Belgrade Prosecutors Seek Protection After Election
Nenad Stefanovic's office sent its letter to the EU Delegation and the OSCE as well, and says post-election attacks aim to force the chief prosecutor to resign.
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, headed by Nenad Stefanovic, sent a letter on the afternoon of November 3 to the High Prosecutorial Council (HPC), asking for an urgent response and for protection of the independence of the public prosecution service. The same letter went to the head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia, Andreas von Beckerath, and to the OSCE Mission to Serbia.
In its statement, the office says the attacks came before and immediately after the parliamentary elections of October 25, and that their aim is to push the chief public prosecutor into resigning. As of publication, no response from the High Prosecutorial Council has been found.
Who is the prosecutor’s office complaining about?
The statement names no one. It describes the authors of the criticism as a member of the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office oversight commission, informal groups and organizations, and a candidate for the new National Assembly. According to the statement, they portrayed the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office as a body that allegedly prosecuted critics of the former government unlawfully, while calling for its leaders to resign or be removed.
The letter singles out threats to remove the chief public prosecutor and his deputy, whom some of the critics call “loyalists.” The office sums up its position in the central passage of the statement:
“Such statements, in the current social atmosphere and immediately after parliamentary elections, are a clear example of political pressure on the work of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade and an attack on the independence of the public prosecution service, along with an attempt to force the chief public prosecutor to resign.”
The office adds that chief public prosecutors are elected for a six-year term, while other public prosecutors hold office permanently, and that removal can only follow the prescribed procedure, which falls under the High Prosecutorial Council.
What is the dispute over the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office commission?
On October 28, Supreme Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac issued a binding instruction to all 87 prosecutor’s offices in Serbia, ordering them to give a five-member commission access to case files. Among the first cases the commission requested from Stefanovic were Nadstresnica (the station canopy collapse), the sound cannon and Senjak, Danas reported at the time. The same paper cited a source in the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office who said any irregularities found could lead to a preliminary or criminal proceeding against the prosecutor who handled the case.
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office now says it handed over every requested case file, but considers the commission’s makeup disputed and vague, and the commission itself founded on a broad reading of the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s powers. It asks the Council to tell the public that the commission is not an “inquisition” set up to settle scores with anyone. On October 28, Danas also carried the opposite claim from the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, that requests for access to the files had been ignored until then.
The request went to the Council, the office explains, because the Commissioner for the Independence of the Public Prosecution Service has not yet been elected. It cites Article 17, paragraph 19 of the Law on the High Prosecutorial Council.
How does the letter fit into the previous two days?
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office also handles the Senjak case, in which Marko Kricak and Bosko Sekulovic were arrested on November 1. As we reported, Kricak and Sekulovic are in custody for up to 30 days, and the Interior Ministry (MUP) has suspended them from duty. On November 1, Stefanovic said Kricak was not arrested because of the elections but because of the investigation into the Senjak killing.
The next day, November 2, the president of the Belgrade Bar Association, Vladimir Prijovic, said on RTS morning television:
“I think the public prosecutor should first arrest his first deputy, Miodrag Markovic, and then himself.”
Asked whether the arrest was linked to the elections, Prijovic answered: “It has to do with the results too, with the election process, that is my opinion.” The prosecutor’s office asked the Council the same day to condemn his statement.
The weekly Vreme recalls that in August 2025 the pre-trial judges of the Higher Court in Belgrade took the position that basic prosecutor’s offices, not the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office, have jurisdiction over attacks on police at protests, and that Stefanovic replied that he considers this position unfounded. The same outlet notes that no competent body has so far confirmed the claims that the prosecution was misused for political purposes.
