The decision by a private investment firm linked to Jared Kushner to withdraw from a planned hotel and mixed-use development at Belgrade’s former General Staff complex is unlikely to affect an ongoing criminal case against Serbia’s culture minister, legal experts say.
Affinity Partners, a private equity firm founded by Kushner, the son-in-law of former U.S. President Donald Trump, said it had pulled out of the project out of respect for the people of Serbia and the city of Belgrade, adding that major developments should unite rather than divide.
The withdrawal has reignited public debate over whether the move could ease the legal position of Culture Minister Nikola Selaković, who is among four people facing charges brought by Serbia’s organised crime prosecutor over alleged abuse of office and falsification of official documents linked to heritage protection decisions concerning the site.
Jasmina Paunović, a former prosecutor, told daily Danas that the investor’s exit could not legally influence the proceedings. She said the prosecution had completed its initial phase and that the next step lay with the competent court, which can either confirm the indictment, request additional evidence or schedule a trial.
Paunović said the investor’s withdrawal was not unexpected given the political sensitivity surrounding the project, adding that Kushner likely sought to avoid reputational risk and any appearance of corruption. She warned, however, that while the case should proceed, delays and obstruction tactics could still emerge during the trial process.
Defence lawyer Nikola Lakić also said the withdrawal would not undermine the prosecution’s case, arguing that the alleged criminal acts predated both the investor’s decision to exit and the adoption of a special law governing the project. He said any attempt by the defence to claim that the withdrawal negated criminal liability would not hold up in court.
Serbia’s organised crime prosecutor this week filed an indictment proposal against Selaković, a senior ministry official and two acting directors of cultural heritage institutions, accusing them of abuse of office and falsifying official documents.
The former Yugoslav army headquarters, heavily damaged during NATO air strikes in 1999, has long been a politically sensitive site in central Belgrade, symbolising both wartime destruction and competing visions of redevelopment and memorialisation.