Senjak: Appeals Court Revokes House Arrest for Three

The Appeals Court in Belgrade has granted an appeal by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office and ordered detention again for three men accused of helping after the Senjak killing. Mario S., Nenad L. and Dejan S. have been moved from house arrest with electronic monitoring back to Belgrade District Prison. The decision is reported on the basis of media accounts: Mondo says it learned of it unofficially from Kurir. No court statement appears in the available sources.

The Appeals Court amended the ruling of the pre-trial panel of the Higher Court in Belgrade from October 2. That ruling had replaced detention for the three with a ban on leaving their homes, enforced by electronic monitoring. The reports do not say how long the newly ordered detention lasts.

What did the prosecution ask for in its appeal?

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office asked the Appeals Court to amend the ruling so that all three remain in detention, to prevent them from repeating the offense within a short period. For Mario S. it also cited a risk of flight. As an alternative, it proposed that the ruling be annulled in the contested part and the case sent back to the Higher Court for a new decision.

In its statement on the appeal, the prosecution claims the Higher Court “wrongly and incompletely established the facts.” In its view, the facts of the case cannot lose weight with the passage of time. It stresses in particular that the pistol used in the killing has not been found. The prosecution said in the statement:

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade believes that Mario S., as well as Nenad L. and Dejan S., must be kept in detention so they do not repeat the offense within a short period, taking into account all the circumstances of this specific case, the kind of persons involved and the offenses they are charged with, that is, the way in which they carried them out. Also, among other reasons, the prosecution pointed out in its appeal that the defendants are charged with having helped Sasa V. avoid discovery by concealing traces and in other ways, and that at this moment, despite the efforts of state bodies, the instrument of the crime, the pistol, most likely a Crvena Zastava 9mm 999, with which the victim was killed, has still not been found

In the same statement the prosecution also warned that there is a justified fear the accused could continue the acts they are charged with, “because they undoubtedly have full knowledge of the incriminated acts and of other circumstances under which the offense of aggravated murder was committed and how it was concealed, and they probably also have information about where the said pistol is.”

What are the accused charged with?

The killing took place on May 12, 2026, at the restaurant “27” in Senjak, and the victim was A. N. In an indictment filed by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office on July 10, 2026, Sasa V. is charged with aggravated murder, together with unlawful production, possession, carrying and trade of weapons and explosive materials.

Mario S., Nenad L., Petar U., Vuk S. and Dejan S. are accused in the same indictment, each of one count of aiding a perpetrator after the fact. Reports on the Appeals Court decision mention only the first three. All the accused are presumed innocent until a final verdict.

Veselin Milic and the separate proceedings

In the early phase of the investigation, Veselin Milic, then head of the Belgrade Police Department, was also suspected of aiding a perpetrator. The prosecution later changed his role in the case, and he is now charged with failing to report a crime and forging an official document. The proceedings against him have been separated and a basic court will try him.

According to Insajder, Interior Minister in the caretaker government Ivica Dacic answered their question by saying that Milic has been reinstated and is an assistant to the police director. Dacic said Milic had been suspended while he was in detention, and that once he was released the legal grounds for keeping him away from work expired.