“Judge refused to charge 'satellite' minister”

A Belgrade daily writes that Judge Vuk Tufegdzic was the one who recommended an end to the investigation against former Defense Minister Prvoslav Davinic. Davinic, who was a minister in the Serbia and Montenegro government, was indicted earlier this week in Belgrade on charges of abuse of office in the Satellite Affair. In 2005, Davinic signed a satellite lease contract with Israel's ImageSat. “Judge refused to charge 'satellite' minister” Serbia subsequently failed to honor the provisions of the contract and was earlier this year ordered to pay EUR 36mn in damages to the company. Now Blic newspaper writes that Tufegdzic said there was “not enough evidence against the former defense minister in order to continue the investigation”. He also said that “the case was not halted at any point” and that it was “not an urgent case because the minister did not have to be remanded into custody”. The investigation into the satellite scandal began in 2006, and a decision was made in 2008 to end it. Tufegdzic handled the case from the beginning. However, the judge was not reelected to his position several months ago. He did not wish to elaborate for the newspaper why he believed that the investigation should be ended, stating that he was legally obligated not make any comments. The documentation regarding the case that the government has made public this week, also does not give any answers as to why the process against Davinic was halted at a time when Serbia could have benefited from it, and avoided having to pay such a drastic amount of money. Davinic did not have approval from any state institutions to sign the agreement. According to unofficial sources, the former minister reacted to the indictment against him by filed charges against now Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic, but this information was not officially confirmed. Davinic is a former member of the ruling G17 Plus party, which has Dinkic at the helm. Dinkic’s cabinet told the daily that Davinic “wanted to throw sand in the eyes of the public with the unfounded charges”. Previously, it was reported that Davinic would seek to prove that by attempting to negotiate with the Israelis, Dinkic “indirectly recognized the contentious contract”. “Davinic is trying to defend himself by attacking others. He is also committing the crime of false accusation. We hope that the prosecution will look at the charges as soon as possible, and we are sure that it will be rejected because it is based on lies and bad intentions,” Dinkic’s cabinet stated. “Dinkic never negotiated with the Israelis, and only held one meeting with them when asked by President Boris Tadic to do so, after the official opinion of the defense ministry’s legal service that the agreement was binding for Serbia. Dinkic tried to save what he could,” his cabinet told the newspaper.

“Judge refused to charge 'satellite' minister”

Serbia subsequently failed to honor the provisions of the contract and was earlier this year ordered to pay EUR 36mn in damages to the company.

Now Blic newspaper writes that Tufegdžić said there was “not enough evidence against the former defense minister in order to continue the investigation”.

He also said that “the case was not halted at any point” and that it was “not an urgent case because the minister did not have to be remanded into custody”.

The investigation into the satellite scandal began in 2006, and a decision was made in 2008 to end it. Tufegdžić handled the case from the beginning.

However, the judge was not reelected to his position several months ago.

He did not wish to elaborate for the newspaper why he believed that the investigation should be ended, stating that he was legally obligated not make any comments.

The documentation regarding the case that the government has made public this week, also does not give any answers as to why the process against Davinić was halted at a time when Serbia could have benefited from it, and avoided having to pay such a drastic amount of money.

Davinić did not have approval from any state institutions to sign the agreement.

According to unofficial sources, the former minister reacted to the indictment against him by filed charges against now Economy Minister Mlađan Dinkić, but this information was not officially confirmed.

Davinić is a former member of the ruling G17 Plus party, which has Dinkić at the helm.

Dinkić’s cabinet told the daily that Davinić “wanted to throw sand in the eyes of the public with the unfounded charges”.

Previously, it was reported that Davinić would seek to prove that by attempting to negotiate with the Israelis, Dinkić “indirectly recognized the contentious contract”.

“Davinić is trying to defend himself by attacking others. He is also committing the crime of false accusation. We hope that the prosecution will look at the charges as soon as possible, and we are sure that it will be rejected because it is based on lies and bad intentions,” Dinkić’s cabinet stated.

“Dinkić never negotiated with the Israelis, and only held one meeting with them when asked by President Boris Tadić to do so, after the official opinion of the defense ministry’s legal service that the agreement was binding for Serbia. Dinkić tried to save what he could,” his cabinet told the newspaper.