Unit for Protection of Designated Persons and Facilities gets new commander

Ristic himself was once a member of SAJ, providing security for foreign diplomats, and in 2021 was appointed coordinator of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit. As Nova.rs previously reported, Ivan Ristic once provided security for the residence of former US Ambassador to Serbia William Montgomery between 2002 and 2004.

His resume also includes serving as the chief of police in Pirot and a period as an assistant to the former Police Director, Vladimir Rebic.

Ristic first drew public attention when opposition representatives identified him as a key commander of plainclothes officers during the July 2020 anti-government protests. During these demonstrations, held amid the COVID-19 pandemic, plainclothes units detained and beat protesters, which Nova.rs reported on.

In police circles, he was considered a close associate of then-Internal Affairs Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic.

Ristic was also mentioned in investigative reports by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN). In late 2019, BIRN reported that Branko Stefanovic, the late father of the internal affairs minister, had visited the Italian weapons manufacturer Beretta in May of that year as one of three representatives of the company GIM, while the Internal Affairs Ministry delegation was led by none other than Ivan Ristic.

Prior to that, Ristic was part of the final generation of the Special Operations Unit (JSO), after which he was transferred to the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ), with the explanation that he had not been compromised during his time in JSO.

The unit Ristic is now set to lead, the notorious JZO, has a reputation for brutality and violations of police authority during citizen protests in recent months.