The second hearing in the General Staff case is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15. Will one of the accused, Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković, receive immunity
Trial Minister of Culture of Serbia Nikola Selaković, accused of abuse of office in the case General Staff, is scheduled for Wednesday (April 15) at 10 a.m. before the Special Department for Organized Crime of the High Court in Belgrade.
According to the announcement from the previous hearing, held on February 4, the defendants should present their defense on Wednesday.
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.
One of Selaković's lawyers, Vladimir Đukanović Đuka, tells "Vreme" that until Tuesday (April 14) at noon, no decision on the immunity granted to Selaković by the Government of Serbia had been received at 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.
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.
On December 15, 2025, the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime (TOK) filed an indictment against Selaković and three other persons, accusing them of influencing or falsifying documents through their position in order to illegally deprive the General Staff building of its cultural property status.
Selaković is also charged with falsifying an official document.
After the prosecutor read the indictment, Selaković reminded that he is a lawyer by education and that he understands the criminal acts listed, but he does not understand how he committed them.
Selaković also said that he did not take over the indictment, but "found out about its content through the opposition media", citing N1 and Nova.
Lawyer Dragan Palibrk, who represents everyone except Ivanovic, assessed that the entire procedure is "the most ordinary political pamphlet" and that it "has nothing to do with law and justice."
Vladimir Djukanovic, one of the lawyers of the Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković who is on trial in the case General Staff, after the first hearing held on February 4, declared that the proceedings against his client were a "legal absurdity", arguing that the General Staff did not have the status of a cultural property, as the 2005 decision on it was declared null and void.
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."
Who else is being tried and why?
Apart from Selaković, the secretary of the Ministry of Culture Slavica Jelača, the acting director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments Goran Vasić and the acting director of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Belgrade Aleksandar Ivanović are also accused.
Selaković, Slavica Jelača and Vasić, in addition to abuse of official position, are also charged with falsification of an official document, and Ivanović with falsification of an official document by aiding and abetting.
The prosecution is asking for three years in prison for Selaković and Vasić, two and a half years for Slavica Jelača and one and a half years for Ivanovic.
The accused denied guilt before the panel of the Special Court, stating that they understood the language and grammar of TOK's indictment, but not its essence.
Students in the blockade announced a gathering in front of the court from 9:30 a.m., with the message "We are all witnesses."
The text was updated with the statement of Vladimir Đukanović
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