"Commission is not exonerating Vučić"

"Commission is not exonerating Vučić"

Realizing that the killings would never be solved in this way, Matić said he decided to bring forward the initiative the establish the Commission. "Also, with this we journalists wanted to take part of the responsibility, as well as invest our energy and influence to solve the murders of journalists in Serbia," he told B92 TV.

"They are very important and it is very important to solve all the murders that occurred in the past. Some may be more symbolic, in the sense that killings of public figures occurred. In this case, journalists are representatives of freedom of speech, freedom of the media and if that freedom is killed you will not have relevant information," said Matić.

According to him, there are 39 journalists who have been killed since the 1990s and none of these cases has been solved. Among them there are those killed outside of our borders and the Commission, he said, cannot do much there, but can insist that the cases be solved.

Speaking of the unsolved murder of Dada Vujasinović 20 years ago, Matić said that recently evidence was discovered that had been lost.

"It's a very complicated case because until 2008 it was treated as suicide and nothing was done. Only after that some things began to be done, but it was not much. Only recently, since the establishment of the Commission, something has been achieved. We started from scratch and it was shocking when we saw that a bag that contained items from the murder scene had disappeared," Matić said.

According to him, the Commission asked to see where the investigation was obstructed, and thus, conducting a search of police premises in 29 Novembar Street, the bag with the evidence was found, which had ended up in the office of a police inspector who had since died, and where it was not supposed to be. "How it got there is a matter for internal control," added Matić, and noted that the Commission will eventually in its report insist on the revelation of who obstructed all investigations.

He noted that in the case of Dada Vujasinović there was "a lot of sloppiness, one example being numerous expert analyses without the key evidence from the scene."

When asked where the bag was now, he said it was sent to forensic experts in The Hague.

"We did not want to turn to our institutions because we wanted the results to be accepted by all. The family of Dada Vujasinović helped a lot, they were the only ones who insisted the whole time that the murder be solved. When it comes to expert examination of the bag, we looked for an institution outside of Serbia. We asked the Institute in Wiesbaden, who have been analyzing some things from here, but they refused. We then contacted the FBI, they said they were not against it but were busy and would contact us. However, they did not. We looked further and found the National Forensic Institute in The Hague, and they agreed," said Matić.

When asked what he expected from this analysis, he said that it should produce results of the investigation of the scene, but also of all subsequent expert analyses done - a comprehensive view of all that has been done, and draw conclusions about what happened at the scene.

However, Matić noted, for now, no turning point should be expect in the case because at the moment there are no elements for that. "But, that is why the Dutch are important, because starting from what they will say the investigation should start from scratch," he said.

Regarding the case of the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija, the Commission is still dealing with the case, although it is at the Prosecution.

"Today Dragan Kecman, head of the working group of the Ministry of Interior who is in charge of the action and is to be credited the most for a whole range of evidence that will be used by the Prosecution, is being questioned. Some more questionings will follow, among them also of Branka Prpa, who is the only witness is this case. The Commission will monitor everything the Prosecution does but also continue to look for relevant information," Matić explained.

Asked whether Milorad Ulemek aka Legija - convicted to 40 years in prison for his role in the assassination of Zoran Đinđić, and whose testimony led to a breakthrough in the Ćuruvija case - can be trusted, Matić stated that "all progress in the case of the murder of Đinđić came from people who were 'on the inside'."

"In the Ćuruvija case, Legija appeared as someone who was a witness of a process," he said.

"What is done under such circumstances, in order to determine the relevance of the evidence, is to cross-reference the information, in this case stated by Ulemek, with other statements regarding the murder, and thus check it," added Matić.

He said that the police were working on locating Miroslav Kurak, who is suspected of being the direct perpetrator of the murder of Ćuruvija. "We in the Commission can help to sensitize connections with foreign countries, for example to also involve associations from abroad," said Matić.

In response to various allegations that the Commission in fact distanced Aleksandar Vučić from his past, Matić said it was true that the Commission had come under attack many times.

"I have not participated much in quarrels, because we founded the Commission with the desire to solve murders of journalists... Regarding Vučić, nobody can wash him clean. He is the only one who can do it, his political life is still ongoing and he will with his political activity either do so, or will not. The Commission in this regard has nothing to do with it. We met only when the Commission was about to be formed, and everything related to it came to be earlier. "

Matić also added that he was sure the current progress would not have happened if the Commission had not been established. "It is not and ad-hoc or an NGO commission, it is a part of the government system," he concluded.