Lawyer: By showing brutality of crime gang, Serbia’s regime speaks about itself

"It hurts that in the last eight or nine years, there is countless evidence of cooperation between the Government and the (ruing) Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) with Belivuk's group. The paradox is that the more the Government speaks how it can deal with that dangerous group, the more it speaks about itself, about who they cooperate with, how it rules and organises elections," Prelevic told the latest issue of the Belgrade independent Vreme weekly.

He added that "the more they show how bloodthirsty the arrested people have been, the more they say about the character of their party. It is something they cannot escape from."

"The Government has a big problem with how to deal with the statements from the prosecution, and they will have more serious problems with that when the trial starts. You can see that after the statements that Belivuk (the suspected group leader) and (his ally Marko) Miljkovic gave to the prosecutor, the SNS decided to organise three large party rallies. It is not accidental; it is a sign that they are afraid," Prelevic said.

He referred to the two suspects' statements about their links to Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin and some other high-ranked SNS officials.
Prelevic added, "it is frightening that the reasons for the arrest of the Belivuk clan lie in its conflict with another group, behind which are people who are even closer and even dearer to Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic."

According to Prelevic, Belivuk " has become a loser in an internal showdown."

He said that the media reported a new clan who took over as "very close to the Vucic family."

"People from the north of Kosovo are also mentioned. The proceedings against them in drug dealing ended interestingly, without convictions," Prelevic said.