N1 granted exclusive access to Institute letter

The letter, drafted by the Institute’s Expert Service department, called the government to immediatelly revoke its decision.
It warned that the building is important as a memorial and as “a monument to the suffering of Serbia and its citizens during the NATO aggression in 1999”.

According to the Institute experts, the decision means a devastation of the cultural heritage site and destruction of a building which reflects the creation of the modern Serbian state in the 19th and 20th century.

It also warned that the decision casts doubts on the status of every cultural heritage site in the country, allowing any investor or anyone who does not like them for political reasons to tear them down.

The letter said that the behavior of the government towards a cultural heritage site could mean that the authorities in Pristina could do the same with Serbian cultural heritage sites in Kosovo.

Earlier, agents from Serbia’s top security agency the BIA raided the Institute. BIA chief Vladimir Orlic (a senior member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party – SNS) was contacted by N1 by phone but asked for questions by email which he did not reply to.