Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime Files Indictment Proposal against Minister of Culture in the Army General Staff Case

Nikola Selakovic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

The Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime, known by the local acronym TOK, filed an indictment proposal on Dec. 15 against Minister of Culture Nikola Selakovic and three other people over their unlawful actions involved in the removal of cultural heritage status from the Army General Staff (Generalstab) buildings in downtown Belgrade.

The Office said in a press release that the indictment proposal also included the Ministry’s secretary, Slavica Jelaca, acting director of the National Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments Goran Vasic, and his peer at the Belgrade City Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Aleksandar Ivanovic.

They are suspected of having abused their offices and forged the documents used to strip the Generalstab building in central Belgrade of its status as a cultural monument, in order for the land area to be leased long-term, or sold, to a U.S. investor.

TOK also said it was continuing the investigation in the case in order to determine if other individuals may have been involved in the criminal offense.