Kraljevo: Speeding, Wrong Lane, Then a Bribe Offer
A North Macedonian national, identified as Z.A., was arrested after allegedly offering money to traffic police on the highway near Kraljevo to avoid a ticket for speeding in the left lane.
Officers of Serbia’s Ministry of Interior have arrested a North Macedonian national suspected of offering money to traffic police on the highway near Kraljevo so they would not file a misdemeanor report against him. The suspect is charged with the criminal offense of bribery.
According to the Ministry of Interior’s statement, the man is identified as Z.A., born in 1983. Tanjug’s report on the case gives his age as 43. The incident that led to the arrest happened on Monday, when the suspect drove his car over the speed limit on the highway and used the left lane, even though the right lane was open to traffic.
When officers from the Traffic Police Directorate pulled him over, the suspect allegedly offered them a cash gift so they would not issue a misdemeanor citation for the violations. The officers refused the money, and the case was reported to the relevant authorities.
Who ran the investigation
The arrest was carried out by officers from the Criminal Police Directorate’s Anti-Corruption Service, acting on an order from the Special Anti-Corruption Department of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Kraljevo. The suspect has been ordered held for up to 48 hours, after which he will be brought before the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Kraljevo along with a criminal complaint.
Announcing the arrest, the Ministry of Interior said its anti-corruption work would continue:
Officers of the Ministry of Interior’s Criminal Police Directorate, Anti-Corruption Service, will continue working to suppress corruption and financial crime across the Republic of Serbia.
That statement accompanied the announcement of the arrest itself.
Not the same case as the earlier arrest at Rudnica
This arrest is unrelated to an earlier case we reported on, the arrest over a suspected bribe offered to a police officer at the Rudnica border crossing. The two are separate proceedings brought by the Special Anti-Corruption Department, both involving attempts to use money to avoid a sanction for a traffic violation, but with different suspects and different locations.
Under Serbian law, the criminal offense of bribery covers anyone who gives or promises a gift to an official so that the official, acting within their official authority, carries out an act they should not perform, or fails to carry out an act they are required to perform. Z.A. is presumed innocent until a final verdict.
