Dačić's former cabinet chief released from custody

Dačić's former cabinet chief released from custody

BELGRADE -- Branko Lazarević has had his passport confiscated and is under orders not to leave his place of residence without the court approval.

The former chief of Interior Minister Ivica Dačić's cabinet, who currently serves as Serbia's charge d'affairs in Athens, has also been prohibited from "communicating with a particular accused person and witness," and must report to a police station once a month.

Lazarević was thus set free pending the outcome of the proceedings against him, after he was placed in 48-hour police custody on Wednesday.

The measures in the case were announced on Thursday by a Special Department for Organized Crime judge in the preliminary proceedings, and came at the proposal of the Prosecution for Organized Crime.

Earlier today, Prosecutor Miljko Radosavljevic told B92 that he proposed the measures after several hours of questioning, and that Lazarević was facing the so-called abbreviated proceeding.

After performing "some other evidence gathering," a decision will be made on whether to press criminal charges against all persons reported in the case, specified Radisavljević.

According to media reports Lazarević is suspected of having ties with Darko Šarić, a fugitive accused of smuggling tons of cocaine from South America.

SNS party Vice-President Nebojša Stefanović said that "political parties should not interfere in the investigation and possible proceedings against Lazarević."

Asked how the case will affect the relationship between the SNS and Dačić's Socialists (SPS), he said he "did not know," and added he was "not dealing with the work of the judiciary, but only...