Detentions, resignations, probes shake Serbia after students toppled strongman Vucic in election

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Detentions, resignations, switching of sides, attempts to destroy evidence of wrongdoing.

News has been coming in at such a pace in the wake of former Serbian strongman Aleksandar Vucic's electoral defeat on Oct. 25 that a website dubbed ‘system breakdown’ has been formed, with AI feeding the information in real time.

From high school students catching their principal supposedly trying to destroy documentation to the closure of a bank believed linked to the now-ousted Serbian Progressive Party, the turn of events has gripped Serbia's public in the post-election week.

Somewhat chaotic reports are seen as a sign that Vucic's carefully crafted power system is collapsing swiftly following the stunning victory of a student movement at the early parliamentary ballot.

The Students' List winners are yet to formally take over power in the government administration, security agencies and the army. But the seismic shift in the balance of power is pushing events to unfold before the actual takeover takes place.

Despite the electoral defeat, a defiant Vucic — now described as the leader of opposition — has continued with his daily appearances on loyal media, accusing the student-led movement of “revolutionary terror” and vowing to fight back.

On Sunday evening, Vucic told Pink television that “naturally, this is hard for my family and those who love me, but I am ready for everything and I will persist through anything.” Denying crime links, Vucic said he is not afraid of possible arrest because there will be no evidence against him.

“I don’t sign anything ... and nothing will be found,” he said. “They don’t have anything.”

Jailed officials so far include Vucic’s chief of criminal police, Marko Kricak, and another senior police official, both suspected of abuse of office in connection with a high-profile murder investigation.

Kricak was notorious over accusations that he personally threatened a female student with rape during anti-government protests, but he was not jailed over those allegations.

On Monday, authorities also detained Davor Macura , the owner of private Alta Bank, which is believed to be linked to Vucic’s SNS party and whose license has been revoked. Macura was allegedly caught trying to siphon away millions of dollars and faces charges of abuse of office.

While waiting to form the new government, the election winners have called on prosecutors and judges to start doing their jobs or step down.

Scores of investigations into alleged top-level corruption cases remained incomplete under the previous government, including one into a Nov. 1, 2024, train station tragedy that triggered two years of anti-graft protests.

Now, the Serbian public is waiting to hear what will come out of a review into some of the longstanding probes after the student movement promised there will no longer be untouchable officials.

Prosecutors have been swamped with new complaints over incidents that vary from suspected election fraud to threats and violence against protesters , journalists and activists. Organized crime prosecutors also initiated procedures to determine whether some of them had been placed under illegal surveillance by the state security agency.

On Monday, lawyer Ivan Ninic alleged a “criminal conspiracy” involving a justice ministry official and over three dozen prison wardens across Serbia, saying they pressured or bribed inmates to vote for Vucic during last week's ballot.

Ninic presented what he said were screenshots of online chats, with officials exchanging information about how many votes they managed to gather — Vucic's SNS won overwhelmingly in Serbia's prisons.

In Mali Zvornik, on the border with Bosnia, police detained six people accused of granting false residence papers to Bosnian citizens so they could vote for Vucic's party at the election.

Some of the mainstream media in Serbia that were at the forefront of Vucic's propaganda machinery have been the first to regroup.

Previously staunchly pro-Vucic media outlets quickly adopted a more neutral position, while some television channels canceled programs altogether and owners reportedly fled the country. State RTS television overhauled leadership and apologized to its viewers for biased reporting.

But some of Vucic's main mouthpieces, like the Informer and Pink broadcasters, remain loyal, hosting the former leader daily in their programs.

The election was for Serbia's 250-member parliament and did not include local governments across the country. Now, calls are mounting for early municipal elections.

Vucic's SNS lost in the capital, Belgrade, and most other towns, after it previously controlled the country down to every village, with the exception of one urban municipality in the southern city of Nis.

Throughout Serbia, employees in theaters, museums, culture associations, schools and hospitals are demanding that SNS-appointed managers immediately step down.

In Belgrade, Fifth High School principal Ognjen Mrvaljevic denied that he was throwing away relevant school documentation. His students pulled it out of garbage bins after calling the police.

Vucic's party's "expiration date has passed,” analyst Slobodan Stupar said. “It will all fall like dominoes.”