Prime minister addresses treatment of ombudsman

Prime minister addresses treatment of ombudsman

BELGRADE -- "There is no pressure on Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic," Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told a news conference in Belgrade late on Wednesday.

According to Vucic, Ombudsman is with his own behavior "saying a lot more about himself than about those whom he criticizes on a daily basis."

"What pressure, has somebody sacked him? No one has, I keep silent," Vucic said when asked to comment on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights statement that "expressed hope the government would distance itself from the accusations against Jankovic."

The prime minister added that he would "protect Serbia and its institutions, unlike those who refer to these institutions yet undermine them."

"I do not mind what someone's telling me, but I try to act in accordance with the country's interests and always speak the truth," he said.

Vucic added that a letter recently published by the family Predrag Gojkovic - Jankovic's friend who in 1993 committed suicide in his apartment, using his pistol - was cencored by the media, because it was published only by one television and one newspaper, and added that the family "doesn't have the right to their truth."

"And imagine if somebody was killed from my pistol, what would you do to me, you'd drink my blood day and night - metaphorically speaking," Vucic said, addressing reporters.

He added there was talk about terrific pressure in some media, but added that these media "invented it themselves, and are enjoying it."

"You start campaigns, and then talk about somebody else doing it," said Vucic.

He recalled that the government "did not sack or appoint any editors," and mentioned as an example that his SNS...