BELGRADE, Feb 24 (Hina) - An advisor to the Yugoslav interior minister, Goran Vesic, said on Saturday the reform of the police would be one of the most important tests of the new Yugoslav authorities because that state apparatus,
under no control whatsoever, had been "the Pretorian guard of Milosevic's regime." Speaking at a panel discussion entitled "Civilian Control of Police", Vesic announced the total depoliticising of the police and the departure "of all those who abused it for political and other aims over the past years." Members of the police in Serbia should be forbidden to join political parties, Vesic said, adding that under the law members of the Yugoslav and Montenegrin police were not allowed to join political parties whereas the Serbian police were "not forbidden to do so." Attending the panel discussion, which was organised by the German foundation 'Friedrich Ebert Stiftung' and the Belgrade
BELGRADE, Feb 24 (Hina) - An advisor to the Yugoslav interior
minister, Goran Vesic, said on Saturday the reform of the police
would be one of the most important tests of the new Yugoslav
authorities because that state apparatus, under no control
whatsoever, had been "the Pretorian guard of Milosevic's regime."
Speaking at a panel discussion entitled "Civilian Control of
Police", Vesic announced the total depoliticising of the police and
the departure "of all those who abused it for political and other
aims over the past years."
Members of the police in Serbia should be forbidden to join
political parties, Vesic said, adding that under the law members of
the Yugoslav and Montenegrin police were not allowed to join
political parties whereas the Serbian police were "not forbidden to
do so."
Attending the panel discussion, which was organised by the German
foundation 'Friedrich Ebert Stiftung' and the Belgrade weekly
'Vreme', were a deputy director of the Slovene police, Andrej
Anzic, Zagreb attorney Ante Nobilo and a former vice-president of
the Interpol, Budimir Babovic.
Nobilo said the Croatian authorities established a different
system of control of police and secret services than had been the
case during the regime of late president Franjo Tudjman.
"Tudjman controlled police forces, both public and secret ones.
During his regime, crime police were inactivated because crime was
closely connected to the political centre of power... Tudjman
strengthened secret police, which he used for settling accounts
with his political opponents," Nobilo said.
The new Croatian authorities have taken over the management of
"almost all segments of the police, but it is important control is
not in their hands but in the hands of parliamentary committees and
commissions," the attorney said.
Slovenia's Anzic said there were three forms of supervising police
work in Slovenia - expert, court and parliamentary supervision,
which included a commission for controlling police and secret
services. Anzic pointed to the positive role of the ombudsman in
charge of supervising police work.
Milos Vasic, journalist and moderator, illustrated problems and
relations within the Serbian police by saying that since 1991, 30
assassinations of prominent persons, including a Yugoslav defence
minister, a Serbian interior minister and some other officials,
politicians and reporters, had still not been solved.
(hina) rml