Police Under Informal Control of Party Loyalists

In Kosjerić, there was a significant presence of both uniformed and plainclothes individuals, lacking legally required identification, who claimed to be police officers. Citizens were prevented from accessing certain areas, and several journalists were physically attacked and obstructed from carrying out their reporting. In Zaječar, tensions were reported outside polling stations, with organized pressure on voters and incidents involving individuals acting outside the law.

A worrying pattern emerges from these cases: the merging of political power with certain members of the police, private security, and SNS-affiliated paramilitary loyalists. During the elections in Kosjerić and Zaječar, individuals posing as officials—without identification or legal authority—controlled public spaces, restricted citizens’ movement, and intimidated voters. This intertwining of formal and informal power structures has created a parallel system of control over citizens, elections, and public space—operating without institutional accountability or oversight. This seriously undermines the integrity of the police and the democratic order, as the monopoly on legitimate force is effectively transferred to politically loyal groups acting as an extension of the ruling party.

These incidents follow weeks of police inaction in cases that have drawn significant public attention. Notably, the brutal attack on a University of Belgrade Law student, the son of a retired police general, remains unresolved, with no transparent information available about the investigation. Similarly, attacks on activists and opposition MPs in and around the occupied public space of Pionirski Park occurred in full view of police officers, yet met with no institutional response, despite clear intimidation, violence, and displays of force by ruling party loyalists. Meanwhile, police have detained students for comparatively minor offenses.

In this context, the recent statement by Interior Minister Ivica Dačić on Police Day—that “the police protect the state, not the government”—is at odds with reality. Increasingly, the police fail to respond to violence and abuse when the perpetrators are politically privileged, while repression is directed at those who expose irregularities. This establishes a dangerous pattern of selective law enforcement. The President’s announcement of plans to grant the police broader powers is particularly troubling, as it suggests an intention to entrench this pattern.

The BCSP demands an immediate, independent, and transparent investigation into all incidents recorded on election day in Kosjerić and Zaječar, as well as accountability from the Ministry of Interior leadership for their failure to act in cases of violence and intimidation in Belgrade and other cities. It is essential to publicly identify and prosecute individuals who falsely presented themselves as police officers, to end political interference in police work, and to restore democratic and lawful oversight of security institutions.

Without a professional, politically independent, and law-abiding police force, there can be neither citizen security nor trust in democratic processes. We call on all honorable and professional members of the Ministry of Interior to act in accordance with the law and the highest standards of policing, protecting both the citizens of Serbia and their fellow officers from the arbitrariness of party officials and lawlessness, and helping to prevent a crisis of trust in state institutions from escalating into a rule of brute force.