Vladimir Djukanovic (BETAPHOTO/AMIR HAMZAGIC)
Vladimir Djukanovic, a member of the presidency of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, said on April 14 that “prosecutors cannot be separate from the executive branch of government and do whatever they please.”
“They are not an independent, autonomous body. Therefore, the state, specifically the Ministry of Justice, needs to reclaim the ability to replace and appoint prosecutors and oversee their work,” Djukanovic wrote in an op-ed for the Politika daily.
The politician went on to insist that “random agencies cannot have higher authority than a ministry.”
“There cannot be two parallel systems within the system. In other words, that which the state has formed and financed must answer to the state with regards to its governance. It is time to put an end to lawlessness, anarchy and self-governance,” Djukanovic wrote.
The institution currently charged with appointing and removing prosecutors is the High Prosecutorial Council, an independent state authority introduced via amendments to the Serbian Constitution in 2023. The amendments were put forth by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, and were the subject to a referendum vote prior to being passed by Parliament.
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