Air Serbia flight JU134 from Belgrade to Moscow on November 3 was already deep in Lithuanian airspace when the crew received instructions to return to the Serbian capital.
Among the passengers were three senior figures from the former regime of President Aleksandar Vucic: Aleksandar Vulin, a former defence and interior minister who also headed Serbia’s Security Intelligence Agency (BIA); Dusan Bajatovic, a long‑serving director of the state‑owned gas company Srbijagas; and Nenad Popovic, a minister without portfolio. All three are known in Serbia for their close ties to Moscow and for allegations of corruption and abuse of office.
According to unofficial reports published by several media outlets, the plane was turned back because of a security breach: Vulin allegedly boarded without undergoing mandatory security screening. Since 2023, Vulin has been under U.S. sanctions for “engaging in corrupt and destabilizing activities that undermine the rule of law in the Western Balkans.”
Unusual episode
Vulin told the media he was travelling to Moscow to discuss extending a gas agreement with Russia.
Bajatovic, however, said he did not know why Vulin and Popovic were travelling to Moscow and denied that the two would attend the scheduled gas‑supply meetings.
The incident might have remained an odd news item had it not coincided with a major political shift in Serbia.
Judicial developments unfold at remarkable speed
Just nine days earlier, on 25 October, a student‑backed list secured a landslide victory over the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in the parliamentary election, ending 14 years of dominance by Vucic and the SNS, which maintained close ties with Moscow.
Although the new majority has not yet taken control of government levers, the post‑election period has seen a series of actions that would have been unthinkable weeks before.
Arrests, fresh criminal proceedings and the reopening of long‑stale cases have unfolded rapidly. Some of these investigations target the core of the system built during the SNS years.
“This paints a sad picture of the Serbian prosecution service,” prosecutor Bojana Savovic told DW.
Savovic views the prosecutors’ sudden activity as an effort to curry favour with the new authorities.
“With these actions, they are showing what they could have done but were unwilling to do until just ten days ago,” she told DW. “I hope this speed will not come at the expense of the quality of indictments and that these are not personal vendettas within the old regime.”
Allegations of vote‑buying and high‑level corruption
Prosecutors have launched investigations into alleged electoral manipulation, corruption and abuse of public office.
Four individuals were arrested on suspicion of vote‑buying in Novi Sad. Six others were detained in Mali Zvornik on suspicion of helping Bosnia‑and‑Herzegovina citizens register their residence in Serbia to vote.
A high‑profile case involves the arrest of Davor Macura, owner of Alta Bank, who is accused of illegally accessing the bank’s vault and removing the equivalent of about €383 million ($430 million).
His arrest followed days after the National Bank of Serbia revoked Alta Bank’s licence and initiated bankruptcy proceedings. Macura is publicly linked to the SNS, and his bank had extensive state business and many Russian clients.
Senior police officials, the head of the Republic Hydrometeorological Institute and several public‑company managers have also been arrested for suspected abuses of office and rigged public‑procurement procedures.
Alleged destruction of documents
Students and representatives of the new political majority demand investigations into corruption cases that have lingered unresolved for years.
“No one should be above the law, and prosecutors and courts must do their jobs—or be held accountable for failing to act,” they assert.
“When you want the rule of law and want something done, it is possible. Our regulations allow for it. But it was obvious that there were people obstructing the entire system, putting cases in drawers and leaving them unresolved,” said Tanja Arsic, an incoming MP from the Students’ List.
After the election, reports and video footage suggested that official documents may have been removed or destroyed in state institutions and public companies.
On 29 October, Prosecutor General Zagorka Dolovac issued a binding instruction to all chief public prosecutors to prevent the destruction of official records.
The Students’ List also urged employees in state institutions and the media to report any document destruction to avert abuse by outgoing authorities during the transition.
Savovic noted that even an attempted destruction of official records is punishable by law.
How high up will investigations reach?
Will the institutions truly investigate those once at the apex of Serbia’s political power structures?
Former President Aleksandar Vucic said he is not afraid of arrest and that no financial‑wrongdoing evidence will be found against him.
“I don’t sign or do anything when it comes to money, and nothing can be found in that regard,” he stated.
Accountability, however, extends beyond signatures. It involves identifying who made decisions, gave orders and wielded real power to influence the deals now under scrutiny.
“It would be tragic if the biggest players, whose arrests are expected, were prosecuted without sufficient evidence. Or if they were charged with something far less serious than what they actually did,” said Tanja Arsic.
The real test is yet to come
Bojana Savovic emphasizes that the prosecution’s success will ultimately be measured not by the number of politically popular arrests, but by final convictions and the permanent confiscation of assets obtained through crime.
Arsic agrees and warns that high‑quality investigations and robust evidence must take priority over speed.
“The prosecution must not bring indictments if there is not enough evidence. That would be disastrous,” she said. “If things are rushed just to achieve a result, only for the cases to end in acquittals because the prosecution failed to prove the charges against people who were at the top of the government—that would be even more disastrous.”
But can this be achieved within existing structures? Savovic is doubtful.
“For decades, people whose only qualification was blind obedience, reading the political climate and self‑censorship were promoted in the prosecution service and the courts. Without fundamental changes in the judiciary, the police and the security structures, I see no possibility of a substantial and lasting transformation of society,” she said.
The true test lies in the courtroom. The verdicts in these cases will reveal whether Serbia is finally breaking with its old power system or merely replacing one set of power brokers with another.
Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan