The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade has filed an indictment against Slobodanka K., Milutin S., and Biljana K. for omissions that led to the collapse of the canopy in Novi Sad.
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade has filed an indictment against three defendants for omissions in the technical supervision of the works carried out at the Railway Station in Novi Sad, which contributed to the collapse of the canopy, during which 15 people were killed.
The investigation against two members of the Technical Supervision Commission was suspended due to lack of evidence, said the Chief Prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanović.
The indictment was filed for the commission of corrupt criminal offenses. The accused are Slobodanka K., Milutin S., and Biljana K.
We are transmitting the statement of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in its entirety:
After an efficiently conducted pre-investigation procedure and investigation, the Special Department for Combating Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade has filed an indictment against Slobodanka K., investment development manager of AD “Infrastructure of Serbian Railways” based in Belgrade, as well as the president of the Technical Inspection Commission of the Railway Station in Novi Sad, Milutin S., and a member of that Commission, Biljana K., in connection with the commission of several criminal offenses with corrupt elements, which resulted in the collapse of the canopy at that Railway Station on November 1, 2024, during which 15 people were killed and two were severely injured.
The Chief Public Prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanović, pointed out that there is a justified suspicion that their omissions contributed to and are in a causal relationship with the mentioned tragedy, because if they had acted conscientiously and performed the duty of extraordinary inspection, as well as control of the fulfillment of conditions during the trial operation itself, then they could visually notice signs of fracture and increased deflection on the canopy in the days preceding its collapse.
Slobodanka K. is charged in the indictment with the criminal offense of Abuse of Official Position under Article 359, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code and the criminal offense of Serious Offenses against General Safety under Article 288, paragraph 2 and paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code in connection with Article 278, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code.
Milutin S. and Biljana K. are charged in the indictment with the criminal offense of Negligent Work in the Service under Article 361, paragraph 2 in connection with paragraph 1 in connection with paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code and the criminal offense of Serious Offenses against General Safety under Article 288, paragraph 2 and paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code in connection with Article 278, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code.
Stefanović pointed out that in relation to the members of the Commission, Jelena V. and Marija N.J., an order to suspend the investigation was issued because there is no evidence that they committed any criminal offense prosecuted ex officio, Stefanović stated.
He noted that, during the investigation, from the statements of the defendants, witnesses and the reviewed written documentation published on the website of the Government of Serbia, it was established that they were misled by the accused members of the Commission about the performed technical supervision, which excludes illegality in their actions.
According to the Chief Public Prosecutor, the corrupt element in this case is reflected in the non-performance of the duty of supervision and non-performance of official duty, and the criminal offenses of Negligent Work in the Service as well as Abuse of Official Position represent so-called corrupt criminal offenses.
On the other hand, as he explained, the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad has filed an indictment in its case against other defendants for the criminal offense of Serious Offenses against General Safety from the area of so-called general crime.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime is conducting a pre-investigation procedure regarding the financing of the renovation project of the Railway Station in Novi Sad, the Chief Public Prosecutor noted.
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That pre-investigation procedure, as he pointed out, began on the basis of an initiative from the Criminal Police Directorate with the first action of the Special Department for Combating Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, which gave the police a request to collect the necessary information regarding the financing of the project, because certain companies have their headquarters in the territory of Belgrade, and after that the Special Department for Combating Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad began its proceedings regarding the financing of the project.
Stefanović also said that the Special Department for Combating Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade filed an objection to the decision on substitution of the Supreme Public Prosecutor, which will be decided by the Commission of the High Council of Prosecutors.
The Special Department for Combating Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade believes that the prosecutor’s office that conducted the pre-investigation procedure, the investigation and filed the indictment should also represent it before the competent court because of the efficiency of the procedure, which is why, as he stated, it remains unclear why the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime, which is in the pre-investigation phase regarding the financing of the renovation project of the Railway Station in Novi Sad, would do that.
“Bearing in mind the tragedy of November 1 last year in Novi Sad, as well as the social circumstances that followed, I note that the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade gave its maximum in acting by reacting efficiently to the suspicion of committed criminal offenses and prosecuting the responsible persons in the part that relates to our jurisdiction,” the Chief Public Prosecutor noted.
There is a justified suspicion that the president of the Technical Inspection Commission of the works, Milutin S., and the member of the Commission, Biljana K., from March 25, 2024 to April 5, 2024, by violating the law, other regulations and general acts, by neglecting the duty of supervision and in another way, acted obviously negligently in the performance of their duties, although they were aware that as a result of this, a serious violation of the rights of another could occur, and such a violation did occur.
They performed a technical inspection of the building before the completion of the building, but the technical inspection did not fully cover the control of the compliance of the performed works with the building permit and technical documentation on the basis of which the building was built, nor with the technical regulations and standards relating to certain types of works, acting contrary to the Law on Planning and Construction, so in order to determine the suitability of the building for use, they approved the commissioning of the entire building of the Novi Sad Railway Station for trial operation.
In doing so, they did not determine that the conditions for this were met, nor did they check the fulfillment of the conditions for issuing a use permit during the trial operation of the building, so they did not submit a report to the investor, thereby acting contrary to the provisions of the Law on Planning and Construction.
Also, they did not check the completeness of the technical and other documentation for the construction of the building, i.e. for the execution of works, because they performed the technical inspection without confirmation of work registration, without checking compliance with the designed construction of the building, without checking the position, physical and technical characteristics of all significant elements of the building construction, without checking the construction diaries, i.e. parts of the diary relating to the control of relevant works (taking control samples), without subsequent control tests of the canopy structure, which is located in front of the vestibule “B”, thereby acting contrary to the provisions of the Rulebook on the content and method of performing technical inspection of the building, the composition of the commission, the content of the commission’s proposal on determining the suitability of the building for use, observing the soil and building during construction and use and minimum warranty periods for certain types of buildings.
In addition, they did not determine that the design did not contain a part relating to the assessment of the condition of the existing building and that no previous investigative works relating to the stability of the building were carried out, and they prepared reports on the performed technical inspection of the building in the part of their profession.
Milutin S. prepared a Report on the performed technical inspection of the building from April 4, 2024, which contains the Minutes of the performed technical inspection as well as the commission’s proposal for the commissioning of the building for trial operation from April 5, 2024, in which Report they stated that there are no defects that affect the stability and functionality of the building and system.
That Report confirmed that the building was constructed in accordance with the design for the building permit and the design for the execution, that trial operation was approved to determine the suitability of the building for use, although they knew that the performed inspection and examination of the building with the Minutes of the performed technical inspection were not done in accordance with the mentioned regulations, standards and rules of the profession, because the suspect Biljana K. did not inspect the construction of the entire building of the Novi Sad Railway Station, especially the canopy, thereby acting contrary to the provision of the Rulebook on temporary technical regulations for construction in seismic areas.
Namely, Biljana K. did not determine that after the reconstruction of the public building, no analysis of resistance to seismic effects was carried out, especially considering the age of the building, the specificity of the structural solution of the canopy,and that the existing technical properties of the canopy were not determined in terms of load-bearing capacity, stability, usability and durability, failing to determine the impact of the additional load on the canopy, as well as the corrosion of the prestressing cables which were the only load-bearing elements of the tie rod, i.e. corrosion that occurred in the cables at the junction of the tie rod and the roof beam (roof fold), the so-called sawtooth roof, which could have been determined by inspecting the structure.
Also, Biljana K. did not determine that the layer of non-reinforced concrete was not removed from the canopy, nor the ceramics from the underside of the canopy, which was prescribed for removal by the work execution project, which is why she did not determine this additional load on the canopy either, although she was obliged to do so, with which the chairman of the Commission, the suspect Milutin S., was aware.
Despite this, they approved the trial operation of the Novi Sad Railway Station building for a maximum period of one year, although they were aware that as a result of this, a serious violation of the rights of another – the right to life and bodily integrity – could occur, and such a violation did occur, aware that the altered or false document – the Report on the performed technical inspection of the building from April 4, 2024, whose integral part is the Minutes of the technical inspection dated April 5, 2024, would be used in legal transactions.
In this way, the irregularities that led to the collapse of the canopy onto the ground in front of the front facade of vestibule “B” on the Novi Sad Railway Station building remained undetermined.
During the trial operation, they did not check the fulfillment of the conditions for issuing a use permit, and during the second technical inspection, they again made all the listed omissions.
After that, Milutin S. prepared a new report on the technical inspection of the Novi Sad Railway Station building in October 2024, entering into that report the report of the suspect Biljana K., confirmation that the building is suitable for use and proposing the issuance of a use permit, although the conditions for this were not met, because signs of fracture were noticeable in the days preceding the collapse of the canopy as they appeared in the form of increased deflections.
In this way, the above-described irregularities remained undetermined, as a result of which, due to the reduced load-bearing capacity of the tie rods and their overload, the mechanism of fracture of the rigid connections of the transverse beams of the canopy into the columns of the south facade of the building was triggered, and the tie rods completely failed, resulting in a brittle fracture and collapse of the canopy onto the ground in front of the front facade of vestibule “B” of the Novi Sad Railway Station building.
They were aware that by not acting in accordance with regulations and technical rules on protection measures, they could contribute by their omissions and thus cause danger to the life and body of people, and they agreed to this, lightly believing that as a result of this, death and serious bodily injury would not occur in multiple persons.
Also, it is suspected that Slobodanka K., from September 2020 to November 1, 2024, in Belgrade, as an official – manager for development and investments in AD “Infrastructure of Serbian Railways” Belgrade, responsible for coordinating and monitoring the project of modernization and reconstruction of the Hungarian-Serbian railway line in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, for the section Novi Sad-Subotica-State border (Kelebija), by exploiting and exceeding the limits of her official authority and failing to perform her official duty, seriously violated the rights of others, namely the right to life and bodily integrity.
She was responsible for making decisions regarding the mentioned project, and she submitted reports, minutes and other documentation to her superiors, knowing that the Report on the performed technical inspection from April 4, 2024, whose integral part is the Minutes of the technical inspection from April 5, 2024 and the proposal for trial operation, was not done in accordance with all regulations and rules of the profession, and that the works on the building were not completed, as a result of which the trial operation of the Novi Sad Railway Station building was approved for a maximum period of one year.
Slobodanka K. issued a decision on June 12, 2024, forming a joint Commission for the internal acceptance of wing “B” in the Novi Sad Railway Station with the task for the Commission to perform the internal acceptance of the vestibule of wing “B” of the Novi Sad Railway Station building, so that by accepting the vestibule of wing “B” passengers would be allowed to use the vestibule and all its contents, although internal acceptance as such is not regulated by any regulation, which is why, after the internal acceptance and handover of the building between the contractor and the investor, the vestibule of wing “B” was put into operation on July 5, 2024.
She knew that the works on the vestibule of wing “B” were not completed, because she did not receive confirmation from the professional supervision, and she was aware that by not acting in accordance with regulations and technical rules, she could endanger safety.
In this way, the irregularities that led to the collapse of the canopy onto the ground in front of the front facade of vestibule “B” on the Novi Sad Railway Station building on November 1, 2024, remained undetermined.
After that, by not acting in accordance with regulations and technical rules on protection measures, although she knew that passengers had started using the station building and wing “B” since July 5, 2024, she did not warn the competent authorities that the building was still not completed, and knowing that a new technical inspection was underway until a few days before the collapse of the canopy, during which technical inspection the works were still not completed.
She also knew that the final report on the technical inspection, which stated the suitability of the building for use, had not yet been submitted, i.e. that the issuance of a use permit for the building had not been proposed, as a result of which the canopy collapsed onto the ground in front of the front facade of the mentioned vestibule on November 1, 2024, during which 15 people lost their lives and two people were severely injured.
She was aware that by not acting in accordance with regulations and technical rules on protection measures, she could contribute and thus cause danger to the life and body of people, and she agreed to this, lightly believing that as a result of this, death and serious bodily injury would not occur in multiple persons.
The prosecutor’s office has proposed to the court to extend the detention of the defendants Milutin S. and Biljana K., as well as to extend the measure of prohibition of leaving the apartment with electronic surveillance for Slobodanka K., in order to prevent them from repeating the criminal offense in a short period of time, and to order their detention due to public disturbance.
Recognizing the justified interest of the public to be informed about the evidence, we are attaching the evidence that the prosecutor’s office has secured for the filing of this indictment.
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Source: RTS, Photo: N1