After the alleged mass departure of people from the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) is trying to fill the ranks.
MUP has announced a public competition for attending the Selection Training for SAJ to fill the position of "specialist" in the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit, it was announced on the MUP website.
At the end of the competition, 22 people will be employed.
Photo: Ministry of the Interior of SerbiaWho can join SAJ?
Who can join the "special forces"?
No education in the field of security or previous experience in the police is required to apply for the competition.
Citizens of the Republic of Serbia, that is, anyone who has registered residence in the country for at least one year, can apply for the competition. The requirement is completed high school, and the upper age limit is 28 years.
Candidates should have a category B driver's license, but even those who do not have one can be employed, with the obligation to pass the driving test within two years of employment.
It is also necessary that there are no security obstacles to work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as that candidates undergo a medical examination and meet the requirements of the selection test.
The application deadline is July 27, and the selected candidates will undergo a three-month selection training, which they can leave at any time.
At the same time, a competition for jobs in the Unit for the security of certain persons and facilities was opened.
Photo: Ministry of the Interior of SerbiaThe application does not require education in the field of MUP, nor previous work experience
Competition at the moment of the outflow of personnel
The competition for the admission of new members was announced at a time when the SAJ is facing a serious outflow of experienced personnel after the dismissal of the former commander of the unit Spasoje Vulević last year. He refused to allow SAJ to intervene during the student protests.
At the end of April, "Vreme" reported N1's allegations that since his arrival Igor Žmirić at the head of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit at the beginning of November last year, about 40 active members left the unit. According to the same information, ten more of them submitted requests for retirement.
N1 interlocutors claimed that officially the departures were mainly realized through disability or early retirement at personal request, while unofficially the reason was cited as an atmosphere of fear and dissatisfaction with the changes in the way the unit is managed.
According to the testimony of a retired member of the SAJ, the number of operatives could be halved compared to the previous period. While there were more than 120 people in the operational team last year, a wave of mass departures allegedly followed.
The full combat composition of the SAJ is estimated at around 150 special forces.
Photo: Ministry of the Interior of SerbiaCivilians up to the age of 28 can apply for the competition
Shifts and dissatisfaction in the unit
Media reported on problems within SAJ before. At the beginning of the year, allegations were published about the shifts and transfers of professional members, which some of the employees associate with the change in management after the arrival of Igor Žmirić as commander. According to these claims, long-time elders and instructors were removed from certain leadership positions, while some members were transferred to the Unit for the Security of Certain Persons and Facilities.
The special anti-terrorist unit was founded in 1978 and is a special police formation intended to fight terrorism, solve hostage crises and carry out the most risky police actions.
It has been headed by Igor Žmirić since November last year.
Photo: Ministry of the Interior of SerbiaA few months ago, special forces allegedly left SAJ en masse
Who is Žmirić?
Citizens who don't know him should know two main things about Žmirić - the first, that until now he had his back and was an assistant JZO Commander Marko Kričko, whom numerous students, including Nikolina Sinđelić, accused of brutal beatings in the garage of the Government of Serbia during the past summer.
That evening, the media reported, he himself was with Marko Kričko, when students and citizens were arrested near the Government of the Republic of Serbia.
The second is that Žmirić was repeatedly filmed in the same summer using excessive force on students during detention. Žmirić has a tattoo of a rose on his neck, which has always shown loyalty Milorad Ulemek Legija, who is serving a sentence of 40 years in prison for the assassination of Zoran Djindjic, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Serbia, "Vreme" wrote earlier.
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