The Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office has formally indicted Serbian Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković and three other officials over allegations of document falsification and abuse of office related to the revocation of cultural heritage status for the Generalštab building.
The indictment also names:
- Slavica Jelača, acting secretary of the Ministry of Culture
- Goran Vasić, acting director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments
- Aleksandar Ivanović, acting director of the Belgrade Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments
The prosecutors claim that, between May and November 2024, the defendants knowingly exceeded their official authority to unlawfully strip the Generalštab building of its protected status. Selaković allegedly signed official documents containing false information, while Jelača and Vasić reportedly drafted documents with false details, which were then used in official procedures as if valid.
According to the indictment:
- Selaković allegedly instructed Jelača and Ivanović to submit proposals for revocation to the Ministry of Culture, despite these actions violating legal procedures.
- The plan bypassed the proper authority, the Republic Institute, which alone is legally empowered to prepare such proposals.
- Jelača, Vasić, and Ivanović created multiple illegal and falsified documents, which were used by the Serbian government to revoke the building’s cultural heritage status—all under Selaković’s orders.
The indictment also cites Viber and WhatsApp messages between Selaković and Vasić, showing coordination on media coverage of the case and labeling a key witness and former deputy director Estela Radonjić Živkov as a “serious Ustaša.”
The trial is scheduled to begin on February 4, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.
