Affairs

How did milk, once regarded as one of nature's most wholesome and nutritionally valuable foods, trusted even for infant consumption, become a source of concern because of aflatoxin contamination?

Fungi belonging to the genus Aspergillus, capable of colonising cereal crops, have posed a persistent challenge to agriculture and food safety for decades. Their growth results in the production of aflatoxins, among the most toxic and potentially carcinogenic mycotoxins known, which may have serious adverse consequences for both human and animal health.

The conditions most conducive to fungal growth and aflatoxin production occur during prolonged periods of drought and elevated temperatures, but may also arise as a consequence of improper grain storage. Excessive moisture combined with elevated temperatures in storage facilities creates an environment highly favourable to fungal proliferation, potentially leading to the contamination of large quantities of agricultural produce.

The transfer of aflatoxins from contaminated grain to milk follows a well established biological pathway. Cattle consuming contaminated feed ingest aflatoxin B1, which is metabolised into aflatoxin M1 and subsequently excreted in milk. Although livestock frequently reject contaminated feed because of its unpleasant odour and taste, this natural defence cannot be relied upon in every instance.

Preventing the contamination of milk requires systematic monitoring of feed quality, appropriate grain storage practices, and the consistent implementation of preventive measures throughout the production process. Only feed that meets the highest sanitary and technological standards can ensure the safe production of milk.

While Serbian farmers continue to sustain substantial economic losses, certain dairy processors refuse to purchase milk even when aflatoxin concentrations remain within the maximum levels permitted under Serbian legislation. Such practices place small scale producers under severe financial hardship and contribute to the gradual disappearance of family owned farms.

Rather than addressing the underlying causes of the problem, the Ministry of Agriculture ultimately responded by increasing the maximum permissible concentration of aflatoxins in milk.

Ultimately, one question remains unanswered: Who, then, bears responsibility for the deterioration of Serbia's dairy sector and for the elevated concentration of aflatoxins in milk?

The house of journalist Milan Jovanović was set on fire on the night of December 11, 2018, in retaliation for his investigative reporting on abuses in the Municipality of Grocka. A Molotov cocktail was thrown into the garage while Jovanović and his wife, Jela, were sleeping. The flames quickly spread and engulfed their home, but they did not swallow the truth.

This is not just an attack on one man, but an attempt to intimidate and silence all who dare to stand up to corruption.

Why is justice for endangering journalists’ safety slow, and often unattainable?

On February 14, 2025, during a class at Slobodan Bajić Paja Elementary School in Pećinci, a piece of plaster fell from the wall onto two sixth-grade students. The girls did not sustain serious injuries. This incident marks the third occurrence of injuries resulting from a ceiling collapse at the school. Despite repeated incidents, no official response has been issued.

Who is to blame for the ceiling collapse at the Slobodan Bajić Paja Elementary School in Pećinci?

On 1 November 2024, the canopy of Wing B at the Novi Sad Railway Station collapsed. It took 16 lives. Following public pressure, only a part of the project documentation, which remains incomplete even six months later, was published. The project is riddled with inconsistencies, such as the fact that work on the station building was not reported until October 16, 2024, three months after its official opening. Whether it was human negligence or a mistake, someone must be held accountable.

Who is to blame for the canopy collapse?

Vladimir Cvijan, former Secretary General of the Presidency of Serbia, MP, and a senior official of the SNS, was one of the first people from the party leadership to oppose Aleksandar Vučić openly. In late 2013, he announced his candidacy for the presidency of the SNS and accused Vučić of turning sessions of the party presidency into compiling lists for the arrest of political opponents. After a conflict within the party leadership, he also filed criminal charges for an alleged attempt at physical assault, left the SNS, and then withdrew from public life.

His body was found on January 5, 2018, in the Danube. The Higher Prosecutor’s Office concluded that he died as a result of drowning, that there were no injuries on the body that would indicate a criminal offense, and the case was archived. The public, however, did not even know that Cvijan was dead for more than three years. The information reached the media only in March 2021, when a document on the costs of the autopsy was discovered. His urn has since been placed in the Lešće cemetery, under a plaque that simply says “Vladimir”.

The institutions closed the case before the public learned that it existed.

Who is responsible for the three years of silence, and how could the death of a former state and party official go without a single public response?

The traffic accident at the Doljevac toll plaza occurred on January 31, 2019, when a vehicle belonging to Koridori Srbije struck a car at the toll plaza, killing Stanika Gligorijević and injuring several people, including the then director Zoran Babić. The driver, Dejan Stanojević, was sentenced to four and a half years' imprisonment. Controversy was sparked by the disappearance of two minutes of surveillance camera footage, which, according to the family and lawyers, could reveal all the circumstances of the accident and who was behind the wheel that night.

In August 2019, Vučić stated that he had watched the entire footage of the accident, called it "horrible", claimed that Babić had not been behind the wheel and promised to request that the footage be made publicly available. In April 2021, he stated that he did not have the recording, that no one had requested it and that he had not provided it because no one had asked him for it.

Just two weeks after the tragedy at the Novi Sad Railway Station, using the public’s state of collective shock as a smokescreen, top officials from the executive branch, acting in secret and bypassing both official experts and the expert community, pushed through unconstitutional and unlawful decisions at a Government session. These decisions revoked the status of "immovable cultural property" from the General Staff and Ministry of Defence complex in Belgrade.

Despite relevant heritage conservation expertise stressing that these structures have not lost their monumental value, the controversial decisions were nonetheless made without any expert analysis, without proposals from the competent institutions, and without any legal basis. All of this was done to pave the way for the construction of the first Trump hotel in Europe, through an arrangement with Jared Kushner and an agreement reached with absolutely no transparency toward the public.

The filing of charges against Nikola Selaković marks the first time in the history of our country that a sitting minister has been indicted. This demonstrates that, despite systemic corruption, our institutions are capable of holding politicians accountable, thanks to the efforts and courage of many individuals.

Who carried out the actual executive actions within this chain of unlawful decision-making, which links four ministries and a large number of high-ranking state officials?

Who obstructed the administration of justice by exerting unlawful influence over witnesses and the organized crime prosecutors?

A Serbian Army helicopter departed on March 13, 2015, following standard procedure. However, it was subsequently instructed to delay landing to allow media coverage of the baby’s arrival from Novi Pazar.

Despite adverse weather conditions and explicit warnings, the helicopter was redirected to a civilian airport. This decision prompted several questions, including why it did not land at the Military Medical Academy or Batajnica Air Base, and why it was flown to Belgrade instead of a hospital closer to the accident site.

There were no answers.

The reports were marked as “top secret”. The Minister of Defense continued his career. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office decided that “no one is guilty”.

And seven people, including the baby and two doctors, never returned home.

On March 17, 2025, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, accompanied by journalists, entered the ICU at the University Clinical Center of Serbia (UCCS). His unauthorized visit to the injured in the nightclub fire in Kočani, North Macedonia, only endangered their health.  Individuals were prohibited from entering the ICU, and on that day, a ban on visiting UCCS was in effect due to the ongoing flu epidemic.

We demand accountability for this incident, and we ask, who is to blame?

In November 2019, one of the largest skunk (marijuana with high levels of THC) plantations in Europe was discovered on the estate “Jovanjica”. It was concealed for years by the regime’s most important people, and upon its discovery, they worked strenuously to cover up this incident to avoid responsibility.

Who is to blame for the production of tons of marijuana, for the corruption and lies?

Aleksandar Nešović was murdered on May 12, 2026, at the 27 Restaurant in Senjak, and his remains were found nine days later in a buried barrel near Inđija. On July 10, the Higher Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against Saša Vuković for murder, while five other people were charged on suspicion of destroying evidence and helping cover up the crime.

At the center of the affair is the then Chief of the Belgrade Police, Veselin Milić. According to the indictment, Milić was a family friend of the accused Vuković; he knew about Vuković’s conflict with Nešović, and participated in arranging their meeting. The prosecution claims that the owner of the restaurant informed him that Nešović had been killed, but the Chief of the Police did not report it. The following day, he allegedly entered false information into the official note and omitted information about his connections with the actors in the case.

The prosecution changed the description of Milić’s role during the investigation: he was initially suspected of aiding the perpetrator. That part was later dropped, but he was charged with failing to report the murder and forging an official document.

How is it possible for the top man in the Belgrade police to learn about a murder and not report it? Who kept Milić at the top of the system for years in which the boundaries between the police, private connections, and crime have almost completely disappeared?

Oliver Ivanović, one of the few politicians in Kosovo who criticized both Belgrade and the criminal structures of the Serbian List, was killed on January 16, 2018, from behind, with six shots to the back and legs, in front of his office in North Mitrovica.

For months before that, he had been the target of a media campaign on TV Pink and in pro-regime tabloids. 

The main suspects are connected to the security structures and crime, but have never been prosecuted.

In 2025, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić exercised his power of pardon in two cases involving violence against students during protests, in which two female students sustained serious injuries.

One case involved M.S., against whom proceedings were initially conducted for attempted murder after she struck a student, K.V., with her car in New Belgrade.

The second case involved four activists from the Serbian Progressive Party accused of attacking students in Novi Sad.

Class in Nature

The first incident took place on January 24, 2025, on Jurija Gagarina Street in New Belgrade, during a high school walk known as “Class in Nature”. Footage shows that after being struck, K.V. ended up on the hood of the car, which continued moving for several more meters toward a large group of walk participants. She sustained severe head injuries after falling from the vehicle.

Proceedings against M.S. were initially conducted for attempted murder. Later, the charge was downgraded to a serious offense against public safety, and the case was transferred to the Third Basic Court in Belgrade. Following the President’s announcement, a decision to grant a pardon was issued, thereby concluding the case.

Batons

The second incident occurred on the night of January 27-28, 2025, in Novi Sad. A group of students was putting up posters calling citizens to join a protest and bridge blockades when they were attacked. During the attack, a female student named A.V. suffered a broken, or rather, dislocated jaw.  

Four activists from the Serbian Progressive Party, identified in court records by the initials K.S., R.D., B.N., and D.N., were accused of the attack. They were charged with inflicting serious bodily injury and violent behavior. The trial was already underway, and A.V. had testified about the attack, her injuries, and the consequences she suffered. On July 2, 2025, the President of Serbia issued a decision to pardon them, thereby closing the case.

The legally controversial aspect of this affair is not the existence of the pardon mechanism itself, but the manner in which it was exercised. A pardon is an extraordinary legal mechanism that enables the President of the Republic to grant a specifically named individual exemption from criminal prosecution, full or partial exemption from a sentence to a lighter penalty or a suspended sentence, rehabilitation, and the removal or reduction of certain legal consequences of a conviction.

When used before a judicial conclusion, a pardon ceases to function as a legal corrective and instead becomes a means of halting criminal proceedings before a verdict is reached. In such a situation, the court is denied the opportunity to fully establish the facts, liability, and the status of the injured parties. At the same time, a political decision usurps the role independent institutions ought to play in a state governed by the rule of law.

The long-term consequence is eroded trust in equality before the law. When the outcome hinges on political will rather than institutional functioning, the message to citizens is that rules remain in force only until they inconvenience those with political protection.

Who is to blame for the abuse of the pardon mechanism?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Serbian authorities procured much-needed respirators to keep hospitalized patients alive in a very non-transparent manner. Without public tenders and additional details about the procurement of the respirators, the authorities procured these instruments at questionable prices and of questionable quality, and often without public information about where they were purchased and where many of these respirators ended up.

Despite the public reaction and the filing of criminal charges against corruption and misuse of public funds, the competent institutions never investigated the case of the disputed respirators, their origin, and quality. During critical times, we witnessed the ruling party's deception and lack of transparency. This was one of the many steps leading to distrust in state institutions and competent authorities.

When will we have the right to the truth?

The technology used to extract lithium from ores, such as jadarite, is in itself sufficient cause for concern. The widespread violations of the law by Rio Tinto and its subsidiary Rio Sava Exploration, the suspension of the project in 2021 followed by its resumption in 2024 through the reinstatement of the Spatial Plan, the lack of transparency in the project's implementation, the drafting of laws and regulations to legitimize a single foreign investment project in the public eye, as well as the complete failure of the competent institutions and ministries to perform their duties, have further and justifiably fueled public fear and distrust regarding the project's safe implementation.

Regulations on permissible concentrations of heavy metals in water and soil have been rendered meaningless by repeatedly increasing the permissible limits. Elevated levels of metals, such as boron, in soil and water inhibit plant growth and may cause organ damage or even death in humans. Exploratory drilling for the mine has already resulted in significant contamination of agricultural land, groundwater, and the Korenita and Jadar rivers.

Rio Tinto and certain government officials have presented the Jadar Project to the public as a key component of Serbia's "green transition." The destruction of natural terrain and degradation of fertile soil for the construction of the mine, the contamination of rivers, soil, groundwater, and the accumulation of toxic mining waste, the disposal of which has yet to be fully planned, hardly appear green. Extracting lithium from ore is an extremely resource- and energy-intensive process that may also lead to the accumulation of large quantities of waste. Why is this extraction method being prioritized in Serbia when conditions for mineralization are more favorable in countries such as Germany, France, Austria and Spain?

Lithium-ion batteries have a limited capacity that declines over time. Since the majority of Serbia’s electricity is generated by thermal power plants burning low-quality, low-rank coal, are lithium-ion batteries truly necessary for the green transition? Lithium-ion batteries merely conceal carbon dioxide emissions from consumers. In Serbia, the priority has not been the use of renewable energy sources or the implementation of other measures that would facilitate a green transition, but rather the opening of a mine operated by a foreign company solely to serve European interests. This became evident when the Jadar Project was included on the list of potential European strategic projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act. The initial stage of ore processing requires enormous quantities of concentrated acid. Freight railway lines are on the verge of becoming unusable, with frequent environmental disasters caused by derailments and spills from freight wagons. Transporting highly concentrated acid by rail would pose an additional ecological catastrophe beyond the mine itself.

The future use of lithium-ion batteries is itself increasingly being called into question.

Election night, April 24-25, 2016, Hercegovačka Street, in the very heart of Savamala. Dozens of people dressed in black — their faces hidden by balaclavas, armed with batons and powerful flashlights — descended upon this part of the city as if seizing territory in wartime. Excavators followed them. In the span of two hours, the duration of the entire operation, approximately one thousand square meters of buildings were demolished: restaurants, private and commercial properties belonging to people who had spent years building something of their own there.

The masked men secured the area and demanded identification from passersby. A security guard from nearby premises was tied up and left helpless while the excavators did their work. Horrified by what they were witnessing, citizens called the police. The police did not respond. Calls were redirected to the municipal police, who replied that the matter was outside their jurisdiction.

Saša Janković, the Ombudsman at the time, determined that the order barring police from deploying to the scene had come “from the top” of the police command structure. Footage from a nearby camera spans four hours and seventeen minutes. It clearly shows the excavators arriving from the direction of the “Belgrade Waterfront” construction site, a project that would soon become a symbol of everything this government represents. The same footage also captures the moment the streetlights were turned off.

The ex-wife of Siniša Mali, who was the Mayor of Belgrade at the time of the demolition, claimed Mali boasted to her about organizing a nighttime “site clearance” to remove structures that were obstructing the “Belgrade Waterfront” project.

Aleksandar Vučić, the Prime Minister at the time, stated that the city’s top leadership was behind the demolition and called the person responsible “a complete idiot” for doing it at night instead of in broad daylight.

Out of that entire apparatus — the thirty or so masked men, those who ordered the excavators, and those who instructed the police to stand down — exactly one person has been convicted to date: Goran Stamenković, the then shift commander of the Belgrade police duty service. His sentence? A five-month suspended sentence for professional misconduct. He later admitted he confessed only because Dijana Hrkalović promised him a promotion and the legalization of a building he owned in Mirijevo.

Why were neither Siniša Mali nor any high-ranking Ministry of Internal Affairs official even questioned?

Who is to blame for the Savamala demolition?

Who decided that the law would cease to apply on Hercegovačka Street that night?

In 2014, on the Peščanik website, Raša Karapandža challenged the validity of Siniša Mali's PhD dissertation. Its content was found to have been taken from various sources without those sources being cited in the dissertation. Mali "defended" his PhD at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences. Mali was never awarded a PhD degree. Eleven years have passed since then, and the case has still not been resolved in court.

How did Siniša Mali obtain a PhD despite all the irregularities in his dissertation?

Zvezdan Terzić — accused of strong-arming players and embezzling 1.1 million German marks. He also enabled foreign companies, whose ownership has not been determined, to earn 3.3 million.

The trial began in January 2011, and Terzić had meanwhile become the director of the Red Star soccer club. He did this, as he himself said, at the insistence of Aleksandar Vučić, then First Deputy Prime Minister.

The trial was postponed due to the defendants’ absences, and it was also restarted several times due to the repeated changes of judges.

Numerous delays played into Terzić’s hands, as two of the three charges against him had expired, as Judge Ana Trifunović Đuričković noted when she explained the acquittal in July last year.

Why was the trial delayed so many times?  Why was Terzić given a position at the Red Star soccer club during the indictment?

At the “15 for 15” protest, the largest in Serbia’s history, held on March 15, 2025, in Belgrade, a fifteen-minute silence began precisely at 7 PM to honor the victims of the canopy collapse. Hundreds of thousands of people stood quietly in the city center, at Slavija Square, along Kralja Milana Street, and around the National Assembly.

While the tribute was underway, attacks broke out near the Assembly against student marshals and citizens standing in silence. Bottles, stones, and pyrotechnics were hurled at the crowd from the direction of Pionirski Park and a nearby construction site, while marshals attempted to prevent clashes and protect the citizens.

In the eleventh minute of the tribute, precisely at 7:11 PM, a sudden, unexplained sound swept through Kralja Milana Street, accompanied by a shockwave that caused the crowd to scatter toward both sides of the street almost simultaneously. Civil society organizations collected over 3.000 testimonies from people describing the same moment and the physical distress that followed.

The authorities immediately dismissed the possibility that a sonic weapon had been used, even before any independent investigation could take place. Initially, they claimed the police did not possess such devices; however, they later admitted that the Ministry of Internal Affairs had acquired LRADs in 2021 and that one was present near the National Assembly during the protest. Footage analysis and testimonies collected by the organization “Earshot” concluded that a targeted attack using a directed acoustic device had very likely occurred. The European Court of Human Rights ordered Serbia to prevent the use of such devices against assembled citizens. At the same time, the Council of Europe Commissioner warned in May 2026 that despite thousands of submitted testimonies, no official investigation had been launched.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office subsequently focused its suspicions on us and on citizens who had spoken publicly about the event. It based its narrative of an alleged “simulation” on the minutes of a security meeting we held two months earlier, when the March 15 protest had not yet been planned. At that meeting, we had discussed sound and water cannons, tear gas, and other means of coercion as potential risks to participants in peaceful protests. Today, the Prosecutor’s Office is using responsible preparation for potential repression to blame those who may have been subjected to that very repression.

For over a year, institutions have failed to determine the cause of the mass panic. The regime is now trying to turn witnesses into suspects and close a matter it has failed to clarify. Thousands of eyewitness accounts and video recordings of the event will not disappear because of the Prosecutor’s Office statement.

Who caused the fear and panic on March 15, 2025, at 7:11 PM along Kralja Milana Street, during a peaceful protest and a 15-minute silence in memory of those who tragically lost their lives in Novi Sad?