NOVANEWS
The arrest of Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic’s former associate Branko Lazarevic, who was placed in 48-hour detention and taken over by the special prosecutor’s office for organised crime last night, was the breaking news in Belgrade’s print media on Thursday.
Dacic’s chief of staff when he was minister of the interior in the previous Serbian government is suspected of revealing state secrets and conspiracy to commit crime. He was arrested on leads that he was in contact with associates of drug lord Darko Saric, who is on the run.
Lazarevic is currently the charge d’affaires at the Serbian embassy in Athens.
Dacic would not comment on the interrogation of his ex-chief of staff, telling Blic daily: “I don’t know what my former associate said during the interrogation, I won’t interfere.”
Deputy PM Aleksandar Vucic would not comment on the arrest and interrogation either, telling the press that the law was the same for everyone and that he could not see how the interrogation could impact the relations between his Progressives and Dacic’s Socialists.
Some media did bring the interrogation into the context of the current election campaign in which the two parties, although partners in the incumbent government, are opponents and the leaders of two coalitions running for 250 seats in the Serbian parliament.
Lazarevic is expected to answer to claims about his contacts with Saric’s associates, including Rodoljub Radulovic, who has been accused of cocaine smuggling. Radulovic has been linked to Dacic and the media speculated on their contacts last year. Dacic admitted in December that they knew each other but that he did not know what business Radulovic was in.
Citing sources close to the investigation, Belgrade’s media said the police interrogated Lazarevic about his contacts with accused members of Saric’s group to whom he had allegedly leaked information about the surveillance measures the Interior Ministry had been taking against them.
Lazarevic allegedly confirmed that Dacic had introduced him to Radulovic as a friend who should be met halfway, and that Radulovic had asked him if the police were investigating Saric.
Lazarevic’s attorney Dragoljub Djordjevic would not comment on the interrogation and the arrest of his client.
Dacic’s chief of staff when he was minister of the interior in the previous Serbian government is suspected of revealing state secrets and conspiracy to commit crime. He was arrested on leads that he was in contact with associates of drug lord Darko Saric, who is on the run.
Lazarevic is currently the charge d’affaires at the Serbian embassy in Athens.
Dacic would not comment on the interrogation of his ex-chief of staff, telling Blic daily: “I don’t know what my former associate said during the interrogation, I won’t interfere.”
Deputy PM Aleksandar Vucic would not comment on the arrest and interrogation either, telling the press that the law was the same for everyone and that he could not see how the interrogation could impact the relations between his Progressives and Dacic’s Socialists.
Some media did bring the interrogation into the context of the current election campaign in which the two parties, although partners in the incumbent government, are opponents and the leaders of two coalitions running for 250 seats in the Serbian parliament.
Lazarevic is expected to answer to claims about his contacts with Saric’s associates, including Rodoljub Radulovic, who has been accused of cocaine smuggling. Radulovic has been linked to Dacic and the media speculated on their contacts last year. Dacic admitted in December that they knew each other but that he did not know what business Radulovic was in.
Citing sources close to the investigation, Belgrade’s media said the police interrogated Lazarevic about his contacts with accused members of Saric’s group to whom he had allegedly leaked information about the surveillance measures the Interior Ministry had been taking against them.
Lazarevic allegedly confirmed that Dacic had introduced him to Radulovic as a friend who should be met halfway, and that Radulovic had asked him if the police were investigating Saric.
Lazarevic’s attorney Dragoljub Djordjevic would not comment on the interrogation and the arrest of his client.
