Tamara Kačar Novković was a molecular biologist and one of the most highly regarded DNA experts at the National Forensic Technical Center (NFTC) of Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. She specialized in forensic analysis of biological traces and worked on evidence that could determine the outcome of serious criminal proceedings.
Everything changed after a police operation at the “Durmitor” restaurant in Belgrade on June 1, 2017, when several people suspected of belonging to the Škaljari clan were arrested. Among the evidence were pistols on which Tamara conducted DNA analysis. Her findings revealed DNA traces belonging to Mitar Muratović and Miloš Nilović, known as Runjo.
However, at the trial on June 11, 2018, Tamara revealed something that further complicated the case: a subsequent analysis of the mixed DNA profile found on a “Walther” pistol also identified traces belonging to a third person, Mališa Vućić, who had also been arrested at the Durmitor restaurant. Based on these findings, the prosecution filed a new indictment, but the court did not confirm it. It was precisely after her supplementary findings and testimony that her professional problems began.
According to investigations by Insajder, then-State Secretary at the Ministry of Internal Affairs Dijana Hrkalović was dissatisfied with her forensic findings. According to media reports, Tamara was expected to handle the DNA results differently. Tamara neither withdrew her findings nor changed her expert testimony.
Instead of continuing to do the work for which she was qualified and had received awards, she was transferred from the National Forensic Technical Center to the Emergency Management Sector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to a lower-ranking position unrelated to her specialization. The transfer order was issued on November 28, 2018, under the authority of then-Minister Nebojša Stefanović, and signed by Predrag Marić.
Her colleague Anđelka Vučetić-Dragović, then head of the DNA laboratory, was also removed from the laboratory. Anđelka was dismissed after confirming Tamara’s forensic findings in court and stating that Tamara had been in charge of the case and had reviewed and signed the report.
For years, Tamara tried to return to her former position. She pursued legal action, contacted the relevant authorities and requested permission to return to the NFTC. She also appealed to the office of then-Minister Aleksandar Vulin, but never managed to return to the laboratory. Police officers internally referred to the Emergency Management Sector, where employees considered undesirable were transferred, as the “depot for police waste.”
On February 8, 2022, Tamara Kačar Novković was found dead outside the building where she lived in Voždovac. According to initial reports, the death was believed to be a suicide. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered an autopsy and toxicological analyses to establish the circumstances of her death.
Following her death, the New Police Trade Union Alliance filed a criminal complaint against Dijana Hrkalović, Nebojša Stefanović, Vladimir Rebić, Milan Stanić, Predrag Marić and other unidentified individuals, on suspicion of stalking and incitement to suicide. The complaint stated that Tamara had endured years of pressure because she refused to adapt her professional work to other people’s demands.
That is why this case must never be forgotten.
Tamara was not a politician, she was not a criminal, and she was not part of any clan. She was an expert who conducted DNA analyses and testified about what she had found in the evidence. Her professional fate raised the question of whether it was possible to carry out one’s work professionally and independently within the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the time, even when the results displeased those at the top.
Who decided that experts should be sidelined? Who exerted the pressure? Who was held responsible for her professional demotion? And was what Tamara went through during the final years of her life ever fully investigated?
Tamara Kačar Novković deserves truth, justice and to be remembered. Her story must not end in silence.
MORE TOPICS:
Source:: @Luka via X Foto: Privatna arhiva, MUP Srbije, Facebook
Add Serbian Times as your Google source