NFollowing the landmark reversal by the Appellate Court in Novi Sad, Marinika Tepić, Vice President of the Freedom and Justice Party (SSP), issued a scathing response targeting state leadership.
Tepić described the judicial decision to reinstate all 13 defendants to trial as a “massive defeat” for the ruling political elite, who she claims spent over 20 months trying to insulate high-ranking officials from structural accountability.
Allegations of Obstrucion and Elite Insulation
In an official public briefing, Tepić asserted that the legal trajectory surrounding the November 2024 railway canopy tragedy—which claimed 16 lives—has been plagued by state-sponsored stalling tactics from day one.
TEPIĆ'S CHAIN OF COMMAND CRITIQUE
[ TOP LEVEL ] • Aleksandar Vučić & Siniša Mali (Protected Top Tier)
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[ COMPROMISE ] • Goran Vesić & Jelena Tanasković (Lower Court Attempted to Drop)
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[ EXECUTORS ] • Field Engineers & Technical Contractors (Intended Scapegoats)
According to Tepić, the December 2025 lower court ruling to drop charges against Vesić was a calculated effort to ensure legal culpability stopped entirely with lower-level technical executors. She claimed the primary strategy was preventing the trial from setting a judicial precedent that could legally tie back to top-tier state decision-makers.
Demand for Investigation Into Leaked Verdicts
Tepić voiced profound concern over recent whistleblowing leaks regarding the defense’s behind-the-scenes legal maneuvers. She highlighted allegations that defense lawyers filed last-minute, irregular demands to disqualify the judicial council after the judges had already cast their votes on June 15, but before the ruling was formally published.
“If someone had access to the secret, unreleased decision of the judicial council before it was made public, that in itself constitutes a severe breach of judicial integrity that demands an immediate, comprehensive criminal investigation.” — Marinika Tepić, Vice President of the SSP
The Freedom and Justice Party closed its statement by demanding an immediate trial date without further procedural anomalies, stressing that no former or current minister should receive special political shielding before the courts.
