As soon as a photo of a group of young participants of the Center for Basic Police Training from Sremska Kamenica with pistols pointed at the lens appeared on Facebook, the State Secretary of the MUP, Vladimir Božović, immediately and without waiting, ordered the Internal Control Sector to investigate the case "on the circumstances". However, there is no rush when it comes to accusations made by the media against Gendarmerie Commander Bratislava Dikić and his brother Dragan, otherwise the intelligence officer of this police formation in Nis. Tabloids, also known as progressive official messengers, as well as other newspapers, announced, in short, the following: that the Dikić brothers, together with a group of their subordinates, are connected to racketeering, money laundering, and securing suspicious establishments in Niš; that the head of the Criminal Police Directorate, Rodoljub Milović, was chased through the streets of Belgrade by seven jeeps suspected to belong to the Gendarmerie; that two SUK inspectors, Ivan Petković and Ljubiša Puzović, had to request police protection because they were followed by gendarmes when they started investigating violations of the law in this unit; that the Gendarmerie is about to revolt... I guess not to be short because it is fast, Božović did not speak until ten days after the outbreak of the Dikić affair. He said that in the next two weeks, the preliminary results of the investigation into the events in the Gendarmerie and the alleged criminal activities of its commander will be known - "when the investigation is completed, all those responsible, regardless of name and surname, should be prosecuted". The Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior tried to cool down Božović's belated enthusiasm and energy. Ivica Dačić, under the very fresh impression of his own contamination in the Banana affair (hanging out with a member of Darko Šarić's drug cartel, Rodoljub Radulović aka Miša Banana), said that "we need to drop the ball" and be "very precise, because it is not the same whether an investigation has been initiated against the commander of the Gendarmerie or his brother", and that "whoever is guilty must be held accountable, but those who campaign against someone who is not guilty should also be held accountable".
All in all, whoever thought that the re-election of Milorad Veljović as Police Director ended the police-political scandals, was wrong. What is it about now? About the continuation of the joint operation "Dacic 2013" with the aim of further disavowing and politically weakening the prime minister? Another reckoning of police factions, the main operational centers within the framework of recomposing the political scene of Serbia under the name of fight against crime and corruption? About the destruction in the MUP, where Dikić's Gendarmerie is only a methodical and demonstrative example of feudalization and extra-institutional action? All together? One thing is certain: affair comes after affair, the police play a major role in almost every one, there are no solutions, and they are not in sight. "The institutions are doing their job," say the holders of the current power, which, when translated, is just a mere euphemism for mutual tripping, subterfuge and undermining.
BROTHERHOOD: The Gendarmerie was founded on June 25, 2001. It was an attempt by the democratic government to counterbalance the police and secret formations of the State Security, one of the main pillars of Slobodan Milošević's regime, in a conflict-free way after October 2000, 2001. Tasks: fight against terrorism, ensuring public order and peace in high-risk situations and providing assistance in emergency situations. The gendarmes did not pass their first exam. While they were still being formed under the command of Goran Radosavljević Guri, the Special Operations Unit (JSO) staged an armed rebellion in November 12. In the general confusion and panic - it was claimed later - the gendarmes wrote a tearful letter and informally sent it to the government of Zoran Djindjic. In short: Serbs must not be allowed to shoot Serbs again, we all bled together for the Serbian people, conflict and disagreements should be resolved peacefully, not by violence... In truth, many others did not behave any better in that situation either. After the assassination of Zoran Đinđić on March 2003, XNUMX, the Gendarmerie, now formed, behaved incomparably better: they actively participated in the pacification and dissolution of the JSO, with the fact that they included a good number of its "non-criminal" members in their ranks, made a significant contribution during the "Saber" operation during the arrest of members of the Zemunski and other clans, and in preserving public order and peace. The latter is in addition to the fight against terrorism, primarily in the south of Serbia, along with - is it still only administrative? - the border with Kosovo, the main gendarmerie task.
Like all similar units in the world, the Gendarmerie cultivates a cult of exaggerated and folkloric patriotism, machismo and militarism. Under Gurijev and the command of his successor Borivoj Tešić, it did not draw much attention to itself: one part of the public appreciated the gendarmes for their role in "Sablja", others - for their activities in the south of the country and, sometimes, in Sandžak. Nevertheless, Guri was occasionally called out as someone connected to the kidnapping and, later, the liquidation of the Bitići brothers in 2000, Tešić was questioned about his role in the fighting in Vukovar in 1991, it was rumored that the "Fifth Element", that is, former members of the JSO, would take over Gendarmerie and impose their dominance... From the unit itself, however, almost nothing came out. That will change in the last few years.
KOSOVO OATH: Bratislav Dikić was appointed commander of the Gendarmerie in June 2009. "He comes from a good family and, most importantly, he is an honest man," Veljović said at the time. Other: for ten years, a special officer in the Close Combat Department, sniper, commander of the Sniper Department and head of the B team in the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit; head of Intelligence and counter-intelligence affairs in the Gendarmerie and commander of the detachment in Niš for six years. With combat experience in Kosovo from the end of the nineties and southern Serbia in 2000/01. he also has a doctorate at the Faculty of Management from Novi Sad...
The general public heard about Dikić for the first time in April 2011. Then members of the Gendarmerie Commander's security "arrested" two UKP inspectors who were following him because of the suspicion that he was illegally eavesdropping on his subordinates. A media dust-up arose around this whole matter, a commission was formed and - nothing.
The next time the public dealt with Dikić was in early 2012. In short: that without the consent of his superiors in the police and the Ministry, he initiated the formation of the Special Purpose Squad within the Gendarmerie. Due to this demonstration of strength and arrogance, Dikić was given the nickname "Little Legion"; otherwise, the real Legion, Milorad Ulemek, did not submit reports to anyone about what he was doing at the head of the JSO, nor was anyone allowed to ask for those reports. This practice, along with other crimes of his group from the Unit, resulted in the murder of Prime Minister Đinđić... In any case, Dikić managed to get his way: the Gendarmerie was additionally strengthened to 2473 members, his power as a commander increased, Veljović - allegedly - could not do anything to him. , and Dacic pushed and supported him.
That, after all, Bratislav Dikić is still fascinated by the Legion and the JSO, it was shown on June 28, 2012. Christ god, and the commander himself spelled out the text of the new oath: in twenty-two verses, Kosovo is repeated thirteen times. The rest are ancestors, origin, the Serbian people, Serbia, the honorable cross, faith in God... Not even Obraz, the Serbian People's Movement 1389, Dveri, Naši and all the other ultra-rightists would be ashamed. The scandal, as usual when it comes to Dikic, was covered by Dacic with statements that it was not the official oath of the Gendarmerie and that this formation would never do anything without the command of the top of the state, which could threaten peace and stability.
DAILY MANTRA: Defending Kosovo, that is, packing and housing members of Albanian terrorist organizations, was Dikić's first reaction when, together with his brother Dragan, he found himself at the heart of a new police-political affair. It didn't work, so he later started repeating the current mantra that there are no protected persons and that anyone who is guilty of something must be held accountable. Specifically: "Whether it's my brother or any other member of the Gendarmerie, they have a duty to abide by the law and if they have committed any crime, I will arrest them and bring them to justice."
The acts for which the Dikić brothers are accused in the affair are quite serious. It is strange - or, considering the current practice, it is not - that the tabloids immediately after Veljović's re-election announced a purge of the police; that the authorities were silent for days while the media raced with allegations regarding Bratislava and Dragan Dikić; that no one has even tried to explain what is happening in a country where it is suspected that one of the highest police officials was beaten by his fellow gendarmes on the streets of Belgrade, and the police officers, depending on the interests and calculations of their superiors, arrest each other... It is even more interesting and that the possibility of escape, influence on witnesses and harassment of the public are not reasons for ordering detention in the Gendarmerie, although they should be if there is any grain of truth in what appeared in the media. And if there is not, then the judiciary must deal with police factions and their political protectors - at least for abuse of official position, deception and creating the impression of an undeclared state of emergency.
In the end, Božović's announcement of the investigation and the publication of its results seem as convincing as the assurances that the famous "institutions of the system" will investigate Dacić's role in the Banana affair. The real goal of this and similar cases is not anyway to establish the truth and enforce the law, but to acquire and establish bare power through criminalization and stigmatization. Bratislav Dikić himself may or may not remain at the head of the Gendarmerie. It depends on the political relations of power and interests, not on his results and methods of work. Because, if it were not so, he would not have been the first gendarme of Serbia a long time ago.
