For months, Serbia’s Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office (TOK) has been under relentless assault—from the ruling regime, pro-government tabloids, and President Aleksandar Vučić himself. The head of this office, Chief Prosecutor Mladen Nenadić, has become a daily target of smear campaigns and political intimidation.
The most recent attack came from SNS MP Uglješa Mrdić, who announced an initiative to amend the law so that TOK would be placed under the authority of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade led by Nenad Stefanović, a loyalist deeply tied to the regime.
Legal experts and political observers agree: TOK represents a serious threat to the ruling elite because it handles the most explosive corruption and criminal cases in modern Serbian history Jovanjica, Generalštab, “Beograd na vodi,” the illegal canopy affair, and importantly, the “Sky” encrypted communications, which reportedly contain references to some of the highest state officials.
In short, TOK is the one institution capable of launching investigations that could reach the top of government—something no other prosecutor’s office currently dares to attempt. Subordinating TOK to Stefanović’s office would mean total political control over investigations and complete protection for those in power.
Lazić: Vucic Wants Control, Not Justice
Prosecutor Radovan Lazić argues that Vučić’s motive is simple: control the criminal proceedings that threaten him.
Since Vučić lacks the votes needed in the High Prosecutorial Council to remove Nenadić, he is now attempting to dismantle TOK by changing the law something he can easily push through with his comfortable parliamentary majority.
According to Lazić, transforming TOK into an internal department of the Belgrade Higher Prosecutor’s Office would “eliminate” Nenadić’s position and place the once-independent office under Stefanović, a man in whom the president has “full confidence.”
In other words, if Vučić cannot fire Nenadić legally, he will simply abolish the job itself.
Gostiljac: “This Is a State-Level Assault on the Rule of Law”
Attorney Viktor Gostiljac is even more direct:
Dismantling TOK is nothing less than political self-protection for officials afraid of facing justice.
Putting TOK under Stefanović would place organized-crime investigations under the direct influence of centers of executive power—a blatant breach of prosecutorial independence. Gostiljac notes that Vučić himself admitted that TOK “wanted to arrest him,” a stunning revelation that demonstrates the seriousness of the material TOK possesses.
The president’s answer, he argues, is not to cooperate with investigators but to destroy the institution investigating him.
This, Gostiljac says, is “a real state coup”—an attempt to ensure that neither Vučić nor his associates are ever held accountable.
Prelević: Vučić Fears TOK Because It Holds the Evidence
Attorney Božo Prelević states the core of the issue bluntly:
“TOK terrifies Vučić because of the documentation it holds.”
From Sky ECC messages, to files on Jovanjica and Generalštab, to corruption surrounding major state projects, TOK is in possession of material that could politically and perhaps legally destroy the regime.
Prelević argues that Vučić would love nothing more than to take direct command of TOK as he did with the military: appoint loyalists, “retire” the chief prosecutor, or ensure that sensitive case files mysteriously disappear.
But for now, TOK remains too large and too powerful a structure for him to swallow completely.
According to Prelević, Vučić’s war on TOK is part of a broader pattern: crushing independent institutions, controlling media narratives, and eliminating any threat to his grip on power.
A Battle for the Future of Serbia’s Institutions
The pressure campaign against the Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office is not just political maneuvering—it is a systematic attempt to neutralize the last institution with the capacity to uncover criminal responsibility at the highest levels of state power.
If Vučić succeeds in subjugating TOK, Serbia will lose one of its final remaining barriers against total authoritarian control.
This confrontation is not just about one prosecutor’s office it is a battle over whether Serbia will have rule of law, or rule of one man.
