Criminal Complaint Filed Against Barac and Vucevic

An informal group calling itself Ustavobranitelji (Constitution Defenders) has filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (TOK) against SNS president Milos Vucevic, Nenad Barac, director of the public utility company Novosadska Toplana (the Novi Sad heating plant), and an unnamed responsible person at the Novi Sad employment agency Laboris HRS. The trigger was the testimony of former SNS activist Momcilo Marjanovic to BIRN, which we covered on October 13. Mayor Zarko Micin addressed it ahead of the Novi Sad City Assembly session on October 15, and the opposition demanded an investigation.

What Barac and Vucevic are accused of

The Ustavobranitelji group consists of three lawyers: Ivan Ninic, Cedomir Kokanovic and Jovan Rajic. Their complaint claims the three named parties formed an organized criminal group to secure benefits for the SNS. Vucevic, it says, ran that system as party president and approved the use of resources from public companies and private agencies.

All three are accused of conspiracy to commit crimes, giving and taking bribes in connection with voting, and violent conduct at a public gathering. Barac is additionally accused of abuse of office, and the agency representative of abuse of position as a responsible person. According to the complaint, the agency used youth and student cooperatives to arrange fictitious employment for party activists, Marjanovic among them. They were formally on the payroll of the public utility company Lisje or other municipal companies and drew salaries without showing up for work.

The complaint asks TOK to urgently order the seizure of servers, computers and documents from Novosadska Toplana, Lisje and Laboris HRS. The signatories also ask that Marjanovic be questioned with the status of a protected witness because of threats, and that detention be proposed for Barac and the agency representative, citing the risk of evidence destruction, influence on witnesses and repeat offenses. The BRAVO movement has also filed a criminal complaint against Barac.

Marjanovic told BIRN he received money for hiring people in cash, directly from Barac in his office.

“I had direct communication with him. I reported to him the number of people, how many were going. He approved the number of people and said ‘that many are needed’… I took the money directly from him and paid the guys I led, both at Cacilend and at the walks and at the rallies,” Marjanovic said.

He estimated that since the canopy collapse he had personally carried between 350,000 and 400,000 euros out of the heating plant, and he supplied his correspondence with Barac as evidence.

Micin: the witness’s credibility will be checked

The City Assembly session began at about 10:10 with more than 60 agenda items. Councilors from the ruling majority started adopting the agenda while the opposition was still holding a press conference. Opposition councilors are demanding an investigation and Barac’s resignation, and they announced they would seek an inquiry committee if the city does not launch a review. Barac attended the session.

Micin spent about 20 minutes before the session talking about the bus and rail station and the budget, and addressed the allegations in BIRN’s report only when a reporter asked. He said the competent authorities would establish the circumstances and that councilors should not accept the initiative for an inquiry committee.

“The credibility of the gentleman who raised these matters will be checked and, of course, the competent authorities will establish everything,” Micin said, then questioned the timing of the allegations too: “It’s very convenient that such a man appears at this moment, ten days before the elections. Maybe a little too convenient.”

Asked whether he would urge the authorities to look into the claims about money from the heating plant, he replied that this was a matter for the media, not for a City Assembly session. He compared accusations of this kind to the stories about the sound cannon and the death of a boy in Valjevo, which he calls lies.

“I have heard such lies so many times that I no longer believe those people even when they say the weather is nice outside, I really do take an umbrella,” Micin said.

On the inquiry committee, he said the circumstances had to be established first: “They should not accept at all that someone’s suspicions become grounds for debating whether the director should be dismissed or not. Let’s first have the circumstances established in the proper procedure, and only then can we talk about anything.” He added that if the allegations turn out to be false, he expects everyone who made them to publicly apologize to Barac.

What Tepic, Barac and the prosecutors say

Marinika Tepic, one of the leaders of the “European Serbia” list, asked TOK to examine the allegations immediately. In a statement she asked whether a case had been opened, whether evidence had been secured and whether the people Marjanovic named had been questioned.

“That SNS enforcer has publicly described how, by his account, groups for intimidating citizens were organized and paid, who gave the orders and how the money was distributed. He named people, gave amounts and described specific events,” Tepic said. She added: “No one may be above the law.”

Barac declined to comment on the substance to Danas. “It doesn’t even cross my mind to comment on what that man said. He told a pile of lies and smeared me in the media,” he said. When it was put to him that Marjanovic had published their correspondence, he did not deny it: “Yes, he published it. I will publish what he wrote to me too, but when the time comes.” He also said he is ready to be checked: “If there is any responsibility on my part, let the prosecutors look into everything.”

According to Danas, TOK did not respond to questions sent by email or to later reminders. Goran Ilic, a prosecutor at the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, told the same paper that TOK should act without delay.

“In a situation of a heated atmosphere on the eve of elections, the person who made extensive claims about crimes connected with electoral rights should certainly be summoned for questioning without delay,” Ilic said, adding that the prosecution should do this directly, without going through the police.

All of the claims above are allegations from testimony and a criminal complaint. None has been confirmed in proceedings, and the presumption of innocence applies to those named.