A day after pro-regime media said that an investigation ordered by the Belgrade Higher Public Prosecution (VJT) allegedly found that the recording of a conversation between the CEO’s of state-controlled Telekom Serbia and United Group was heavily edited, a VJT statement disputed the right of the Organized Crime Prosecution (TOK) to conduct its own investigation.
The VJT said that the legal grounds for the TOK investigation are unclear. “Having in mind the provisions of the Law on the Organization and Jurisdiction of State Authorities in Combating Organized Crime, Corruption and Terrorism, we do not see with respect to which persons, which event, which actions, or the possible legal qualification of a criminal offense TOK could be competent to act,” the VJT said. The TOK has been under fire from the authorities for weeks, especially over its investigation into the General Staff complex case which resulted in indictments against Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic and 3 others for alleged document-tampering.
The recording was released by OCCRP and its local partner KRIK. In it, Talekom CEO Vladimir Lucic and UG CEO Stan Miller discussed, among other things, the dismissal of United Media chief Aleksandra Subotic and changes in UM media outlets. United Group did not dispute the authenticity of the recording.
The only thing new in the case is that both the VJT (through an unnamed court-appointed expert) and the TOK are investigating the recording. Regime media quoted unnamed judiciary sources to claim the recording had been heavily edited.
The KRIK portal was asked by the VJT to provide a copy of the recording.
Source: N1
