Car of Valjevo prosecutor Vukašin Vujičić set on fire amid probe into gang linked to SNS

Overnight in Valjevo the car of prosecutor Vukašin Vujičić was set ablaze, police said, and the prosecutor told reporters he suspects the attack is linked to a case he is handling.

Prosecutor at centre of probe into gang linked to ruling party

Valjevo police reported that at 00:55 a.m. they received a call about a burning vehicle registered to prosecutor Vukašin Vujičić. Investigators found the car — a Seat Ibiza — had been soaked with an accelerant and then ignited; authorities said a criminal complaint will be filed against an unknown perpetrator.

Vujičić said in a brief statement that he believes the fire is connected to the procedure he is leading, and he recalled that in recent days he had been publicly targeted in some media. Local students and high-schoolers also said the attack followed weeks of public targeting and threats aimed at the prosecutor through local outlets, and they praised him as one of the few prosecutors in Valjevo who "stood on the side of justice" and continued to apply the law under pressure.

Vujičić is the assigned prosecutor in the case against a criminal group allegedly led by Marko Mirković, a man described as close to the Serbian Progressive Party. Mirković is on the run, while several members of the group remain in custody and some have already received first-instance convictions. The indictment against them has been prosecuted by Vujičić.

Public attention to the group increased after a video circulated on social networks showing Mirković and others abusing and humiliating a man they suspected of supporting the opposition; in the clip Mirković is seen striking the victim and can be heard saying: "What are you spitting on the authorities? Listen, I'm talking, you keep quiet! In many places many people have confirmed to me that you insult the authorities! Who are you to insult the authorities and to swear at the president's mother? Who the f... are you to f... the president's mother?"

The Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Valjevo said that on 6 February this year police filed criminal charges against five people on suspicion of illegal deprivation of liberty and maltreatment and torture, to the detriment of V. J. from Valjevo. "Two suspects (G.K. and A.B.) were heard before the competent prosecutor, after which proposals were filed for the imposition of detention before the Basic Court in Valjevo for the legally established reasons," the office said.

According to unofficial information, the case was assigned to prosecutor Vujičić and he resisted pressure from individuals close to the authorities who sought to intervene in favour of members of the group. Vujičić was the only one of nine public prosecutors in the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Valjevo to sign a statement condemning President Aleksandar Vučić's remark that "all prosecutors who do not protect the order will be replaced."

This is not the first time prosecutors have been targeted: in December last year a vehicle belonging to a prosecutor in Subotica was similarly torched; the suspect in that attack was arrested but later released for lack of evidence.

Photo: Profimedia-218x141.jpg)'