In his position as the Head of Police in Serbia, Milorad Veljović endured four ministers of interior and three governments. The media speculated that it will be replaced by Vladimir Rebić, the Head of Traffic Police.
By Saša Djordjević (BCSP)
@Bambayay
In the news from Serbia on 19 of December, a peculiar piece of information could be found — an announcement that the incumbent Director of Serbian Police, Milorad Veljović, is to be either retired or dismissed from this position. The official confirmation as to whether this is true is expected to be made public in the upcoming days. Throughout Veljović’s nine-year long tenure as the Head of Police there were several announcements about his dismissal from the position, which points to the problems with the implementation of the law. Situations like this have no place in a democratic society, especially if they are taking place in an atmosphere of purge.
During February 2013 a debate started in the public regarding the appointment of a new Head of Police, which developed into a dilemma whether the new Director will be closer to Aleksandar Vucić or Ivica Dacić, both presidents of the two leading political parties at the time and during the current Government’s mandate. Nobody was concerned about what would the role and duties of the Head of Police entail. A number of affairs surfaced at the time as well. The most prominent one happened in September 2013, when the coordinator of the task force in charge of investigating the 24 problematic privatization cases, Bogdan Pusić, together with Milorad Veljović, found themselves attacked by the tabloid press that characterized them as “dirty cops.” After 28 days of the sustained tabloid campaign against them, Veljović remained in his position whereas Pusić submitted a request for his dismissal from the position to which he was appointed. Moreover, the fact that Veljović’s son worked as a consultant for the Miroslav Bogicević’s company “Farmakom” surfaced, the company against which the charges had been brought up. Veljović’s son, at his father’s initiative, had subsequently left the company.
In his position as the Head of Police, Milorad Veljović endured four ministers of interior and three governments. It appears as if he owns a magic wand that helps him remain in his office. It yet remains to be seen whether this magic would still work after his announced and unofficial dismissal, which is problematic in itself for many reasons.
To begin with, the media already speculate as to who the new Head of Police will be. The name mentioned is that of the incumbent head of the Traffic Police Directorate, Vladimir Rebić. Rebić himself was appointed to this position in June last year, after the infamous dismissal of a number of high-ranking police officials. (The reasons for the dismissal or transfers of these five police generals are still not made known to the public). The problem with these headlines in the media, under the assumption that the information is “leaking” from the police themselves, is the fact that in this manner the speculations about the new Head of Police are started even before a call for the new Director is announced and before the commission for the appointment is established. More precisely, the selection procedure was not followed in this case, thus raising the same old question anew — why do laws exist if they are not implemented?
The Law on Police (Art. 21) envisages that the Head of Police, for his five-year long mandate, is to be selected after a public call has been conducted, based on which the Minister of Interior recommends the new Head of Police to the Government, which is the final decision making instance. Furthermore, the Directive on the Procedures for Determining Compliance and Selection of the Candidates for Police Director mandates that the public call is announced in the Official Gazette, and that the selection process is conducted by the Selection Commission appointed by the minister. Moreover, the Selection Commission has the role to determine the criteria and evaluation methodology for measuring the work results and each candidate’s individual contribution, and finally create a ranking-list and submit it to the Minister of Interior. None of the above mentioned procedures was followed, yet still there are rumours that Vladimir Rebić will be appointed as the Head of Police. Again, nobody was concerned about what would the role and duties of the Head of Police entail, as if that is completely irrelevant.
In addition, the Draft Law on Police (Art. 253) envisages that Milorad Veljović remains as the Head of Police until his mandate expires, which will happen in March 2018. It is only logical to question why it is precisely at this time, during the process of adopting a new Law on Police, that the announcement regarding the dismissal of the Head of Police appears. The media are reporting that the Minister of Interior is dissatisfied because Veljović failed to conduct the rationalization within the Police Directorate in accordance with the established standards, but rather in line with his personal criteria. To check these claims against the facts is virtually impossible, if taken into account that the established criteria are confidential. The criteria had been set up by the Rulebook on Changes and Amendments to the Rulebook on Internal Organisation and Systematisation of Work Positions within Ministry of Interior, adopted on 1 of December and bearing a stamp of confidentiality.
The Commission for Assessing the Needs for Transfers to Work Positions Related to the Risk Assessment was established yesterday. Its role is to determine the redundancies among the Ministry of Interior’s human resources.
There are too many dilemmas about the appointment of the new Head of Police and the process of rationalisation with the police. If the Ministry of Interior really intends to deliver on their promises from the beginning of 2015, which state that the human resource management must be conducted in line with the professional standards and integrity, it is necessary to fulfill a number of preconditions.
It is mandatory that both the Ministry of Interior and the Government clearly elaborate the reasons for the dismissal of the Head of Police, if this happens in the foreseeable future. The Rulebook on Internal Organisation and Systematisation of Work Positions within the Ministry should be publically available, as is the case in Montenegro or Croatia. It is necessary to make the criteria used for the process of rationalisation within police available to the public, as well as to explain how the process itself will be conducted. The Commission for Assessing the Needs for Transfers to Work Positions Related to the Risk Assessment should compile a report after they complete the selection procedure and present it to the Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Internal Affairs. This report should also be made publically available.
Only by doing as described above it becomes possible to increase transparency, strengthen the police integrity and restore the citizens’ trust in police.
The article was originally published in online magazine Peščanik.
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