the organized crime have been found guilty and sentenced. Trials and investigations against those suspected of organized crime and all other types of crime are under way, as well as trials in the cases against hooligans.
Focus in the area of combating organized crime has been given to three major aspects:
1) Improving international cooperation
2) Fight against the trade of narcotics
3) Due application of the Law on seizure and confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and initiation of financial investigations
In all three aspects have a track record with considerable results.
Having in mind a growing seriousness of the criminal acts (narcotics, cigarettes and arms) managed by the criminal organizations from the Balkans, among who’s members there are also citizens of the Republic of Serbia, as well as the tight connections with criminal groups operating in other countries it could be said that in Serbia there is a proven international dimension of organized crime. Therefore, since 2009 a great step forward has been made with regards to the international cooperation which has been intensified and rooted in solid results.
In fact, majority of cases initiated in 2009 in one way or another have been a result of cooperation of the Prosecutors Office for Organized Crime primarily with the prosecutors in the region but also with numerous other European and international counterparts. Statistically measured almost 70-80% of criminal proceedings in 2009 has been initiated due to cooperation with prosecutors and law enforcement agencies of other countries. The cooperation process was mutual thus the activities of the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime thus this cooperation also enabled initiation of investigations and criminal proceedings in other countries.
Exemplary case of international cooperation relates to the case of assassination of Ivo Pukanic, owner of the Nacional weekly, which took place in Zagreb in 2008, a case which was initiated in direct cooperation with the authorities of the Republic of Croatia. Another good example is the cooperation with the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina which led to the initiation of criminal proceedings against a criminal group led by Darko Elez. In at least two cases of cooperation with the police and prosecutors of the Republic of Macedonia, proceedings have been initiated against perpetrators for illegal crossing of state border and human trafficking, while in one of the major cases of exposed narcotics trade (cocaine) authorities of Belgium, Netherlands and Italy extended their assistance.
Through regional cooperation the Serbian authorities secured the apprehension, extradition and a retrial of two members of the Zemun Clan – Milos Simovic, and Sretko Kalinic – for the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. Retrial began on June 1 in front of Special Court. One of the most recent operations conducted, in joint operation with British SOCA, was the arrest of a group from Serbia AKA “Jagodinska grupa” in Greece for smuggling approximately 120 kilograms of cocaine
Nevertheless, one of the most significant cases was initiated due to a good international cooperation – case “Balkan Warrior” which relates to the interception and seizure of 2.174 kilograms of cocaine in the Santa Lucia Port in Uruguay on the 15th of October 2009 together with the seizure of 235 kilograms of cocaine in the vicinity of the Italian town of Pisa on the 19th of January 2009. In this case on the 12 April 2010 an indictment has been raised against Darko Saric together with 19 other individuals charged for organizing a group in order to commit criminal offences as well as unlawful production, keeping and circulation of narcotics. Parallel to this case Prosecutors Office is conducting an investigation in the case of money laundering against the members of this organized criminal group.
Besides the criminal group of Darko Saric, in 2009 proceeding against international organized criminal group established and leaded by Ivan Pavlovic AKA Iker was initiated. This case is related to the criminal organization whose leader coordinated from Serbia, a significant illegal flow of narcotics abroad. More precisely, this group illegally circulated – trafficked cocaine in the area of Belgium, Netherlands and Italy. In these countries criminal proceedings are initiated against the members of this group, while the leader of the group was not prosecuted. Ivan Pavlovic was prosecuted in Serbia after sufficient evidences and data was collected, as a result of effective international cooperation of the Special Prosecutors’ Office and judicial authorities of the abovementioned countries.
Another important aspect of combating organized crime and serious crimes were the results of domestic initiatives taken against the hooligans and other perpetrators of violent acts. Only during the events of 11-12 October 2010 123 persons have been arrested and brought before the investigative judge. Prosecutor’s office raised 31 charges against 104 individuals. In two cases a convicting court sentence was reached, 21 individuals are waiting for the sentence, 62 individuals are being tried, 11 individuals are still under investigation, against 8 individuals the charges were dismissed.
Also, after less than a year since Brice Taton, an innocent French football fan, was killed in Belgrade by hooligans in a gruesome fashion, Court in Belgrade sentenced 14 Serbian hooligans to a total of 240 years in prison for his murder in a first instance verdict after nine months of hearings.
Law on Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime allowed state bodies to hit those involved in organized crime by confiscating their illegally acquired property. A house and land in Belgrade’s municipality of Zemun that used to belong to members of Zemun Clan, part of the house of the crack police commander Milorad Ulemek and an apartment in Novi Sad have been permanently confiscated. A number of other properties, bank accounts, and companies have been temporarily frozen under provisions of this law, and until the end of trials. Permanently confiscated property becomes the property of the Republic of Serbia.
The main objective of this law is discourage and act against the main motive for criminal acts – to improve and acquire economic power and to infiltrate illegal funds in regular economy. Experiences of other countries show that prison sentences, if not accompanied by such measures, have failed to punish those responsible as they continued with their activities after release, or even while in prison – because their economic power has not been affected. Mobsters launder money acquired through crime by using regular and legal paths and bribe state officials, judiciary, media, and financial institutions. They are trying to infiltrate their illegal capital in all parts of society, and it is exactly by discovering those illegal flows, financial investigations, and confiscation of property that we take economic power from the criminals – without that, their network cannot be broken. In that way, we prevent illegal capital from infiltrating in all parts of society – a serious problem for economic development, and for attracting FDI.
Successful implementation of this law has prevented perpetrators of acts of organized crime to use their illegal economic power to continue with crimes after release.
All proceeds from renting of permanently or temporarily seized or confiscated property are used exclusively for the benefit of vulnerable groups, and for charity.
The Directorate has given the buildings and assets confiscated from criminals to the following beneficiaries:
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“House for Parents”;
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Kindergartens;
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Financial assistance for Soup Kitchens, Red Cross, “Hello Baby” – a state-sponsored website for new parents.
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Financial assistance for areas affected by natural disasters;
Prison System
Reform of prison system is under way and has three main objectives:
1. Improving existing capacities (Central Prison, Prison Hospital) and construction of new capacities (special department in Pozarevac, and Padinska Skela)
2. Finalisation of preparations for the construction of three new prisons (Pancevo, Kragujevac and Medvedja),
3. Introduction of alternative sanctions (community service, electronic tagging).
A system of electronic surveillance and tagging has been introduced for persons sentenced to house arrest – thus finalising the process of implementation of alternative sanctions. Implementation of house arrest with and without electronic surveillance allows for significant savings, takes the pressure off the prison facilities, and contributes to re-socialisation of convicts. It is expected that system will be expanded in the future and that judges will be using this measure more often.