16.02.2018.
Statement of the Minister of Defence and Chief of General Staff Regarding the Case of Captain Vukšić
It is not an officer that has been arrested but a bully.
Commenting on the case of Captain of the Serbian Armed Forces about whom the media wrote in the previous days, Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin highlighted that he did not want to give any statements earlier regarding the attack against the activists of the Serbian Progressive Party, because he had believed that adequate judicial bodies should give their statements first.
- In our country everybody gives themselves the right to be prosecutors and judges and to decide before suitable decisions have been taken in any way. Now, when Prosecutor’s Office gave its statement without any pressure whatsoever, and when it is up to the court to say what it has, I want to express my opposition and to condemn such violence and to underline that it is not a member of the Serbian Armed Forces that has been arrested, and it is not an officer that has been arrested, but a man who attacked other people, a man who, among other, attacked a woman. I am rather intrigued because no association which protects women’s rights for instance did not give its statement and say that it cannot be tolerated that a member of a weaker sex is beaten, and to be beaten because she is a member of this or that political party. Unfortunately, it seems that in our country the first question that one asks is who is the activist of what political party, and then you decide whether something is justified or not. No violence can be justified; the violence against the activists of the Serbian Progressive Party cannot be justified, just like we have never justified it against somebody else. Sadly, I am afraid that DOS parties do not understand that and that they commend every attack against the members of the SPP and that they speak about it as if it is an act of civil freedom, but when something like that happens to some of their members, then it is a prof of poor organisation of the state – Minister Vulin stressed.
He underlined that he condemned every act of violence and that the case spoke nothing about the Serbian Armed Forces, and had nothing to do with the Serbian Armed Forces, but it spoke about an individual who committed that act. “I absolutely condemn this act which is utterly unacceptable” – stated Minister Vulin.
Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces General Ljubiša Diković, commenting on the case of the Captain of the Serbian Armed Forces, highlighted that a member of the Serbian Armed Forces must not do something that diverges from the service rules, and code of honour of the members of the armed forces.
- We protect the citizens of the Republic of Serbia, and we must not, in any way, be the ones threatening the safety of the citizens of Serbia, no matter what it is about, unless our member is directly attacked. Each member of the armed forces, if he is directly attacked, has the right to defend himself. As the Chief of the General Staff I cannot justify the case that we have now, the case of Captain Vukšić. I can justify the first part of the incident when he did not want to declare himself and to accept anything with that regard, but everything else that he did, particularly the aggressive approach towards them, is not in line with the service rules and it is certain that the measures for determining disciplinary responsibility are going to be taken – stressed General Diković.
The Chief of General Staff underscored that he was ready to protect every soldier, at any moment, but this one was certainly not an action worthy of a soldier and the citizens do not expect that from their soldier. He added that the resources are allocated for the Serbian Armed forces in order for it to be ready and capable, and their members have to honour it and be fully responsible and protect their citizens.
