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]
Dedinje is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac. Dedinje is generally considered the wealthiest part of Belgrade, and is the site of numerous villas and mansions owned by the members of the city's plutocracy, as well as many diplomatic residences.
Večernje novosti is a Serbian daily tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1953, it quickly grew into a high-circulation daily. Novosti also employs foreign correspondents spread around 23 national capitals around the globe.
The Žanka Stokić is the distinguished award for acting in Serbian theater. It is awarded only to actresses.
The communist purges in Serbia in 1944–1945 are atrocities that were committed by members of the Yugoslav Partisan Movement and the post-war communist authorities after they gained control over Serbia, against people perceived as war criminals, quislings and ideological opponents. Most of these purges were committed between October 1944 and May 1945. During this time, at least 55,973 people died of various causes, including death by execution or by illness in retention camps. The victims – the vast majority of them deliberately summarily executed, without a trial – were of different ethnic backgrounds, but were mostly Germans, Serbs and Hungarians. Some contend that the killings were not planned, but were unorganised vendettas of individuals during the post-war chaos, or that those considered victims of execution instead died in battle against the Partisans.
The Reformist Party, also known as the Reformists was a minor Niš-based regionalist political party in Serbia. It was founded and led by Aleksandar Višnjić, political activist, former member of Otpor! and Democratic Party (DS) and professor at Faculty of Medicine of the University of Niš.
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.
The mass media in Serbia refers to mass media outlets based in Serbia. Both state-owned and for-profit corporations operate television, magazines, and newspapers, which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues. The Constitution of Serbia guarantees freedom of speech.
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 low crime area and crime there has significantly decreased in recent years.
Crime in Denmark is combated by the Danish Police and other agencies.
Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 6 May 2012 to elect members of the National Assembly. The elections were held simultaneously with provincial, local, and presidential elections.
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.
Iso Lero, known as Džamba, was a Yugoslavian gangster based in Belgrade, Serbia. He was called "the Don of Dorćol".
Branka Veselinović was a Serbian actress. Her acting career, including 100 stage performances and 50 film and television productions, spanned more than 80 years. She was a UNICEF ambassador.
Bezistan is a roofed square and indoor passage in downtown Belgrade, Serbia that was designed by Vladeta Maksimović in 1953. It connects Terazije and Nikola Pašić squares with the surrounding shopping area. Bezistan is on the site of former Hotel Pariz.
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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