Mihajlovic: Excessive use of force cannot be permitted

Mihajlovic: Excessive use of force cannot be permitted

BELGRADE -- Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic condemned any use of excessive force.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said on Thursday that she expects the Interior Ministry report on the Pride Parade incident that involved Gendarmerie members will be complete as soon as possible, and condemned any use of excessive force.

Reacting to the beating of Andrej Vucic, the brother of the Serbian Prime Minister, Mihajlovic said that the incident should be discussed at a Government session and in the Serbian Progressive Party.
"We expect to get the report from the Interior Ministry and the relevant authorities very soon, and any use of excessive force - which has been documented by footage - is really impermissible," she said in a statement to Tanjug.

"In the past, we have often had situations where newspaper front pages showed certain members of the Gendarmerie using excessive force, and what we have been able to see in the footage so far seems very serious," she said.

Five members of the Gendarmerie have been suspended over the beating of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic's brother, with an investigation now under way to find out all the facts and the motives behind the incident.