Nikolić pledges to "review" Ulemek verdicts

Tomislav Nikolic says that the new priorities of his manifesto are tackling corruption and organized crime. The Serb Radical Party (SRS) presidential candidate added that he advocated the creation of new legal institutions for an independent judiciary and police. Nikolic pledges to "review" Ulemek verdicts Nikolic told reporters and citizens in front of the Belgrade Palace of Justice that creating an independent judiciary and police, and clamping down on corruption were crucial, and called on support for implementing these policies. He stressed that he "would not rest“ until crime in Serbia had been eradicated and called on citizens to join him in his struggle and vote for him at the second round of presidential elections on February 3. The SRS deputy president added that “everything that has happened in Serbia” is a result of the lack of the rule of law, and that if citizens did not feel the protection of institutions, then “Serbia will go to pot.” However, the most controversial part of his presentation had to do with his comments concerting the convicted killers of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, Milorad Ulemek, a.k.a. Legija, and other members of the Zemun Clan criminal gang. The guilty verdicts and sentences against them have also been confirmed in the trials of the killers of former Serbian president Ivan Stambolic, and those accused of attempted murder of SPO leader Vuk Draskovic, when four others died. Despite all this, Nikolic says he will "check if these men are really guilty," once he "becomes president." "I will never pardon a man that I am convinced has committed such a grievous crime. In other words, drug dealers, human traffickers, mass murdered or grisly murderers, and the murder of Zoran Djindjic I consider grisly – such persons can never be pardoned," Nikolic said. "Only, I will have to review the documents and check if the people who really committed the crime were sentenced. If I am convinced that the right person has been convicted, there will be no mercy from me," said the Radicals' candidate. But the Special Organized Crime Court spokeswoman, Judge Maja Kovacevic, explained that while a president has the right to pardon convicts, reexamining the court's decisions fell out of his or her jurisdiction. "Checking whether those accused of a crimes are in fact the guilty ones is exclusively within the judiciary's jurisdiction." "Otherwise, the existence of courts and court rulings would become meaningless. I thought the time when politicians openly exerted pressure on courts was long gone," Kovacevic was uncharacteristically direct and harsh in her comment. Tomislav Nikolic (FoNet, archive)

Nikolić pledges to "review" Ulemek verdicts

Nikolić told reporters and citizens in front of the Belgrade Palace of Justice that creating an independent judiciary and police, and clamping down on corruption were crucial, and called on support for implementing these policies.

He stressed that he "would not rest“ until crime in Serbia had been eradicated and called on citizens to join him in his struggle and vote for him at the second round of presidential elections on February 3.

The SRS deputy president added that “everything that has happened in Serbia” is a result of the lack of the rule of law, and that if citizens did not feel the protection of institutions, then “Serbia will go to pot.”

However, the most controversial part of his presentation had to do with his comments concerting the convicted killers of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, Milorad Ulemek, a.k.a. Legija, and other members of the Zemun Clan criminal gang.

The guilty verdicts and sentences against them have also been confirmed in the trials of the killers of former Serbian president Ivan Stambolić, and those accused of attempted murder of SPO leader Vuk Drašković, when four others died.

Despite all this, Nikolić says he will "check if these men are really guilty," once he "becomes president."

"I will never pardon a man that I am convinced has committed such a grievous crime. In other words, drug dealers, human traffickers, mass murdered or grisly murderers, and the murder of Zoran Đinđić I consider grisly – such persons can never be pardoned," Nikolić said.

"Only, I will have to review the documents and check if the people who really committed the crime were sentenced. If I am convinced that the right person has been convicted, there will be no mercy from me," said the Radicals' candidate.

But the Special Organized Crime Court spokeswoman, Judge Maja Kovačević, explained that while a president has the right to pardon convicts, reexamining the court's decisions fell out of his or her jurisdiction.

"Checking whether those accused of a crimes are in fact the guilty ones is exclusively within the judiciary's jurisdiction."

"Otherwise, the existence of courts and court rulings would become meaningless. I thought the time when politicians openly exerted pressure on courts was long gone," Kovačević was uncharacteristically direct and harsh in her comment.