Defense Ministry refuses to send documents to ombudsman

Defense Ministry refuses to send documents to ombudsman

BELGRADE -- Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic has said that the documentation sought by Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic cannot be submitted without the agreement of the prosecution.

Jankovic previously invited the minister to without delay submit all the data relevant to the Interior Ministry's checks concerning an incident in Belgrade last September that involved members of MUP's Gendarmerie, military police, and Andrej Vucic, the brother of the Serbian prime minister.

Based on what article of the Law on the Army or any other law do members of the Military Police provide protection to the prime minister Gasic said that he was acting in line with the law, and that "as long as the pre-investigative procedures are ongoing" the documents are located at the prosecution.

"We cannot ask the prosecution to give us the documents so we can send them to Sasa Jankovic. He will receive them only when the prosecution approves it, in line with the law," he told the Belgrade-based daily Danas.

The documents in question would enable Jankovic to contact the two military policemen involved in the incident.

Previously, he urged Gasic to provide answers to his questions without delay and within 15 days at the latest.

After Gasic recently told parliament that Andrej Vucic was assigned military police escort "because he was on his way to a family lunch with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic," and that he signed the decision for the Cobra unit of the Serbian Army to provide protection for Vucic, Jankovic came out with the following questions:

• What was the exact task assigned to military policemen S.S. and S.J., who accompanied the prime minister's brother,...