General Calls for Urgently Reinstating Headquarters Building as Cultural Heritage

Former Army Headquarters Complex (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Gen. Dragan Paskas, a former chief of staff of the Army of Serbia and Montenegro, has called for the Serbian government to reinstate the general staff headquarters' status as cultural heritage, as the decision removing the building in downtown Belgrade from the cultural heritage list was based on a forgery and therefore void.

"The measures that can be taken pending the court proceedings to prohibit the developer from beginning construction: The first measure is a temporary ban on works by filing a suit before the administrative court to overturn the government's decision to strike the status of cultural heritage," Paskas said in an a text published in the Politika daily among letters from readers.

At the same time, he added, "along with filing suit a request should be submitted for a temporary measure prohibiting any investment pending the proceedings." "A request for reinstating the status of cultural heritage should be filed urgently with the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments. The Institute has the legal power to void the previous, illegal decision," Paskas argued, adding that "the court proceedings and the criminal responsibility of the perpetrator will put the general staff headquarters back on the list of cultural heritage of the Republic of Serbia."