Prime minister addresses treatment of ombudsman

Prime minister addresses treatment of ombudsman

"What pressure, has somebody sacked him? No one has, I keep silent," Vucic said when asked to comment on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights statement that "expressed hope the government would distance itself from the accusations against Jankovic."

The prime minister added that he would "protect Serbia and its institutions, unlike those who refer to these institutions yet undermine them."

"I do not mind what someone's telling me, but I try to act in accordance with the country's interests and always speak the truth," he said.

Vucic added that a letter recently published by the family Predrag Gojkovic - Jankovic's friend who in 1993 committed suicide in his apartment, using his pistol - was cencored by the media, because it was published only by one television and one newspaper, and added that the family "doesn't have the right to their truth."

"And imagine if somebody was killed from my pistol, what would you do to me, you'd drink my blood day and night - metaphorically speaking," Vucic said, addressing reporters.

He added there was talk about terrific pressure in some media, but added that these media "invented it themselves, and are enjoying it."

"You start campaigns, and then talk about somebody else doing it," said Vucic.

He recalled that the government "did not sack or appoint any editors," and mentioned as an example that his SNS party had four candidates for the position of the RTS director, but that the state broadcaster's board chose Dragan Bujosevic, a journalist Vucic described as being "closer to the other political option."

Vucic said he "had no problem" to talk about the ombudsman either with EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn, who is on Thursday visiting Serbia - "or with anyone else," but that Jankovic's own words "speak more about him, which citizens recognize."

"Please don't ask me anything more on this issue, because I want to keep quiet - except I will speak before Hahn and some others so that people can see I am not afraid in the least, and that I am always ready tell the truth to their faces," the prime minister concluded.