Serbia Student Election Winners Demand Police, Intelligence and Judiciary Chiefs Resign

Serbia's student led election winners demanded the resignations of senior officials in the police, the intelligence agencies and the judiciary at a news conference in Belgrade on Thursday, October 29. The Student List speakers spoke in Pioneers' Park in central Belgrade, opposite parliament, five days after their victory in Sunday's snap parliamentary election.

The group demanded the immediate dismissal of every police officer who had broken the law. Tanjug named the officials whose departure was sought on the police side: Criminal Police Directorate chief Marko Kricak, Gendarmerie commander Radoslav Repac, Special Anti-Terrorist Unit commander Igor Zmiric, Valjevo police chief Vladimir Jeremic and Police Director Dragan Vasiljevic. The list also covered BIA security agency chief Vladimir Orlic and Military Intelligence Agency chief Djuro Jovanic.

Judiciary, broadcaster and telecom names follow

For the judiciary, the speakers sought the resignation of Nenad Stefanovic, chief prosecutor at the Belgrade High Public Prosecutor's Office, his deputy Miodrag Markovic and Constitutional Court president Vladan Petrov. They urged prosecutors to act in high profile cases. The demands reached state linked companies as well. The group sought the resignation of Telekom Srbija chief executive Vladimir Lucic and of RTS deputy director general Dejan Jovanovic. It said one earlier demand had already been met: RTS director general Manja Grcic resigned on Wednesday, October 28, and the group had also sought the departure of RTS news editor Bojana Mladjenovic.

"Changes are starting now," said Filip Ubovic of the Student List, one of four speakers alongside Mirjana Nikolic, Svetlana Stanarevic and Jovan Vujicic. "The Students' List is not here to take revenge. We are not asking for political service but for the adherence to the laws, professionalism and responsibility."

Protect the records, declare the result

The speakers urged public servants to stop outgoing officials from destroying documentation or evidence of possible wrongdoing. Reuters reported that Chief Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac ordered prosecutors on Thursday to ask police to take measures to prevent the destruction of official and other documentation in state institutions. The Student List also asked the election authorities to declare the final results without delay, so that a new parliament and government can be formed. A rerun is due at about 50 polling stations next Sunday.

Preliminary results published on Wednesday evening by the national electoral commission put the Student List on 53.04 percent of the votes counted and the Aleksandar Vucic United Serbia list on 38.97 percent. Seat projections in published reports range from 140 to 141 seats for the Student List and 104 to 106 for the Serbian Progressive Party, out of 250 in total. Those seat figures are projections, not certified results.

The Student List won the snap election on Sunday, October 25 against President Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party, which had ruled for 14 years. The formal handover of power will take several weeks, and the outgoing authorities remain in control in the meantime. Vucic held a news conference of his own on Thursday and accused the election winners of revolutionary terror after groups of people stormed the Informer TV station earlier in the week.