Tomislav Radovanović, who was recently dismissed from his position as deputy director of Serbia’s Security Intelligence Agency (BIA), has a long career in the country’s police and intelligence structures and previously served as acting head of the agency.
His dismissal, reported by the investigative outlet Radar, is the latest in a series of personnel changes and internal upheavals within the BIA over the past week, following revelations about the alleged surveillance of the Radar editorial team and other public figures.
Radovanović served as acting BIA director from December 2023 until June 2024. Before joining the agency, he headed the Ministry of Interior’s Special Investigative Methods Service and was considered one of the leading candidates for the position of police director. He also spent some time in France as a police attaché.
In early 2023, he was removed from his position within the Interior Ministry and subsequently moved to the BIA, where Aleksandar Vulin was director. After Vulin resigned on November 3, 2023, Radovanović was appointed acting head of the agency.
When Vladimir Orlić was appointed BIA director, Radovanović became his deputy.
Accusations of political influence over the BIA
In December 2023, journalist Vuk Cvijić told N1 that the BIA was under the complete control of the ruling party and warned that its alleged misuse would continue under Radovanović’s leadership.
Cvijić described Radovanović as someone willing to serve the interests of the government, adding that his career had advanced unusually quickly after Dijana Hrkalović became a powerful figure within the Interior Ministry.
The controversy over the alleged wiretapping of Vučić
Radovanović became widely known in Serbian public life in the second half of 2021, when he appeared on TV Prva and claimed that a parallel structure had been established within the Interior Ministry to wiretap President Aleksandar Vučić.
On October 8, 2021, he alleged that this structure had recruited selected individuals and established an intelligence network among wealthy businesspeople, influential figures and organised criminal groups, with the aim of collecting information about Vučić and members of his family.
He placed responsibility for the alleged structure on the period when Nebojša Stefanović was interior minister and linked the controversy to the Jovanjica case, one of Europe’s largest illegal marijuana plantation investigations.
Radovanović described the Jovanjica affair as “Plan B” after the alleged failure of an earlier attempt to discredit the president.
He also claimed that none of the intercepted conversations involving Vučić contained incriminating material.
Testimony in a case involving former police officers
According to KRIK, Radovanović also testified in 2019 alongside Goran Nešić, head of the Interior Ministry’s Observation and Documentation Department, in the trial of two former police officers accused of disclosing official secrets.
The case concerned their public statements about an allegedly unlawful police operation in Potočari in 2015.
Lawyers involved in the proceedings told KRIK that the witnesses had not received permission from then-Interior Minister Nebojša Stefanović to discuss the case, which prevented them from answering several questions.
Links to Dijana Hrkalović’s circle
Radovanović previously headed the Belgrade Interior Ministry’s Intervention Brigade and was reportedly part of the inner circle of former Interior Ministry state secretary Dijana Hrkalović.
Serbian media also reported allegations that Hrkalović had helped protect him from dismissal after his son, who was also a police officer, was accused of assaulting a man.
Pro-government media previously claimed that Radovanović possessed numerous recorded and intercepted conversations, which reportedly strengthened his position as a potential candidate for police director in late 2021.
Awards and latest changes within the BIA
Born in 1972, Radovanović received the second-degree Miloš Obilić Medal for Bravery following his handling of a hostage situation. The Serbian Police Union also awarded him the Golden Plaque for a “Good Officer.”
His dismissal is part of a broader restructuring within the BIA.
Before Radovanović’s removal, Radar reported that Miloš Simić had been dismissed as head of the agency’s First Directorate and simultaneously issued a termination of employment, an unprecedented move in the history of Serbia’s intelligence service, according to the outlet.
Olivera Munjić, chief of staff to the BIA director, was also dismissed in recent days.
Sources cited by Radar suggest that the internal upheaval is connected to the outlet’s revelations about the alleged surveillance of its editorial office.
