Police officer suspended after video contradicts official report
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A Novi Sad officer has been suspended following the discovery of a video that reportedly disproves the official account of an undisclosed incident. The suspension arrives as the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) faces accusations of three separate acts of violence in three days, allegedly intended to discourage student protesters. Election season is well underway, and Belgrade is seeing the usual mix of new voting partitions and repurposed cardboard boxes.
The electoral friction has moved to the streets, where Belgrade police stopped vehicles carrying election materials during a student blockade. At the same time, the judiciary is showing uncharacteristic public pushback: a group of judges and prosecutors has condemned a series of pardons issued by President Vučić, alleging the releases were granted under specific, undisclosed conditions.
The former security chief for a previous prime minister is facing allegations of cocaine trafficking, a revelation met with notable silence from the current interior ministry. Elsewhere, negotiations for the sale of the national oil company NIS between Gazprom and MOL have collapsed. Whether there was ever a genuine intent to sell, or if the talks were merely a diplomatic exercise in time-wasting, remains a matter of local debate.