Dacic: SPS quit parliament board of inquiry

He said that it was immediately evident that the board of inquiry had nothing to do with the tragedies and that its members were planning to call witnesses “for political marketing not political purpose”.

“The parents are interested in the trial. We came to the point where the parents are asking to be protected from the board of inquiry,” he said commenting the request by families of the victims of the shooting in Belgrade’s Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school which led to the board of inquiry’s activities being discontinued. The parents’ alleged appeal came from lawyers representing the families of the dead school children but not from the families of the victims of a second mass shooting just a day later. Opposition MPs told N1 earlier this week that the call to stop the board of inquiry was intended to cover up what the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its allies did to allegedly protect the second killer and his family who were reported to be close to the ruling party.

Dacic said that the SPS gave notice that it would not take part in the activities of the board as soon as it heard the views of the parents and that the SNS followed suit. “That means that they don’t have the majority and can’t continue,” he said.