The trial of Serbia’s Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic began on Wednesday in Belgrade, marking the first time in three decades that a serving Serbian minister has faced criminal proceedings, court officials said.
Selakovic, along with three other state officials, is charged with abuse of office and falsification of official documents in connection with the removal of heritage protection from the former Yugoslav Army General Staff building, which was damaged during NATO’s 1999 bombing of Serbia.
Prosecutors allege that Selakovic and the other defendants illegally prepared and submitted a document containing false information that enabled the government to strip the complex of its status as a protected cultural monument. That move allowed parliament to pass a special law paving the way for the site’s demolition and redevelopment.
Also charged are Goran Vasic, head of Serbia’s national heritage protection institute, Aleksandar Ivanovic, head of Belgrade’s city heritage office, and Slavica Jelaca, a senior official at the culture ministry. The Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime said the defendants bypassed expert bodies within the ministry and heritage institutions in 2024 to push the proposal through government channels.
The General Staff complex, located in central Belgrade, has been a symbol of the NATO air campaign and remains politically sensitive in Serbia.
The legal changes cleared the way for a planned luxury real estate development on the site under an agreement signed by former construction minister Goran Vesic with a company linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump. The company later withdrew from the project following public protests in Serbia.
President Aleksandar Vucic publicly defended Selakovic ahead of the trial, saying he was personally responsible for the decision to redevelop the site and calling on prosecutors to charge him instead. Vucic also said he would consider pardoning all defendants if convictions were secured.
The defendants have denied wrongdoing. The trial is expected to continue in the coming months.