Belgrade 1/13/2024.
PUBLIC STATEMENT
SPECIAL PROSECUTOR FOR SPECIAL IRREGULARITIES
Forum for Security and Democracy notes with great concern that after the recently held parliamentary elections that the fears and concerns to which we pointed to in our previous two public statements still persist and have further intensified while at the same time our society is facing the threat of further deterioration of confidence in the institutional capacities of the state jeopardizing of Serbia's EU integrations, which the current situation is only exacerbating.
FSD notes this as it views the continued serious irregularities and deficiencies of the election process which are being brought to light by Serbian opposition parties and is of the opinion that they, even after the final results have been announced, cannot be ignored or left by the wayside and (including the criticisms stated by foreign observers) need to be thoroughly investigated.
FSD, for this reason, emphasizes that it is the obligation and the best interest of competent authorities and institutions, the outgoing and the incoming government, that the publicly expressed objections to the election process be seriously considered in a timely fashion and that the most efficient and economic way to accomplish this is the appointing of a Special prosecutor who would investigate all the stated irregularities surrounding the recently held elections, whether there are grounds for holding groups or individuals criminally accountable for these irregularities and to criminally prosecute them in accordance with the law.
FSD is convinced that, on one hand, this would help halt the strengthening of existing post-election tensions and further narrowing down of political options for their peaceful resolution, while on the other hand it would strengthen international confidence in government institutions and the rule of law in Serbia which is one the prerequisites for EU membership, and would also make the proclaimed electoral victory by the ruling party that much more convincing.
FSD at the same time notes that the investigation of this prosecutor would need to be much more transparent and expedient then the current public prosecutors' office investigation into the events surrounding Banjska in Northern Kosovo on September 24th last year, as that would help avert suspicions about the seriousness of such an investigation and the consequences of such suspicions, both in the domestic and international public.
FSD, last but not least, is of the opinion that the appointing of a special prosecutor would also deescalate the existing tensions present in Serbia's political landscape and open up much needed space for the facing of serious political challenges that await Serbia on the international level.
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