Serbia’s Interior Ministry (MUP) has told N1 that it does not possess documentation showing whether serving police officers have been providing security for controversial businessmen Zvonko Veselinović and Milan Radoičić.
The response comes after N1 reported that active members of Serbia’s police forces had allegedly been working as private security for the two men, raising questions over potential links between state security personnel and individuals facing serious allegations and international sanctions.
In late June, N1 reported that Damnjan Vukićević, a member of the Belgrade Gendarmerie, was working as a private security guard for Milan Radoičić and occasionally for members of his family. Radoičić is wanted by Interpol and has been accused by Kosovo authorities of organizing and participating in the armed attack in Banjska in northern Kosovo in September 2023.
N1 also reported that Nikola Milutinović, another member of the Belgrade Gendarmerie, was working as security at properties in Golija owned by Zvonko Veselinović, who is under sanctions imposed by the United States and United Kingdom.
In early July, N1 further reported that Neđeljko Gole, an active member of Serbia’s Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ) and head of its sniper unit, was also allegedly part of Veselinović’s security detail.
The Serbian Interior Ministry has neither publicly denied the reports nor provided an official explanation.
Seeking clarification, N1 submitted a freedom-of-information request asking whether police officers had been assigned to provide security for Veselinović and Radoičić and, if so, requesting documentation authorizing such assignments and the legal basis for providing the two men with police protection.
The ministry responded that it “does not have a document containing the requested information.”
The response raises further questions given previous statements by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who said that police officers or soldiers protecting businessmen and criminals would be removed from state service.
Following the arrest of Belgrade police chief Veselin Milić over allegations that he failed to report a murder at a restaurant in the Senjak district on May 12, Vučić said on May 20 that officers working for wealthy individuals or criminals could no longer remain in state institutions.
“The law is clear. Whoever likes it, likes it; whoever doesn’t, we can part ways amicably. You work for these people, but you can no longer be in state institutions,” Vučić said at the time, according to N1.
When later asked about N1’s findings concerning police officers allegedly providing security for Veselinović and Radoičić, Vučić said that they “do not provide security” — or, based on the Interior Ministry’s response, at least no longer do so.
The controversy comes amid continued scrutiny of the relationship between Serbia’s security structures, politically connected businessmen and figures linked to organized crime and the Banjska attack.
