PM: Helicopter crew is not to blame

PM: Helicopter crew is not to blame

"The members of the helicopter crew are heroes, they are not to blame, and the public should stop a smear campaign against them," Vucic said after the reports compiled by the two commissions, which were published on Friday, stated

that the primary responsibility for the crash lay with the crew.

"In search for those to blame, the public forgot about the four members of the helicopter, medical workers who lost their lives while trying to rescue a five-day old baby with severe health problems," he noted.

The prime minister said that "as far as he and the Serbian government are concerned," pilot Omer Mehic and the entire crew "are not to blame for anything and the same goes for Brigadier General Predrag Bandic who had ordered the rescue operation."

“In Germany, the public has offered support to the family of the co-pilot responsible for the Germanwings plane crash, while here we have a completely opposite situation,” Vucic said, calling on the public "to show respect for the victims."

He underscored that "entire Serbia will remember those who died in the helicopter crash while trying to save the baby as heroes," and that he "will not tolerate that the dignity of the Serbian Army be undermined for the sake of petty political interests," Tanjug reported.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Saturday it was "intolerable for the probe into the crash to be abused for political campaigning, which undermined the reputation of the army and insulted the sentiments of the victims' families," Beta reported.

Dacic "stressed that it was the job of the responsible state agencies to establish accountability, and urged politicians and journalists to have respect for the victims."

Reports

The commissions tasked to determine the cause of the recent military transport helicopter crash that left seven people dead have published their reports on the Serbian Defense Ministry's website.

The website contains the reports compiled by the commission that was set up by the chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces and the expert commission established by the commander of Serbia's Air Force and Air Defense.

The ministry published the reports after receiving the approval from the High Public Prosecutor's Office.

The Belgrade-based High Public Prosecutor's Office stated on Friday that the crew was primarily to blame for the crash of the military helicopter that claimed seven lives on March 13.

In its release, the prosecution notes that, according to the initial findings, the primary responsibility lies with the four-member crew, and that there are grounds for suspicion that a number of active members of the Serbian Armed Forces are also to blame for the tragedy, and that there are also indications that point to the responsibility of a certain number of civilians.

The prosecution will conduct all investigative activities in order to determine all relevant facts in relation to this crash, reads the release.