Storm over Serbia Whistleblower Arrest in State Arms Scam

A lawyer for Obradovic has appealed against the decision to keep him in custody and some Serbs, including activists involved in months of anti-government demonstrations, have begun protesting in front of the prison in Belgrade.

"There is absolutely no reason to impose custody. Not one," the lawyer, Ljubisav Radosavljevic, told BIRN.

"If the panel that takes the case is fair, they will overrule the decision to put him in custody."

"I've been a professional lawyer for 30 years and I believe there's no case here."

Došli smo da pružimo podršku Aleksandru Obradoviću!
Vidimo se sutra u 18h ispred Centralnog zatvora!#1od5miliona#StudentiNeĆute#BOJkot pic.twitter.com/LIabt2d4yr

— #1od5miliona (@STOPkrvavim) October 13, 2019

Rodoljub Sabic, Serbia's former ombudsman for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, said that, under the law, information labelled 'trade secret' is not considered such if it was made secret in order to conceal a crime or other wrongdoing by the state.

"If we go with the assumption made by the media that the reason for the arrest… is the publication of data confirming that the father of Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic participated, as a representative of a private firm, in the business of arms trading with a state company, then the prosecution's action suggests illegitimate pressure on the whistleblower," Sabic told the website Cenzolovka.

'Action movie' arrest

Illustration. Photo: Pixabay

The first information about Branko Stefanovic's involvement in the Krusik arms purchases emerged last year. Following a report in NIN, BIRN revealed in November 2018 that Stefanovic had, as a representative of the private firm...

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