Ex-cabinet chief says Dačić introduced him to suspect

Ex-cabinet chief says Dačić introduced him to suspect

BELGRADE -- Branko Lazarević told the police during his questioning last week that Ivica Dačić was the person who introduced him to Rodoljub Radulović.

This is according to police inspector Bogdan Pušić.

Lazarević is the former chief of the cabinet of Dačić in his role as interior minister. Radulović, known also as Miša Banana, is accused of cocaine trafficking in the Šarić case.

Pušić, who heads the Working Group of the Criminal Police and took part in the questioning of Lazarević, told Pink TV that he made the statement about Dačić introducing him to Radulović as he was questioned as a suspect.

Pušić refused to say whether Lazarević also said that "Dačić introduced Radulović as a friend and recommend that he helps him if he needed anything."

Asked whether Dačić is the subject of the investigation, Pušić said that "everyone who had anything to do" with the criminal group of fugitive suspected drug lord Darko Šarić is investigated.

Asked whether Dačić will also be questioned, the police official said that "everyone determined to have elements of criminal responsibility will be questioned," and that the police would act "as they did until now."

Dačić previously admitted that he knew Radulović and had been meeting with him, but claimed he was unaware of Radulović's activities, and was "disappointed" when he found out.

"I never said I did not know Rodoljub Radulović. I always said that I met him a long time ago, that even my family knew him, he is a public figure that many knew," Dačić said in early December, and added:

"But I also emphasized that the...