Balkan Insight reports
The indictment of one of the policemen who discovered an illegal marijuana farm that was allegedly protected by Serbian state security adds to the pressures they face before their testimonies.
The Serbian police officers responsible for discovering the illegal “Jovanjica” cannabis production farm, which was allegedly protected by state security officials, have faced mounting pressures recently, including being removed from their positions, deaths threats – and now indictments against them, issued by the state.
Policemen Milan Isakov was on Wednesday indicted by the Prosecution for abuse of position, claiming he and two other colleagues beat up two men and took around 200 euros. The indictment came the same day he was testifying in court, claiming that he was “not happy they [the police] caught the state [involved] in crime”.
“We didn’t believe that so many state and political structures were involved, but then those structures, state and political, came to his [main indictee Predrag Koluvija’s] defence … We are sorry that we caught the state in crime, in the production of drugs, but I am even more sorry that we have knowledge that they [the state] are trying to liquidate us,” Isakov said in court.
His colleague, Slobodan Milenkovic, the main inspector responsible for discovering the Jovanjica farm in 2019, is due to testify on Friday, but apparently he will not do so after reporting death threats last week.
On Tuesday, Milenkovic and Dusan Mitic, another policemen who exposed the Jovanjica farm, said they fear for their lives, claiming criminals are being paid to eliminate them.
The two previously refused to be guarded by the Unit for the Security of Certain Persons and Objects because they claimed the chief of the unit is close to Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic, whom the policemen say is among those who wanted to cover up the drug case.
On August 28, Zdenko Tomanovic, lawyer for Milenkovic and Mitic, announced that his clients had been removed from their positions in the police. Milenkovic is no longer head of the Belgrade Police Department for the fight against drugs, while Mitic is no longer the head of the operations in the same department, the law office announced.
“This shift is both revenge against the police officers and pressure before the upcoming testimony,” it said.
Police officers discovered the illegal marijuana farm in 2019, finding more than 660 kilograms of dried cannabis. Since then, they have been targeted by pro-government media. State officials have even called them “criminals”.
Mitic, in his last testimony, in July, said Gasic, now Serbia’s Interior Minister, who was then head of the State Security Agency, BIA, was aware of what was going on at Jovanjica, accusing Gasic of waging a smear campaign against them.
Two indictments have been raised related to the farm. The so-called “Jovanjica 1” case, which is currently being tried, deals with illegal marijuana production. “Jovanjica 2” deals with alleged state security links to the farm.
Predrag Koluvija, alleged owner of the farm, is the first accused in both indictments. Both accuse him of bring the organiser of a criminal group. According to the indictments, the cannabis farm enjoyed the support of at least five members of the police, military and security services. They provided Koluvija with a fake police badge and licence plates, valuable insider information and guards for the plantation.
However, proceedings in Jovanjica 2, in which state officers are charged, have yet to begin; the court panel has failed to hold a preliminary hearing for the past two years.
