Milivojevic Seeks List of All Vucic Pardons
The Democratic Party leader has asked the General Secretariat of the President of the Republic for pardon and amnesty decisions from May 31, 2017 to September 27, 2026.
Democratic Party (DS) president Srdjan Milivojevic has filed a freedom of information request with the General Secretariat of the President of the Republic of Serbia. He is asking for every pardon and amnesty decision that Aleksandar Vucic issued as head of state.
The request covers the period from May 31, 2017 to September 27, 2026, that is, up to the end of Vucic’s term. According to a criminal complaint filed by the DS, on that day Vucic signed an act pardoning 49 people.
What does Milivojevic say in his statement?
In a statement, Milivojevic claims there are indications that Vucic’s act covered “persons whose testimony before judicial institutions could show that they are part of an organized criminal group headed by the former president.” That is the DS leader’s assessment, not an established fact.
He justifies the request by citing the public interest: “The public rightly demands this information,” Milivojevic said. According to him, information has surfaced that Vucic pardoned a larger number of people during his term and earlier, without informing citizens and without a clear procedure. The DS adds in its statement that such conduct raises the question of Vucic’s criminal liability, which is why the party has already filed a criminal complaint.
What came before the request?
The DS filed the criminal complaint against Vucic on October 2, on reasonable suspicion that he exceeded his official powers and pardoned 49 people in violation of the Law on Pardons. Milivojevic said at the time that, according to information available to the party, the justice minister had not submitted an opinion if the procedure was started on a petition, nor a pardon proposal if it was started ex officio.
On September 27, after resigning, Vucic said he had pardoned 49 people “despite the opinion of various services of the Republic of Serbia.” Beta also carries his explanation of how the list is structured:
“Of the 49 pardoned, 23 people are tied to all these terrible events we have been through over the past year and a half, and despite the opinion of part of the commission, despite the opinion of various services of the Republic of Serbia, the security services, I made the decision to pardon 12 people from the Novi Sad group, led by Milo Pajic, just as I decided to pardon 11 people who took part in incidents against the blockaders from the other side. So, those are the 23 people.”
It has not been disclosed who the remaining 26 people are or which offenses they were pardoned for.
What do the Justice Ministry and lawyer Rajic say?
The Justice Ministry told Beta that Vucic chose the 49 people himself and that the ministry will not take part in the procedure. A ministry source explained:
“We do not know whom Vucic pardoned. All of it was the former president’s decision and our ministry will not take part in carrying out that decision. Vucic’s decisions should now be delivered to the competent prosecutors’ offices and courts. Cases that are at the investigation or evidence stage should be delivered to the prosecutors’ offices, while those that are at trial or already decided are delivered to the court, which will then notify the prison.”
Justice Minister Nenad Vujic did not respond to Beta’s written request to disclose the names of those pardoned, the Pardons Commission’s proposal and who initiated the procedure. According to the same report, no prosecutor’s office or court has said it received the pardon acts.
Lawyer Jovan Rajic told Beta that the decision “obviously contains something Vucic wants to hide.” He described the legal problem this way:
“However, persons who have not been convicted and against whom proceedings are under way can be granted amnesty from prosecution only ex officio. That means the justice minister had to initiate their pardon. If the Ministry said it does not want to take part in this procedure, there is a high probability that this pardon was carried out contrary to the law, that is, that such a decision is null and void.”
The General Secretariat of the President has not yet responded to Milivojevic’s request.
