Crime in Serbia includes murder, organised crime, corruption, piracy, false bomb threats and mass shootings among others. It is combated by the Serbian police and other government agencies.
Crime in Serbia includes murder, organised crime, corruption, piracy, false bomb threats and mass shootings among others. It is combated by the Serbian police and other government agencies.
In 2000, Serbia had a murder rate of 2.4. This increased in 2001 when the murder rate rose to 2.6, after which the murder rate started decreasing, reaching below 2.0 in 2003. [1] In 2012, Serbia had a murder rate of 1.2 per 100,000 population, with a total of 111 murders. [2] In 2020, Serbia's murder rate was 1.02. [1]
A number of mass shootings have occurred in Serbia. The first being the Paraćin massacre in 1987, where Aziz Kelmendi, a Kosovo Albanian conscript in the Yugoslav People's Army entered a military guard post and killed four soldiers and wounded five, before later being found dead from apparent suicide. [3]
Mass shootings in Serbia continued to occur in the 1990's, 2000's, 2010's and 2020's, with each decade seeing at least two mass shootings. The deadliest, the 2013 Velika Ivanča shooting, saw 14 killed including the perpetrator. [4]
In May 2023, two mass shootings took place in Serbia within a week, one of them being the Belgrade school shooting where nine people were killed and seven wounded, the other took place in a rural area south of Belgrade where eight people were killed and 14 wounded. [5]
Serbian organized crime, sometimes called Serbian mafia (Serbian : Cpпска мафија, romanized: Srpska Mafija), comprises various criminal organisations, that are either based in Serbia or composed of ethnic Serbs. Serbian criminals are active in the European Union (EU) countries. The organisations are primarily involved in smuggling, arms trafficking, drug trafficking, protection racket, illegal gambling, jewelry and gems theft, bodyguarding, and contract killing. The Mafia is composed of several major organised groups, which in turn have wider networks throughout primarily Europe.
The Yugoslav Wars prompted criminals a "way out" of economic disaster during the international imposed sanctions against Serbia. Serbian criminals have been recruited to state security forces, a notable example is Legija, a commander in the Arkan's Tigers which after the war was re-labeled as the JSO (Red Berets), he allegedly planned the murder of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić. [6]
In 2021, Serbia ranked 33rd in the Global Organised Crime Index, behind only Russia in terms of highest organised crime rate. According to the index, ″mafia style″ groups have significant protection by prosecutors, political figures and the media. The country was described as a place of origin, transit and destination for human trafficking, with trade also including illegal arms and drugs. [7]
Corruption levels are perceived to be high by surveyed residents of Serbia, and public trust in key institutions remains low. [8]
Public procurement, public administration recruitment processes, mining and rail operations are sectors with a serious problem of conflict of interest. [8] The European Commission has raised concern over Serbia's judiciary, police, health and education sectors that are particularly vulnerable to corruption. [9] Transparency Serbia estimated in September 2016 that at least 374,000 cases of "petty corruption" in public services remain undiscovered every year. [10] In 2022, Serbia scored 36 on Transparency International's corruption perception index, placing it at rank 101 out of 180 countries in terms of most corrupt countries in the world, meaning Serbia ranked as one of the nations with highest corruption rates in Europe. [11]
Piracy in Serbia increased in intensity during the 2000s and 2010s. [12] Especially threatened is the shipping on the part of Danube between Belgrade and Smederevo. [13] Most commonly, pirates will plunder bulk cargo such as oil, coke, metals, grains, sugar or fertilizers, but sometimes also remove cables and electric motors from the ships. [13]
The confrontations of the pirates with the crews rarely escalate, with a single shipman murder recorded, in the late 2000s. [13] This is, in part, because crews will often cooperate with the pirates, sell part of the cargo, then report the piracy to receive insurance money. [14] [15] Cases of cooperation of the pirates with the police have also been recorded. [15]
The pirates will also often engage in smuggling fuel and other goods across Danube. [14]
False bomb threats are relatively common in Serbia. Since the police reacts to every bomb threat by searching the entire buildings for the possible bomb, [16] most common targets are schools [16] where students will phone in a threat to delay their exams, and courts [17] where people expecting to lose a trial will phone in to delay it. Due to false bomb threats, the building of the High Court in Belgrade had to be evacuated more than 70 times in 2008 [17]
Less common targets include those as diverse as Belgrade firefighters' headquarters, [18] a residential building [19] or Kraljevo public library. [20]
Frequency of the false bomb threats was reduced in 2009, after a new law specified harsher, triplified, punishments. [19]
There is a low number of official complaints of sexual harassment in Serbia, though it has been reported that only a small number of women choose to report the crime, with experts saying the way the police and courts handle such cases discourages victims coming forward. The minimum sentence for rape in Serbia is five years in prison, which is higher than in several neighbouring countries, with this minimum sentence frequently being imposed. Many of those convicted of ″illicit sexual activity″ or sexual harassment avoid jail. [21]
Lazarevac is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. As of 2022, the town has a total population of 27,635 inhabitants, while the municipal area has a total of 55,146 inhabitants.
The Belgrade Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Belgrade, Serbia. It is designed as a universal hall for sports, cultural events and other programs. The venue is used for several different sports events, such as basketball, futsal, handball, judo, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, water polo, as well as for concerts. The arena's capacity stands at 18,386. Also there is small hall with underground tuminel for warming while the total floor area stands at 48,000 m2 (520,000 sq ft). Belgrade Arena was a member of the European Arenas Association (EAA).
Many human rights groups criticised civilian casualties resulting from military actions of NATO forces in Operation Allied Force. Both Serbs and Albanians were killed in 90 Human Rights Watch-confirmed incidents in which civilians died as a result of NATO bombing. It reported that as few as 489 and as many as 528 Yugoslav civilians were killed in the NATO airstrikes. Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, criticized NATO's decision to bomb civilian infrastructure in the war. "Once it made the decision to attack Yugoslavia, NATO should have done more to protect civilians," Roth remarked. "All too often, NATO targeting subjected the civilian population to unacceptable risks". Yugoslav government estimated that no fewer than 1,200 civilians and up to 2,500 civilians were killed and 5,000 wounded as a result of NATO airstrikes.
Vladimir Cvijan was a Serbian lawyer and politician. From 2004 until 2010, he served as the legal advisor and General Secretary to President of Serbia Boris Tadić. After joining then opposition Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he became a member of the party presidency and one of the most prominent members. From 2012 until 2014, he served as the SNS member of the National Assembly. Cvijan was later an independent representative in the parliament and an active dissident for a short period until his unnoticed disappearance in 2014.
Rehabilitation in Serbia refers to the rehabilitation of people convicted during the Communist Yugoslavian period in Serbia.
Politika ekspres was a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade by Politika AD from 1963 until 2005.
The Čemerno massacre refers to the massacre of ethnic Serbs of the village of Čemerno, Ilijaš, in the Ilijaš Municipality, near Sarajevo, on 10 June 1992, during the Bosnian War.
The Panda Bar massacre, alternatively known as the Panda Café attack, was an attack on Serbian civilians in the city of Peć, Kosovo on the night of 14–15 December 1998. Two masked men opened fire into a coffeehouse, killing six Serb youths and wounding 15 others.
The New Cemetery is a cemetery complex in Belgrade, Serbia, with a distinct history. It is located in Ruzveltova street in Zvezdara municipality. The cemetery was built in 1886 as the third Christian cemetery in Belgrade and as the first architecturally and urbanistically planned cemetery in Serbia.
Boris Malagurski is a Serbian-Canadian film director, producer, writer, political commentator, television host, and activist. His films include the documentary series The Weight of Chains.
Crime in Bulgaria is combated by the Bulgarian police and other agencies. The UK Government ranks Bulgaria as a high crime area and crime there has significantly increased in recent years, largely due to the involvement of the bulgarian mafia.
Crime in Denmark is combated by the Danish Police and other agencies.
Mala Moštanica is a village located in the municipality of Obrenovac, Belgrade, Serbia. As of 2011 census, it has a population of 1,805 inhabitants.
The Presumption of Justice is a 2012 documentary film, directed by Boris Malagurski and Ivana Rajović, it deals with the September 2009 murder of Brice Taton, a fan of Toulouse FC, who travelled to Belgrade, Serbia in order to support his club in its UEFA Europa League away match versus FK Partizan. The film focuses on the subsequent court case in Serbia which, resulted in a dozen FK Partizan fans being convicted of the crime. It argues that the handling of the case was negligent at both its investigative and trial stages, resulting in a miscarriage of justice in the case of Stefan Veličković, one of the 12 convicted fans.
Bosniak Democratic Union is a political party in Serbia, representing the Bosniak ethnic minority. It is led by Emir Elfić.
Censorship in Serbia is prohibited by the Constitution. Freedom of expression and of information are protected by international and national law, even if the guarantees enshrined in the laws are not coherently implemented. Instances of censorship and self-censorship are still reported in the country.
Zvezdara Forest is a park-forest in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Majority of the forest is located in the municipality of Zvezdara with only the small northernmost section being on the territory of Palilula. After Košutnjak and Topčider, Zvezdara is the largest forest in the urban zone of Belgrade and with them, the most important source of the oxygen for the city. While the Košuntjak-Topčider complex is being called the "Belgrade's oxygen factory", Zvezdara forest bears the moniker "left lung of the city".
Branka Veselinović was a Serbian actress. Her acting career spanned over 80 years. Her career included 100 stage performances and 50 film and television productions. She was a UNICEF ambassador.
On the evening of 4 May 2023, a shooting spree occurred in the villages of Dubona near Mladenovac, and Malo Orašje near Smederevo, Serbia. Armed with an automatic assault rifle, the shooter opened fire from a car, resulting in the deaths of nine individuals, including an off-duty police officer, and leaving twelve others injured. The suspect, 20-year-old Uroš Blažić, fled the scene but was apprehended the next day near Kragujevac.
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