A highly polarized session of the Serbian Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Internal Affairs descended into political acrimony on May 29, 2026, as high-ranking opposition leaders fiercely confronted Minister of Internal Affairs Ivica Dačić.
The security review, initially convened to audit the Ministry’s (MUP) statistical performance, quickly morphed into a comprehensive grilling led by Zdravko Ponoš (President of the Srbija Centar – SRCE party) and Miroslav Aleksić (President of the People’s Movement of Serbia – NPS). The opposition accused the ruling regime of weaponizing the police force to serve a criminalized state apparatus, asserting that the general public no longer feels safe.
The “Senjak Case” and the Underworld Connections of Belgrade’s Police Chief
At the absolute center of the political storm was a recent gangland murder inside Restaurant “27” in Belgrade’s affluent Senjak neighborhood. The hit has directly implicated current and former members of law enforcement, exposing fractures at the highest levels of the MUP.
[The Senjak Contamination Matrix]
Restaurant "27" Murder (Senjak)
│
├──► Retrospective manipulation of official police field logs.
├──► Mysterious erasure of surveillance recordings from the crime scene.
└──► Direct links to Belgrade Police Chief Veselin Milić & UKP Chief Marko Kričak.
Opposition leader Miroslav Aleksić launched a blistering assault against Belgrade Police Chief Veselin Milić, tracking his continuous, controversial tenure since 2013 and demanding to know why the chief has evaded criminal investigation for over a decade.
“Milić didn’t do this alone; he is part of a system that runs this state. Someone installed him there,” Aleksić argued. He directly asked Police Director Dragan Vasiljević whether internal files, witness statements, and security footage from the Senjak restaurant had been retroactively falsified or deliberately erased to shield Milić and UKP (Criminal Police Directorate) Chief Marko Kričak.
Aleksić went further, demanding answers on whether Milić was historically insulated because he executed “sensitive tasks” for the ruling elite, explicitly linking him to the infamous illegal night-demolitions in Savamala, as well as the suspicious zataškavanje (cover-up) of the murders of a Crvena Zvezda fan leader and singer Jelena Marjanović.
Bashing “Hooligan-Style” Plainclothes Squads
Zdravko Ponoš focused his critique on the increasing militarization, operational degradation, and bizarre tactical deployment choices within the public safety sector. He heavily targeted Minister Dačić for presenting sanitized statistics while the reality on the streets deteriorates.
| Opposition Challenge (Zdravko Ponoš) | Core Accusation / Question Posted to MUP |
| Masked “Hooligan” Cops | Why are anti-terrorism units dressed in “leggings and masks” during peaceful protests, acting like street thugs? |
| Police-on-Police Violence | Why are different branches of the police increasingly engaging in physical altercations with one another during deployments? |
| Integrity Checks | Has Veselin Milić ever undergone a standard wealth, property, or institutional asset integrity audit? |
| Custody Deaths & Cover-ups | Who killed the suspect (Dalibor Dragijević) inside the Bor police station during the Danka Ilić murder investigation? |
| Equipment Destruction | Is it true that a state-owned ‘Gazela’ helicopter worth €500,000 was completely destroyed in an unpublicized crash? |
“Have you noticed that more and more often, police are getting beaten up by other police?” Ponoš asked. “When you dress an officer up like a hooligan with a stocking over his head, it’s completely logical that the Žandarmerija (Gendarmerija) ends up beating them. Why are you outfitting police units like street thugs?”
Dačić Deflects: “The Democratic Party Created These Officials”
Minister Ivica Dačić aggressively pushed back against the barrage of questions, utilizing a defensive strategy focused on historical legacy and legislative technicalities to distance his political cabinet from operational fallout.
- Operational Independence Defense: Dačić cited specific statutory provisions mandating that the Minister of Internal Affairs has zero operational control over active investigations, noting that the police directorate is entirely autonomous under the law.
- The “Legacy” Counter-Argument: When pressed on the criminality of Belgrade Chief Milić and Police Director Dragan Vasiljević, Dačić aggressively interjected, yelling to Aleksić that Milić was originally promoted into his high-ranking framework by the former Democratic Party (DS) administration.
- Historical Recrimination: Dačić reminded the opposition that these identical police commanders were deploying rubber bullets against radical protesters on Belgrade streets long before the current government took power. “I am not new to this system… I am not some member of the Green-Left Front (ZLF) hearing about these dynamics for the first time,” Dačić retorted.
The reference to the Green-Left Front caused immediate friction in the gallery, prompting ZLF MP Jelena Jerinić to break in and declare that average citizens have never heard of the underworld figures floating through the “Senjak Case” but are deeply terrified by the level of institutional rot it represents.
Despite Dačić’s assurances that “no one will be protected” and that 210 corrupt police officers were prosecuted last year, the committee adjourned with opposition members reiterating that the retrospective altering of official logs in the Senjak probe indicates a systemic, high-level cover-up designed to ultimately promote, rather than indict, compromised police commanders.
