The Higher Court in Novi Sad has ordered the release of Goran Vesić, the former Minister of Construction, from detention, the court announced. As they stated, there is currently no reasonable suspicion that he committed the serious crime of endangering public safety.
“The pre-trial panel of the Higher Court in Novi Sad, deciding on the appeals of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the defendant’s defense attorney, lifted the detention of the suspect Goran Vesić, finding that neither the order for the conduct of the investigation nor the evidence submitted by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad in the case file, currently indicates a reasonable suspicion that he committed the serious crime against public safety under Article 288 paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code in connection with the crime of endangering public safety under Article 278 paragraph 3 in connection with paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code, which is a necessary condition for the detention of any person,” they announced.
As they stated, an investigation is initiated against a person for whom there is a reasonable suspicion that they have committed a criminal offense, i.e., a set of facts that indirectly indicate that a criminal offense has been committed or that a certain person is the perpetrator of a criminal offense. However, detention can only be ordered against a person for whom there is a reasonable suspicion that they have committed a criminal offense, which is a set of facts that directly indicate that a certain person is the perpetrator of a criminal offense.
“Therefore, in order to order the detention of a person, a higher degree of suspicion is required than the degree of suspicion sufficient to initiate an investigation. Bearing in mind that the public prosecutor has not yet provided evidence to support his claims stated in the order for the conduct of the investigation, indicating the existence of reasonable suspicion, the panel is of the opinion that there is currently no reasonable suspicion of a causal link between the actions and omissions of the suspect Goran Vesić, as described by the prosecutor, and the resulting consequence,” they stated.
Since, when deciding on detention, the court is obliged to first determine whether there is a reasonable suspicion that the person for whom detention is proposed has committed a criminal offense, which in this particular case is not evident, the panel assessed that the appeals of the Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding the possibility of influencing witnesses and other concerns prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Code in Article 211 paragraph 1 items 1 to 4 are irrelevant, and therefore ordered the immediate release of the suspect Goran Vesić from detention.
They also added that the lifting of detention does not affect the further conduct of the investigation.
As a reminder, the collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad Railway Station occurred shortly before 12 noon on November 1st. Fourteen people died at the scene, and the 15th victim succumbed to their injuries last week. Thirteen people were arrested in connection with the collapse of the canopy, including Goran Vesić, Jelena Tanasković, and Nebojša Šurlan.
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Source: N1, Photo: TANJUG / STRAHINJA AĆIMOVIĆ