OVER ILLEGAL DUMPING SITE: Mayor of Smederevo, head of the City Administration and director of public utility company arrested!

Jasmina Vojinović, mayor of Smederevo, was arrested today on the orders of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Smederevo, N1 has confirmed.

Also arrested were Miroslav Ilić, director of the public utility company “Zelenilo i groblja,” and Ivana Mitrović Stamenković, head of the City Administration in Smederevo.

They have been placed in police custody for up to 48 hours.

The arrests were made on suspicion of failing to take measures to protect the environment.

According to the prosecutor’s office, which spoke to N1, after the city landfill was closed at the end of September this year, the three allegedly selected a rubbish dump near the city where they disposed of waste without any permits.

Jasmina Vojinović is a member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). She previously served as the party’s commissioner in Smederevo and also as president of its local committee.

In addition to serving as mayor of Smederevo, Vojinović held several other positions before taking office, including membership of the City Council, adviser to the mayor and coordinator for cooperation with councillor groups in the Smederevo City Assembly.

Vojinović was recently in the media spotlight when a group of citizens entered her office intending to remove a picture of former Serbian president and opposition politician Aleksandar Vučić from the wall. A heated verbal exchange followed between Vojinović and the group.

The citizens demanded that the mayor resign following the Serbian Progressive Party’s defeat in the recent elections in Serbia. She responded that these had not been local elections and that she would not step down.

“Let the two Smederevos and all of Serbia hear this,” Jasmina Vojinović said at the time, responding to one citizen who had remarked that the people of Smederevo needed to hear it.