New BIA chief takes office

The new security services (BIA) chief, Sasa Vukadinovic, has officially taken up his new duties. In a ceremonial handover of duties closed to the public, Vukadinovic assumed the mantle of BIA chief from his predecessor, Rade Bulatovic. New BIA chief takes office This is in line with standard procedure, and took place immediately after yesterday’s cabinet meeting where Vukadinovic was appointed. The new BIA head is aligned with the Democratic Party (DS), and he becomes the eight head of the agency since its creation in 1990. His credentials for the job included, among other things, his success in busting a Krusevac criminal clan, and arresting its leader Zoran Jotic. That arrest ignited a media witch hunt against Vukadinovic led by Jotic’s lawyers, who accused him of torturing their client. The attacks ceased in 2006 when Vukadinovic exposed Jotic’s attempts, through friends while in custody at Belgrade Central Prison, to bribe Supreme Court Judge Ljubomir Vuckovic into releasing him. He also took part in Operation Saber that came in the wake of the assassination of the late prime minister, Zoran Djindjic. The new BIA chief also led a police team that solved the murder last summer of Croatian national Jakup Hajdini, whom two police officers and their accomplices intercepted at a pay toll in Bubanj Potok, drove to Goc mountain, where they killed and buried him, before selling the victim’s car the next day. Daily Blic writes that Vukadinovic has a chance of becoming the first director to carry out a comprehensive reform of the secret police. Secret police reform means finally making a break with the legacy of the service, whose members have committed some of the gravest crimes and abuses in recent Serbian history, the paper writes. Experts agree that it is first necessary to adopt a new law that would offer a framework for carrying out reforms. Goran Petrovic, who headed the secret services for just under a year—from January to November 2001—says that Vukadinovic’s first moves will soon become clear, and that they will be determined by those who have appointed him. The top priority could be completing Hague cooperation, says Petrovic, with comprehensive reform of BIA in second place, as this does nonetheless require changes to the law. Sasa Vukadinovic (Blic)

New BIA chief takes office

This is in line with standard procedure, and took place immediately after yesterday’s cabinet meeting where Vukadinović was appointed.

The new BIA head is aligned with the Democratic Party (DS), and he becomes the eight head of the agency since its creation in 1990.

His credentials for the job included, among other things, his success in busting a Kruševač criminal clan, and arresting its leader Zoran Jotić.

That arrest ignited a media witch hunt against Vukadinović led by Jotić’s lawyers, who accused him of torturing their client.

The attacks ceased in 2006 when Vukadinović exposed Jotić’s attempts, through friends while in custody at Belgrade Central Prison, to bribe Supreme Court Judge Ljubomir Vučković into releasing him.

He also took part in Operation Saber that came in the wake of the assassination of the late prime minister, Zoran Đinđić.

The new BIA chief also led a police team that solved the murder last summer of Croatian national Jakup Hajdini, whom two police officers and their accomplices intercepted at a pay toll in Bubanj Potok, drove to Goč mountain, where they killed and buried him, before selling the victim’s car the next day.

Daily Blic writes that Vukadinović has a chance of becoming the first director to carry out a comprehensive reform of the secret police. Secret police reform means finally making a break with the legacy of the service, whose members have committed some of the gravest crimes and abuses in recent Serbian history, the paper writes.

Experts agree that it is first necessary to adopt a new law that would offer a framework for carrying out reforms.

Goran Petrović, who headed the secret services for just under a year—from January to November 2001—says that Vukadinović’s first moves will soon become clear, and that they will be determined by those who have appointed him.

The top priority could be completing Hague cooperation, says Petrović, with comprehensive reform of BIA in second place, as this does nonetheless require changes to the law.