{"id":32898,"date":"2020-05-08T13:18:21","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T11:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.krik.rs\/?p=32898"},"modified":"2020-05-08T13:18:27","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T11:18:27","slug":"krik-investigation-sparks-uproar-among-serbian-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.krik.rs\/en\/krik-investigation-sparks-uproar-among-serbian-officials\/","title":{"rendered":"KRIK Investigation Sparks Uproar Among Serbian Officials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reacting to an investigation into criminal gangs, Serbian pro-government tabloids on Wednesday unleashed a barrage of coverage echoing statements from political leaders who accused journalists of targeting the president\u2019s son on behalf of the opposition.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0investigation\u00a0published on Tuesday<\/a> focused on a deadly war between two Montenegrin crime clans, and revealed their connections to some police and politicians. The son of Serbian President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 provided one link due to his relationship with a powerful member of a group of football hooligans, which is connected to one of the clans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danilo Vu\u010di\u0107\u00a0was mentioned only in one section of the extensive investigation, but Serbian government officials and aligned media have largely ignored revelations about crime and corruption. Instead they seized on the relatively brief reference to the president\u2019s son, falsely claiming it was a politically-motivated attack by KRIK, OCCRP\u2019s <\/a>member centre .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs there a line that the opposition and its media will not cross in an attempt to discredit the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107?\u201d Sini\u0161a Mali, a board member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, wrote in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pro-government tabloid, Informer<\/a>, alleged that opposition leader Dragan Djilas was behind the article and accused him of having \u201cpersonally ordered the attack against Vucic\u2019s son Danilo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation by KRIK and OCCRP\u2019s Montenegrin member center, MANS<\/a>, focused on the rivalry between the\u00a0\u2018\u0160kaljari\u2019 and the \u2018Kava\u010d\u2019\u00a0crime groups, which are both from the Kotor area of Montenegro\u2019s coast. Gang members have been killing each other since a cocaine deal went bad in 2014, carving a bloody trail\u00a0through the Balkans and across Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Danilo Vu\u010di\u0107 with Aleksandar Vidojevi\u0107 in a bar<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The investigation raised questions about commitments by authorities in Serbia and Montenegro to crack down on organized crime. It also showed that the conflict has pulled in other Balkan criminal groups, as well as some police and politicians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reference to Danilo Vu\u010di\u0107 consisted of 86 words about two-thirds of the way through the 4,000-word story. He was mentioned as one of a number of connections between underworld groups and politicians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation highlighted the younger Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s friendship with a top member of a hooligan group known as the Janissaries, who provided security at his father\u2019s 2017 presidential inauguration, where they assaulted journalists and activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to the investigation, Kurir<\/a> ran a story with the headline: \u201cA new attack on Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s family: With scandalous lies, they are pulling Danilo Vu\u010di\u0107 into a war between clans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pro-government media group labelled the investigation as \u201cso far the most heinous attack aimed at criminalizing and satanizing the president\u2019s son.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maja Gojkovi\u0107, president of Serbia\u2019s parliament, also released a statement condemning the story as politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement sent to selected pro-government media, Serbia\u2019s Interior Minister Neboj\u0161a Stefanovi\u0107 called KRIK reporters \u201copposition investigators,\u201d and said the article was \u201ca completely baseless attack against Danilo Vu\u010di\u0107, with no arguments and nothing truthful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stefanovi\u0107 went even further, telling local media<\/a> that KRIK was attempting to discredit authorities, and had placed \u201ca target on the forehead of Danilo Vu\u010di\u0107, directly endangering his life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation also garnered attention in Montenegro, where it was published in both main newspapers in the capital, Podgorica, and was discussed in Parliament on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrija Mandi\u0107 of the Democratic Front, a pro-Serbia opposition coalition, said it was unfair that the story by \u201callegedly independent investigative media\u201d had linked Danilo Vu\u010di\u0107 to a criminal group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou all know, as I know, that this is nothing but a lie,\u201d Mandi\u0107 said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation showed that the younger Vu\u010di\u0107 is close to Aleksandar Vidojevi\u0107, one of the most powerful members of the Janissaries. Photos show them together at a football match in Russia in 2018, and in Republika Srpska this past January on the day celebrating the declaration of that entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another never-before-published photograph obtained by KRIK, the younger Vu\u010di\u0107 embraces Vidojevi\u0107 inside a bar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reacting to an investigation into criminal gangs, Serbian pro-government tabloids on Wednesday unleashed a barrage of coverage echoing statements from political leaders who accused journalists of targeting the president\u2019s son on behalf of the opposition.\u00a0 The\u00a0investigation\u00a0published on Tuesday focused on a deadly war between two Montenegrin crime clans, and revealed [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nKRIK Investigation Sparks Uproar Among Serbian Officials - KRIK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.krik.rs\/en\/krik-investigation-sparks-uproar-among-serbian-officials\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"KRIK Investigation Sparks Uproar Among Serbian Officials - 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