Nikola Ristic in custody over suspected secrets leak

Nikola Ristic, the former head of Belgrade’s Communal Police, has been in custody since October 24, the day before the snap parliamentary elections. The same day, the portal Srbin.info published his interview describing the night of the demolition on Hercegovacka Street in Savamala.

The public did not know about the arrest until Nova.rs reported it on the evening of October 29, citing a well-informed source. Nova says news of the arrest is being “persistently hidden from the eyes of the public.” Other outlets, including Vreme, picked it up the next day. We found no official statement from the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade or the Higher Court in Belgrade, so everything said about the grounds for suspicion comes from Nova’s unnamed source.

What is Ristic suspected of?

According to that source, the arrest was ordered by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office, and custody was imposed after questioning by the Higher Court in Belgrade. Ristic is suspected of violating the Law on Data Secrecy, that is, of making available information marked “internal” or “confidential.” A more serious form of the offense, committed for personal gain, is also suspected. This is a suspicion, not established guilt.

The source adds that it is not yet known whether Ristic’s entire testimony is classified or only certain claims in it. Nova relays the source’s assessment this way:

“Whatever this is about, the fact that he is in custody clearly indicates that Ristic’s testimony is not a mere fabrication, but rests even on confidential information.”

That is the view of an unnamed source, not a position of the prosecution. The same source demands that the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office and Nenad Stefanovic explain why proceedings were opened only against Ristic and not against the people he named, and why data about an event from ten years ago still carries a confidentiality marking.

What did Ristic say in the Savamala interview?

Ristic claims that the then mayor, Sinisa Mali, called him into his office a few days before the demolition. They were in contact at least once a week, he says, but this time Mali was “upset” and “very energetic.” Right at the office door, according to Ristic, Mali told him that “one demolition has to be carried out in the Belgrade Waterfront zone” and sent him to the head of the mayor’s cabinet, Luka Tomic. All of this is Ristic’s account, and no source has confirmed it.

Ristic says that on the evening in question, at a celebration in Senjak, Veselin Milic, then head of the Belgrade police, told him what information he had received and what he had done about it. That is why, Ristic claims, he went to the scene. There, he says, he found Ivan Bosnjak, co-owner of the company Milenijum tim, and he places the time “a little before or a little after midnight” on the night between April 24 and 25. According to Nova.rs and Vreme, Ristic also named the group of Veljko Belivuk among the participants or people on the ground.

He also describes the moment a police van reached the people carrying out the demolition. Ristic claims he sent the police vehicle back:

“I just said briefly: guys, nothing here that should concern you.”

Then, he says, three vehicles with covered license plates arrived at the parking lot behind a restaurant, carrying by his estimate 12 to 15 masked men. When they tried to tie up the night watchman, he forbade it. He stayed until after three in the morning. He does not soften his own role:

“I chose the third option, even though I am aware that by doing so I became an accomplice.”

When it was all over, he says, he sent Sinisa Mali a Viber message saying the job was done. He claims Mali never replied, but that he saw the message, and adds:

“I did not let that message go by accident. I let that message go on purpose.”

In the same conversation Ristic says the prosecution never called him in connection with the Savamala investigation: “Never, never.” He also states that in November 2023, under his official code, he entered an operational report into the Interior Ministry (MUP) system about how the idea for the demolition came about, and that he was told it would be returned “for further work.” No source links this to the current suspicion.

Who responded to his claims?

Of everyone Ristic named, only Milenijum tim has responded publicly. The company rejected his claims as unfounded and says Ristic previously tried to extort money from them. In the sources we reviewed there is no response from Sinisa Mali or Veselin Milic, and we found no prosecution statement about the arrest.