Serbian Policeman Accuses PM's Brother of Attack

Dalibor Djordjevic, a member of the Serbian Gendarmerie special police unit, told the Higher Court in Belgrade on Monday that the prime minister's brother Andrej Vucic hit him in the face while trying with three companions to break through police lines during a gay pride parade on September 28, 2014.

Djordjevic said Andrej Vucic and the three others refused to obey police orders to stop and were "acting like people with a criminal background".

He added that he had no medical documentation of the injury because he was told to go to the prime minister's office right after the incident.

"During the conversation, the prime minister wanted to know what had happened, and when he received the report he said everything was finished now and told us to go back to work," Belgrade-based Beta news agency reported Djordjevic as saying in court.

Djordjevic also said he told the prime minister that his brother hit him in the face during the incident, and that Aleksandar Vucic responded: "You lie."

Serbia's High Prosecution Office accuses the eight members of the Gendarmerie unit of attacking army officers during the performance of their duties, as well as abuse, torture and abuse of office. Andrej Vucic's security guards are members of a Military Police unit.

The Gendarmerie officers, who were deployed to ensure security at the Belgrade Gay Pride parade on September 28, 2014, are alleged to have assaulted Andrej Vucic and Predrag Mali, the brother of the mayor of Belgrade, as well as Vucic's two Military Police security men.

But the defendant Djordjevic told the court that the Gendarmerie acted according to service regulations and did not use excessive force.

He also testified they were attacked with a gun and a bottle when Andrej...