The president of the Foreign Trade Union, Novica Antic, was detained for an informational interview after the police searched his house. The exact number of detained people from the Syndicate is still unknown, said Novica's brother Vaso Antic. He says everyone's cell phones have been taken away so they can't communicate. For Zdravko Ponoš, this action represents an attempt to "silence the army"
Several members and officials of the Military Union of Serbia, as well as the president of that union, Novica Antic, were detained this morning, reports N1.
Vaso Antic, brother of the president of the Military Union, Novica Antic, was in the family home in Kragujevac during the search that the police started this morning at six o'clock on the basis of alleged embezzlement in the union.
"It's not just Novica, the exact number of people who have been detained all over Serbia is still unknown." Everyone's phones, laptops, everything related to the trade union were confiscated, although as far as I can see, other things that have nothing to do with that subject are also confiscated," Vaso Antić told us.
He added that the procedure is such that after the search, everyone is brought to police stations for informational interviews, on the order of the prosecution from Novi Sad, which is carried out by UKP Belgrade, so that in the end they will all be transferred to custody in Novi Sad.
He also said that it was probably an attempt to carry out violent changes within the union, so that it would be taken over by people close to the authorities and the VBA.
An attempt to silence the army
The leader of the "Srbija Centar" party, Zdravko Ponoš, said that the action of the police against the Military Union of Serbia has a political character and represents an attempt to "silence the army", reports N1.
"This regime is following in the footsteps of Slobodan Milošević's regime. The peak of this regime was also in that regime," Ponoš said
"Such things are primarily aimed at disavowing Novica Antić, changing the top of the union and bringing in people who will be obedient to the military leadership. The other day, the Minister of Defense announced his displeasure with the very existence of the military union, and given that he cannot abolish it, he can make it eligible. And he does exactly that. That's what it's all about," says Ponoš, and that the military leadership has been trying to "discipline" Novica Antic for a long time, but so far it hasn't succeeded.
"It hurts them a lot. As far as I know, these days they wanted to deal with the position of the head of the Military Security Agency (VBA), who has been there for years. The head of the VBA cannot tolerate that, nor can the Minister of Defense," Ponoš believes.
Search of the house of the President of the Military Union
The police early this morning in Kragujevac, on the order of the prosecutor, entered the house of the president of the Military Union of Serbia, Novica Antic, and began a search, Siniša Lunić, Antic's lawyer, told FoNet.
Lunić said that he assumed that the reason for the search was Antić's activities in the Military Syndicate and that he would most likely be detained at the Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad, which has territorial jurisdiction over Sombor, where that union is headquartered.
Antic's mobile phone was confiscated. A possible decision on retention has not yet been made.
Lunić thinks that his client will be charged with "embezzlement", but it is clear to him that it is a "political procedure" because there is an "attempt to replace the legally elected leadership of the Military Union" with the aim of replacing them with people loyal to the government structures.
A thorn in the side
At the beginning of February this year, Antić submitted a letter to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, with a request to protect professional members of the Army and members of that union from long-standing mobbing, obstruction and prevention of trade union association and action, as well as the most serious forms of violation of the Constitution of Serbia, international treaties and laws.
Antić then told journalists, in front of the building of the Presidency of Serbia on Andrićevo venc, that the pressures on that union in recent weeks "come from the leaders of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Serbian Army".
He pointed out that "in recent weeks, the authorities of the Military Security Agency have started to work intensively on obstructing and preventing the activities of the Military Union of Serbia and discriminating against them."
The Military Union of Serbia then informed the Citizens' Protector, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality and the Prosecutor's Office about this.
"Considering the level from which pressure is exerted on us, we believe that the only one who can solve this problem at this moment is the President of the Republic, given his authority over those people who are exerting pressure on us. We would not like our actions in the coming period to turn into more radical measures", he said.
They also demanded that Vučić receive union representatives in order to present him with evidence of pressure on them.
The military union has already stated several times last year that they are members of the Serbian Armed Forces exposed to mobbing, that the competent authorities prosecute and punish them.
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