The first defendant is the Minister of Culture Nikola Selakovic presented his defense in the Special Court, where the trial of him and the other defendants in the case "General Staff".
Nikola Selaković presented his defense, saying that the proceedings were politically motivated and not based on legal grounds. He also said that he is characterized by the biased actions of the prosecution and that none of his associates nor he had any intention and did no harm to anyone, as well as that they did not gain any benefit, N1 announced.
As he said, only the state could benefit.
Then Minister Selaković moved on to the discrediting of the prosecution, and said that the goal of the prosecution is to collapse and discredit the highest state authorities, create internal instability and bring about political changes outside of procedures.
He continued by discrediting TOK, saying that their official announcements were untrue, that they leaked information to opposition parliamentary parties, as well as to certain media. He then said that there were 1.583 negative posts about him before the indictment was filed.
Then Selaković moved on to discredit the prosecutor's assistant, even in the courtroom he suggested to the president of the council to show photos of him visiting or participating in student protests.
Minister Selaković spent most of his time discrediting the former director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Dubravka Đukanović, who is also a witness in this proceeding, as well as her deputy Estela Radonjić Živkov, who is also a witness.
For more than 45 minutes, the minister spoke about former director Djukanović, her husband, daughter, all the while discrediting them and basing his defense on that. He said that Dubravka Đukanović committed criminal acts where she abused her official position to the detriment of the state and obtained benefits for her daughter's company.
Since the president of the court panel tried to stop the minister and tell him to testify only about the allegations in the indictment, and not to spend his entire defense in statements and allegations about Dubravka Đukanović, Selaković continued with his discrediting.
His lawyer Dragan Palibrk said "he has the right to discredit and compromise her", in order to question her testimony.
Then Minister Selaković based his defense on the discrediting of the chief prosecutor for organized crime, Mladen Nenadić.
Photo: FoNet / Ognjen StevanovićTrial of Nikola Selaković
Whistles and chants
The minister was met in front of the court by students and citizens who whistled and chanted at him.
The trial of Serbian Culture Minister Nikola Selaković and other defendants in the "General Staff" case continues in the Special Court. The minister was met in front of the court by students and citizens who whistled and chanted at him.
Nikola Selaković entered the Special Court building accompanied by his lawyer and party colleague Vladimir Đukanović.
Before the start of the trial, a group of students and citizens gathered in front of the court and saw off the minister with whistles and shouts: "whoah, whoah", "thieves, thieves", "resignation, then imprisonment" and "SNS mafia".
Will Selaković get immunity?
According to the announcement from the previous hearing, held on February 4, the defendants should present their defense at today's hearing.
The Minister of Culture then decided not to invoke immunity at the trial in the General Staff case, even though he has the right to do so as a minister, and it is up to the Government of Serbia to decide whether to grant him protection later or to revoke his immunity.
Vladimir Đukanović for "Vreme": I don't know anything about immunity
One of Selaković's lawyers, Vladimir Đukanović Đuka, says for "Vreme" that by Tuesday (April 14) at noon, no decision on the immunity granted to Selaković by the Government of Serbia had arrived at the address of his office. As he adds, he is not aware of whether the decision has reached the Court directly.
At the end of February, Đukanović told the media that he expects the Court to be informed about the immunity by the hearing on April 15.
President Aleksandar Vučić can also come to the aid of the accused minister, who even after the indictment against Selaković declared that no one would be held accountable because of the General Staff, that is, that he would absolve all the accused.
Will Selaković get immunity and avoid the General Staff case
The consequences of Mrdić's laws should not be forgotten.
A day before Selaković's first hearing, Uglješa Mrdić, a member of the SNS, confirmed on K1 that the laws had been changed to prevent investigations and arrests of government officials.
"Because they started arresting SNS ministers. Because they wanted to eventually arrest President Vučić, let's be honest. Because they would start arresting people. They wanted to carry out the color revolution to the end, to overthrow the state," Mrdić said.
Photo: FoNet / Ognjen StevanovićTrial of Nikola Selaković
Students announce reunion
The students in the blockade announced that they will gather in front of the Special Department for Organized Crime of the High Court in Belgrade at 9:30 a.m., with the message "We are all witnesses."
Selaković previously stated that he was looking forward to the trial in the "General Staff" case, judging that it was a political construction of the public prosecutor's organization, which he accused of criminal activity.
After the hearing on December 4 of last year in JTOK, he stated that he proved that it was a "blockade joint criminal gang that usurped a part of the state and the state system and as part of that enterprise they are trying to overthrow the government in an illegal way."
After filing the indictment, Selaković assessed that "the real target is the president (of Serbia) Aleksandar Vučić, who is their main threat."
Photo: Tanjug/Ana PaunklovićMinister Selaković in front of the court before the first hearing
What does Selaković suspect?
According to the indictment proposed by the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime, Seleković and the others are charged with abuse of official position in connection with the removal of the status of cultural property from the old General Staff, and in the first statement they denied guilt.
The director of the Republican Institute for the Protection of Monuments, Goran Vasić, the director of the City Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Aleksandra Ivanović, and the secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Slavica Jelača, are suspected of abuse of official position and falsification of an official document.
According to the indictment, they, on Selaković's order, in violation of procedure, bypassed experts from the Republic Institute and the Ministry of Culture's Sector for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and Digitization, and sent the Government a proposal for a decision on the termination of the status of a cultural asset to the General Staff Building with untrue content, after which a special law was adopted in the Serbian Parliament.
Source: H1
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