Kricak and Sekulovic Detained Up to 30 Days, Suspended

The Higher Court in Belgrade ordered custody of up to 30 days overnight for Marko Kricak, head of the Criminal Police Directorate, and Bosko Sekulovic, head of the Crime Suppression Service. On the basis of that ruling and under the Law on Police, the Interior Ministry then issued decisions suspending both men from duty.

We previously reported on the questioning of the two police chiefs. What is new is that the court accepted the prosecution’s motion, and the ministry responded immediately with a personnel decision.

Who runs the Criminal Police Directorate and the Crime Suppression Service now?

Their deputies will run both bodies until further notice. The Interior Ministry said in a statement: “The deputy heads will take over the management of the Criminal Police Directorate and the Crime Suppression Service.” The statement did not name the deputies.

Why did the court order custody?

According to the Higher Court’s statement, there are special circumstances indicating that the suspects, if left at liberty, would obstruct the proceedings by influencing witnesses. Custody was proposed by the Special Department for the Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, on two grounds: the risk of influencing witnesses and the risk that they would repeat the offense within a short time.

Both men were arrested on Sunday, November 1, and N1 reports that the arrests followed a complaint filed by the lawyers of Veselin Milic. Before the custody decision they presented their defenses to the prosecution, and the content of those statements has not been made public. The ruling can be appealed to the pre-trial panel of the Special Department for the Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Court in Belgrade.

What are Kricak and Sekulovic accused of?

Kricak is suspected of abuse of office under Article 359, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code and of ill-treatment and torture under Article 137. Sekulovic is suspected only of abuse of office.

The case stems from the killing at the restaurant “27” in Senjak, committed on May 12 this year. Prosecutors allege that the two police chiefs, acting as Interior Ministry officials, exceeded their authority between May 12 and June 3 and seriously violated the rights of Veselin Milic, the former head of the Belgrade Police Department.

According to the prosecution, Sekulovic is suspected of filing a criminal complaint on May 15 against Sasa V. for aggravated murder and of including other people in it, Milic among them. He allegedly did so knowing that Milic had left the restaurant before the killing. The complaint did not mention what the security camera footage showed.

Sekulovic is also suspected of handing mobile phones and hard drives to the Military Police only on May 22, although the public prosecutor’s order had been issued on May 17. Kricak is suspected of approving the complaint orally, aware of its allegations and of the prosecution’s order concerning the phones.

One count concerns Kricak alone. Prosecutors suspect that on May 16, between 2 and 3 a.m., on the premises of the Criminal Police Directorate and together with police officers who have not yet been identified, he beat a person identified by the initials N. L. He allegedly put a hood over the man’s head and struck him with a belt on the soles of his feet and on his back. The injured man suffered minor bodily injuries, with bruising on the right leg and right foot.

Both men are presumed innocent until a final verdict, and what is described here consists of the prosecution’s allegations and suspicions, not established facts.