Former senior Serbian police officer arrested

Papic, formerly a deputy chief of the organized crime department (SBPOK) was questioned by the police internal affairs sector in Belgrade and charged with ordering the Belgrade police to return a bullet-proofed car seized from a man who was in detention in April 2020.

Papic was reported to have advanced quickly through the ranks even though he did not have the required qualifications while Nebojsa Stefanovic was Internal Affairs Minister. Media reports said that they are close friends. Papic resigned after Stefanovic moved to the Defense Ministry and was replaced by Aleksandar Vulin.

Papic was reported to be under investigation because of his alleged connections to the recently arrested crime boss Veljko Belivuk. He drew media attention following the brutal beating of a restaurant owner. He was never charged with that assault. He was defended from what the authorities claimed were attacks against him by both the pro-government media and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic who said that independent media were waging a witch hunt against him and Minister Stefanovic.