Released yesterday, then arrested again, today released from custody again – are you managing to follow what is happening with Miša Bačulov? This opposition councilor from Novi Sad is suspected of an attack on the constitutional order, because he allegedly conspired with a doctor about his own poisoning. BIRN, however, reveals that not only is the certain doctor not a doctor, but it is also not true that he was in custody. What went wrong in the operation led by the BIA and what is the role of Informer here?
A drama in three acts. Act one.
The arrest of Bačulov: Hands up, open, open, open the door… lie down, hands behind your back.
The spectacular arrest of Miša Bačulov on suspicion that he wanted to poison himself and then blame President Vučić for it – was the prelude to even more spectacular footage that would appear in all regime media, showing Bačulov and a certain doctor plotting the poisoning.
Act two.
“You need to shoot two milligrams. Ricin. Let me know if I’m bringing it to Novi Sad tomorrow or not,” says the alleged doctor in the video.
Officially, it went like this. On suspicion of planning to attack the constitutional order, both Bačulov and his doctor were arrested. During the hearing, Bačulov became ill and was transferred from custody to the Emergency Center. The bizarreness of the whole case turns on a light for BIRN journalists, because before the third act of this drama takes place, they notice inconsistencies.
“We learn from his lawyer that the police officers who were guarding him left the hospital at 1 p.m. and told him to report himself, which is strange in itself due to the serious qualification of the criminal offense, that he then goes to the hearing at 3 p.m. at the Palace of Justice at the official entrance, where he is questioned in stoppage time, just before the end of working hours, no judge was informed about it and therefore cannot act, he goes downstairs and…”, says Dragana Žarković Obradović from BIRN.
And downstairs the Informer camera – running, sound – running, action.
Informer employee: What was your motive for trying to poison yourself? Here they are arresting him again, the UKP is arresting Bačulov again, we don’t know the reason.
Vučićević: Are they arresting him? Well done to the police, that’s the people’s militia.
“The greatest impression on me was left by the arrest itself and the arrival of people from the UKP, who came as if they should arrest a terrorist, and the man is leaving the court, he could not bring anything that could pose a danger into the court. And now I wonder how those policemen agree to it, someone tells them “now go and arrest Bačulov, but put on those bulletproof vests, helmets and those wonders. I don’t know what to say. Those people agree to be extras on Informer and that has nothing to do with professional conduct,” says journalist Uglješa Bokić.
But the police in the Bačulov affair were not the only ones playing extras. BIRN reveals who the alleged doctor is, whose identity the BIA tried to protect, but unsuccessfully. Rushing to publish the footage as soon as possible, Informer first revealed the logo of the office where the conversation was filmed, and then the doctor’s face slipped out. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together, BIRN journalists once again destroy the services’ attempt.
“By combining work with sources and forensic tools, we actually reconstructed who that man is – and he is a fake doctor, but also that his detention was not even requested at all. These are classic setups, this was a classic example for us, to show how the service works in one case,” says Žarković Obradović.
When the service and the media work together sloppily, then it becomes completely clear that the entire public was lied to by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Dejan Vukelić: Hats off to Nenad Stefanović and the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office, they are brightening the honor and reputation of the prosecutorial profession these days.
Vučićević: Rare, not to say the only ones who work strictly in accordance with the law, and not with politics.
“That is the only prosecution that is certainly under political influence and that prosecution is turning into an inquisitorial institution that literally executes the orders of the government and Aleksandar Vučić personally,” said Bokić.
In the play involving the service and its external associates, the police, the media and the prosecution, the question remains whether the main character of this story is part of the show.
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Source: N1; Photo: ATAImages