Serbian prosecutors accuse president of 'unlawful influence'

Serbia’s top corruption and organised crime prosecutors accused the country’s president on Tuesday of exerting “unlawful influence” on their investigations, after the right-wing leader unleashed a tirade targeting the judiciary.

In a TV interview late Monday, President Aleksandar Vučić labelled the prosecutors a “corrupt gang” and blamed them for a stalled hotel redevelopment on the site of the bombed-out former Yugoslav Army headquarters in central Belgrade, due to a criminal investigation.

“Through his offensive and untrue remarks, Aleksandar Vučić once again targeted the acting prosecutors,” the prosecutors said in a joint statement sent from the official prosecution office’s email address.

They said Vučić had “overstepped and abused his powers granted by law and the Constitution, attempting to exert inappropriate and unlawful influence on this office by commenting on ongoing criminal investigations.”

Facing a year of anti-corruption protests against his government, Vučić has increasingly criticised judges and prosecutors — including those probing a 2024 railway station roof collapse.

The largely peaceful demonstrations were sparked by the fatal collapse of a canopy at a newly renovated train station in the city of Novi Sad, which killed 16 people and became a symbol of entrenched corruption for protesters.

In April, hundreds of judges and prosecutors expressed “great concern” over the president’s remarks against them, some of which they claim could be deemed unlawful.

But Vučić has continued his public criticism.

In his latest interview with a pro-government broadcaster, he accused the judiciary of wrongfully releasing protesters arrested during student-led demonstrations.

“It’s unbelievable that you have a situation where every day they release people who throw rods, sticks, and beat people on the streets,” Vučić said.

“You’re a corrupt gang in the prosecutor’s offices, in most of the prosecutor’s offices, with as many corrupt judges as you want.”

The prosecutors said the remarks were “directly obstructing justice and undermining the constitutional and legal order and the rule of law.”

In the European Commission’s latest progress report on the Balkan country’s path to join the bloc, it recommended, among other things, to “reduce political interference in the judiciary and prosecution.”

“Undue pressure on the judiciary remains a concern, with little or no follow-up from relevant institutions, and there are concerns about prosecutorial autonomy,” the report published on Tuesday said.