Djilas Urges Vucic To Stop Arresting His Associates

Dragan Djilas SSP (Photo: Luka Filipovic)

The president of the Freedom and Justice party, Dragan Djilas, urged Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in front of the Serbian Presidency in Belgrade on March 5, to stop "harassing, arresting and destroying people's lives just because they were my associates at a time," adding that "Vucic's madness has been going on for eight years now."

"I came here today to tell you – enough. If you have the least bit of courage, if you not a coward – I am here, if you have to make an arrest – do it, let's see what it's about," said Djilas, explaining to reporters that he came to the building "where Vucic is hiding behind the windows and curtains" because that was the only way to "address him directly."

Djilas said that he was addressing Vucic because "several days ago, the Appellate Court in Belgrade dismissed the indictment, for the second time, which was raised on Vucic's orders by the yes people in the judiciary" against the former Belgrade city manager, Aleksandar Bjelic, and ten other people. Djilas told  him to "stop" and not try to indict them again.

In the words of Djilas, Vucic "is harassing these people because of the alleged embezzlement in the reconstruction of the Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra street" which cost EUR17 million, as he said, while the reconstruction of streets in the center of the city, of the same length but with only half the width, carried out by the present authorities, "cost 27 million in the beginning, but will increase to 40 million even."