In Serbia, a spectacular theft from a government building in Belgrade has become public. Fourteen years ago, 43,000 ex-Yugoslavian and Serbian medals worth around 426,000 euros were stolen there, the media reported on Saturday. Eight people have been arrested and two more are wanted. The main suspect is former State Secretary for Justice Slobodan Homen, a former employee of the pro-Western former president Boris Tadić.
Lawyer Homen is known in Serbia as a collector of medals. At the time of the theft in 2010, he was State Secretary; two years later, President Aleksandar Vućić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came to power. Homen then served in parliament for the Social Democratic party of ex-president Tadić until 2014.
Ex-state secretary speaks of ‘film script’
According to media reports, a search is underway for Homen. He himself told the daily newspaper “Nin” (online edition) that he was aware of the accusations from the newspaper. “Just when I found out I was on the run,” the ex-secretary of state said to “the authors of this film script.”
He denied the allegations and described it as “impossible” to remove such a large number of medals from a government building. At the same time, he wonders why the justice system and the police only tackled the case after fifteen years. During all that time, he himself was never questioned, said Homen, who suspected a political distraction tactic.
It is unclear why the case became public now
It is unclear why the case has only become public now. The police are investigating the background to the crime. According to investigators, sealed boxes containing the medals were stolen from the building at the time. The boxes were returned a few days later with the damaged seal indicating an opening. It is unclear whether the contents of the boxes were checked at the time. Some of the medals date from the Second World War.
Source: Krone
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