Veselin Milic back in police post, trial set for November 9
Minister Dacic confirmed that Veselin Milic is again an assistant police director, while retired officers question why there is no disciplinary proceeding.
Veselin Milic is again serving as assistant director of the police, and his trial is scheduled for November 9 on charges of failing to report a crime and its perpetrator and of forging an official document, in connection with the killing at the “27” restaurant in Senjak. The return was confirmed by Interior Minister in a caretaker mandate Ivica Dacic, while retired police colonel Slavica Radovanovic and retired inspector Predrag Simonovic are most interested in what has not happened: a disciplinary proceeding.
What is Milic charged with?
Until recently Milic was chief of the Belgrade police. He is charged in connection with the killing of Aleksandar Nesovic, known as Baja, at the “27” restaurant in Senjak in May 2026. According to the charges, restaurant owner Nenad L. called Milic on May 12, after 11 p.m., as a police officer he knows personally, to report the killing, which Milic allegedly reported to no one. He is also suspected of entering false information into an official note on May 13, at the offices of the Belgrade Police Department chief, including that he met Sasa V. at the restaurant by chance, although he had personally called him to come.
The first criminal complaint had a different content. It was filed by the Criminal Police Directorate, headed by Marko Kricak, and it also charged Milic with aiding the perpetrator after the act. In that complaint Sasa Vukovic Boske is suspected of the killing. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade dropped that part of the charges, detention was lifted, and an indictment proposal was filed on the remaining two counts. Some media also describe the first of them as concealing a crime, while reports by N1 and Danas cite failure to report a crime and its perpetrator.
The Higher Court in Belgrade declared itself not competent, so the case moved to the First Basic Court, which confirmed that the trial begins on November 9. The proceeding against Milic has been separated from the one against the other defendants in the killing itself, who will be tried before the Higher Court.
Milic’s lawyers responded with a criminal complaint against Kricak and Bosko Sekulovic, head of the Organized Crime Suppression Service, for abuse of office. They claim that evidence in Milic’s favor was not submitted to the prosecution.
Why is there no disciplinary proceeding?
Dacic said that police director Dragan Vasiljevic did not inform him whether a disciplinary proceeding had been opened against Milic, and that Milic’s employment status cannot be changed until the criminal proceeding ends. Radovanovic does not accept that. She told N1 that she no longer trusts the minister, and that opening a disciplinary proceeding, she says, is not tied to the criminal case. She also said that Milic was assigned by decision as assistant director all along, and that the post of Belgrade police chief was secondary for him:
“By decision, Milic was always assigned as assistant director of the police.”
She added that the police director has the authority to move such a senior officer to another post. Of the course of the case so far, she said:
“I knew his role would be played down and that he would be out on bail quickly.”
She also judged that, as she put it, “those who drew up the criminal complaint in the first rush against Veselin Milic should answer far more.” The first complaint, as a reminder, was filed by the Criminal Police Directorate.
Simonovic told Insajder that only the police director can initiate a disciplinary action against an officer of Milic’s rank. He compared it with the case of Major Katarina Petrovic, against whom several disciplinary proceedings have been conducted, the latest over a statement at a book launch.
“We have a law, and before that law we should all be equal.”
Simonovic also assessed that the case is a consequence of a conflict between two interest groups that spills over onto the Interior Ministry (MUP):
“In such circumstances, police officers are like chess pieces that someone moves.”
According to him, all the defendants except the direct perpetrator of the killing are now out of detention, wearing ankle monitors.
What does Radovanovic expect from the police?
Radovanovic also speaks about the mood inside the service. According to her information, there are several factions in the MUP, and the one around Kricak and Milic is currently “probably the most topical.” She warned that the police could split at elections:
“When the vote comes, I think the police will split.”
A little more than a month remains until the first hearing. It will then become clear how the First Basic Court in Belgrade handles the indictment proposal, while the question of a disciplinary proceeding, according to Dacic, awaits an answer from the police director.
