Retired Senior Public Prosecutor Jasmina Paunović issued a stark warning today, stating that the Serbian state apparatus will utilize every mechanism at its disposal to shield the recently arrested former Chief of the Belgrade Police, Veselin Milić.
Milić was placed in detention last week following a major High Public Prosecutor’s Office (VJT) investigation into a brutal gangland assassination at a restaurant in Belgrade’s affluent Senjak neighborhood.
Speaking to the independent daily Danas, Paunović emphasized that Milić’s decades-long position as the ruling regime’s primary “striking fist” (udarna pesnica) within the security sector has made him a liability that the state must contain through systematic information fogging.
[THE SENJAK CRIMINAL PROFILE: VESELIN MILIĆ]
• Subject Profile: Former Chief of the Belgrade Police Directorate.
• Legal Status: Arrested, placed in judicial detention by the VJT.
• Current Charges: Failure to report a felony; aiding a perpetrator post-crime.
• Victim Profile: Aleksandar Nešović (Alias: "Baja") — Last seen alive May 12.
• State Strategy: Media distraction and minimized legal qualification to shield political elites.
Jurist Decries Softened Charges and Media Camouflage
According to Paunović, the process of legally insulating the former police chief has already begun through the specific statutory qualifications selected by prosecutors.
While the VJT has formally charged Milić with the lesser offenses of failing to report a crime and aiding a perpetrator after the fact, Paunović argues that the evidence points to far deeper operational complicity:
“The dilution of his responsibility has already been achieved through the current legal qualifications,” Paunović stated. “His true role in this affair is significantly more severe. He operated in a capacity of co-perpetration ($saizvršilaštvo$) and provided premeditated assistance to the executioners.”
The retired prosecutor also highlighted a coordinated media deflection campaign. She noted that pro-regime tabloids and state-aligned broadcasters are intentionally flooding the public sphere with irrelevant forensic minutiae and sensationalist side-stories. This tactical noise is designed to systematically draw public scrutiny away from the systemic overlap between Belgrade’s top law enforcement commands and organized crime syndicates.
[THE ANATOMY OF SYSTEMIC OBFUSCATION]
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1. THE ASSASSINATION (Execution at Senjak Restaurant)
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[THE LEGAL SHIELD] [THE MEDIA SHIELD]
VJT limits charges to "Aiding after Pro-regime tabloids hyper-focus on
the fact," avoiding heavier charges unrelated details to drain attention
of structural co-perpetration. away from Milić's state connections.
The Barrel in Inđija: Disappearance of Aleksandar Nešović
The chilling backdrop of the investigation centers on Aleksandar Nešović (known as “Baja”), who vanished on May 12. Investigators revealed that Nešović was last seen alive inside the Senjak restaurant, sitting at a table with Chief Veselin Milić and several prominent underworld figures.
The missing persons case rapidly transformed into a high-profile homicide investigation following a forensic breakthrough in the municipality of Inđija, north of Belgrade:
- The Discovery: Acting on intelligence leads, forensics teams and VJT prosecutors exhumed a plastic barrel buried in a remote field.
- The Contents: Inside the barrel, investigators discovered a concealed body matching Nešović’s physical profile. The remains are currently undergoing DNA identification.
- The Sweep: The VJT subsequently launched a sweeping prosecution targeting 10 high-value individuals involved in aggravated murder and coordination.
Among the 10 suspects are Chief Veselin Milić and three active-duty police officers who formally served as his close, state-funded personal security detail—cementing allegations that state resources were directly repurposed to facilitate mafia liquidations.
