A deepening investigation into the Serbian police force reveals systemic corruption, with active-duty elite officers allegedly moonlighting as private bodyguards for controversial businessmen and underground figures.
The scandal follows the high-profile arrest of Belgrade Police Chief Veselin Milić, which prompted President Aleksandar Vučić to vow a complete purge of any officer or soldier caught protecting “tycoons or criminals.” However, evidence uncovered by investigative journalists suggests that the practice remains deeply institutionalized.
Gendarmes Moonlight as Private Guard Detail
Recent findings indicate that active members of Belgrade’s elite Gendarmerie (Žandarmerija) unit are directly protecting Milan Radoičić and Zvonko Veselinović—two highly controversial figures blacklisted by the United States and heavily tied to state-sanctioned construction projects and geopolitical incidents in northern Kosovo.
Specific law enforcement personnel have been identified operating at remote luxury locations:
- Damnjan Vukićević: An active Gendarme from the Belgrade detachment, reportedly operating as Radoičić’s private security detail on Kopaonik mountain.
- Nikola Milutinović: Another active Belgrade Gendarme, assigned to guard Veselinović’s private estate on Golija mountain.
Former Criminal Police Directorate (UKP) inspector Milan Dumanović confirmed that these arrangements are common knowledge within the ranks. “Everyone knows they are guarding them—some potentially even under official state orders. Is it true that a nephew of Zvonko Veselinović is an active Gendarme assigned directly to protect him? The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) owes the public an answer on how these people entered the force in the first place.”
The “Senjak Case” and the Witness Protection Twist
The fallout has spread directly to the police department’s most sensitive divisions. Following the execution of associate Aleksandar Nešović (known as “Baja”) at a restaurant in the Senjak neighborhood—the crime that triggered Chief Veselinović Milić’s arrest—investigators have uncovered a alarming reshuffling of personnel.
According to investigative journalist Vuk Cvijić, elite officers who formerly served under the notorious “Kričko” (the head of the UKP) were quietly transferred into the highly sensitive Witness Protection Unit.
“We have a situation where the police officers who are supposed to protect citizens are actually perpetrators or accomplices in organized crime,” Cvijić noted. “The exact officers suspected of involvement in the Senjak restaurant incident are now operating inside the Witness Protection Unit—yet they remain under the ultimate command of the same UKP chiefs.”
State Helicopters and Shifting Polygraph Narratives
The relationship between state assets and organized figures appears to extend beyond personnel to heavy military hardware. Questions have been raised regarding a private helicopter frequently utilized by Zvonko Veselinović. Critics are demanding to know whether the aircraft is actively maintained, serviced, and piloted by active MUP crews.
The Institutional Defense Network
├── Personnel ──> Elite Gendarmes acting as private escorts on Kopaonik & Golija.
├── Logistics ──> Suspected state-level maintenance of private helicopters.
└── Judicial ──> Routine use of polygraph tests to "cleanse" suspects from public scrutiny.
Both Veselinović and Radoičić have famously avoided prosecution by passing polygraph examinations under highly dubious circumstances. Veselinović used a lie-detector test to clear himself after being accused of ordering the assassination of anti-drug inspectors Slobodan Milenković and Dušan Mitić. Similarly, the public learned that Radoičić passed a polygraph regarding the assassination of Kosovo-Serb politician Oliver Ivanović—not through an official judicial statement, but directly from a press conference held by President Vučić.
Despite institutional insistence that “the Gendarmerie does not protect these individuals,” watchdog organizations warn that the line between state law enforcement and the criminal underworld has been completely erased.
