Valjevo police chief Jerinic removed from post

The head of the Valjevo Police Department, Jerinic, has been removed from his post, and the decision was served on him on November 6, 2026. He has been reassigned to the Information Technology Sector of the Interior Ministry (MUP) in Belgrade, N1 and Vreme report, both citing unnamed sources.

What is known about the removal of the Valjevo police chief?

Neither source mentions an official Interior Ministry statement. Vreme reports that sources in the ministry confirmed the reassignment, while N1 says it learned from the Valjevo Police Department itself that the news of the removal is accurate. Neither outlet says who signed the decision or who will lead the Valjevo department.

The sources differ on two points. The first is his name: N1 gives it as Vladimir Jerinic and Vreme as Vlada Jerinic, so only the surname is used here. The second is the reason for his departure: N1 learned unofficially that he was removed at his own request, while Vreme attributes that claim to N1 and does not add its own confirmation.

Why did they demand the removal of Valjevo police leadership?

The trigger was police violence in Valjevo on the night of a protest in August 2025. Footage that circulated at the time shows officers hitting and kicking people lying on the ground who were not resisting. Those beaten included minors, students and citizens who had not taken part in the protest, and estimates published at the time put the number of people beaten at around 40.

On October 27, two days after the snap parliamentary elections of October 25, the student movement submitted a written demand for the removal of the Valjevo police leadership. Before that, it had given the heads of the department an oral 24-hour deadline to resign, but there was no response from the authorities.

Students and citizens have demanded accountability from the officers who carried out the violence, but also from their superiors. Besides Jerinic, they are seeking the departure of deputy chief Milan Simic, police department head Dragan Dobrisavljevic, traffic police department head Predrag Radosavljevic and police station commander Milan Cvijic. The sources do not say whether any of those four has been removed or has resigned.

What has the investigation established so far?

The case is being handled by the Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office (JTOK). In late October it was reported that the prosecutor’s office had received seven more criminal complaints over the events in Valjevo, the latest on October 5. In the preliminary investigation so far, 33 injured parties have been interviewed and eight witnesses questioned, and medical records show that one of the injured sustained serious bodily harm.

Milena Belotic, the mother of one of those beaten, testified in the documentary film “Precedent” that her fifteen-year-old son lay curled up in the street, shielding his head with his hands, while a group of officers beat and kicked him. “My life is not the same, and I do not think it will ever be the same again,” Belotic said in the film.

How is Jerinic’s name linked to the case of Major Katarina Petrovic?

Jerinic’s name is also tied to the treatment of Major Katarina Petrovic, the police officer who made public a report on a traffic accident that, according to the first police findings, was caused by Nikola Petrovic. After the promotion of her book “On the Road to Freedom” in Novi Sad on March 23 this year, Momcilo Gligorijevic, a coordinator at the Valjevo Police Department, filed a disciplinary complaint against her on Jerinic’s orders. Jerinic then issued a decision temporarily removing her from duty.

According to N1, Petrovic was earlier acquitted by a final ruling of a charge of disclosing an official secret.