The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (VJT) in Belgrade dismissed criminal complaints against the Serbian caretaker minister of foreign affairs, the ministry’s acting secretary-general and 10 ambassadors over alleged irregularities related to Serbia’s October 25 parliamentary elections.
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The complaints concerned suspected violations of voting rights, unequal treatment and obstruction of the voting process. The decision was made by the VJT’s Special Department for Combating Corruption.
The prosecutor’s office said the complaints were dismissed because the alleged actions did not meet all the legal elements of the reported criminal offences or constitute offences subject to prosecution ex officio.
In its explanation, the VJT cited Article 56 of Serbia’s Law on the Election of Members of Parliament, which stipulates that polling stations abroad are designated by the Republic Election Commission (RIK), based on proposals from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The office stressed the distinction between the ministry’s authority to propose polling stations and the commission’s responsibility for designating them.
It added that failing to propose a polling station in a particular location, thereby requiring voters to travel elsewhere to cast their ballots, does not in itself constitute any of the alleged criminal offences.