Alliance for Serbia: Number of Persons Convicted Without Adequate Defense Alarming

court gavel (Photo: Pixabay.com)

On March 31 the Alliance for Serbia said that the executive government's domination over the justice system was unallowable, especially during the state of emergency and pointed out what it called an alarming number of arrests and convictions in simulated trials without adequate defense.

The Alliance said in a statement that some of these trials, were being conducted via Skype without a legal basis, while the number of arrested and convicted persons outweighed the number of citizens who had been tested for the coronavirus, giving the impression that the direction of the fight against the coronavirus was unfolding through kangaroo courts.

The number of people who have been convicted or are in custody is more a result of the chaotic situation in informing citizens than a genuine intention to violate orders during the state of emergency. The Alliance further said that it was even more confusing that the president of the republic was telling citizens what their obligations are in an unbecoming and incomplete way which was not the job of the president, while he and Cabinet representatives were also making statements on how the alleged offenders need to be punished, which was unallowable.

"We call for full respect for the Serbian Constitution regarding the independence of the judicial authorities over the executive government, meaning that judges and prosecutors need to be freed of pressure from individuals in the executive government," the statement said.