TRADITION BROKEN: SAJ Day marked without veterans and pensioners due to Vučić’s visit!

Two things happened for the first time during the marking of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ) Day; the President of the Republic, Aleksandar Vučić, visited them personally, and probably because of that visit, for the first time, veterans and pensioners were banned from attending the celebration of SAJ Day.

In the SAJ base in Batajnica, December 18, the day of this elite unit, was marked, and for the first time, the celebration was attended personally by the President of the Republic, Aleksandar Vučić, who had previously avoided that unit in a wide arc. However, for the first time, it also happened that veterans and pensioners of that unit were not invited to the celebration.

“It has never happened before that retired members of SAJ and veterans were not invited to the celebration of the Unit’s Day, which was a tradition. Not only were they not invited, but they were told they were not welcome, which caused resignation among many of them. Previously, on that day, the Minister of Police would award plaques to people who retired that year, and those are not only authorized official persons – commandos, but also auxiliary staff, cooks, mechanics who maintain the base, and employees in other supporting services,” one of the former members of this unit told the Nova.rs portal.

Aleksandar Vučić’s visit is an act of support for the newly appointed commander of SAJ, Igor Žmirić, who was transferred to the head of this elite unit from the position of assistant in the Unit for the Protection of Specific Persons and Objects (JZO). This promotion followed the events of August this year, when JZO members particularly stood out in brutality during the arrests of citizens and students protesting in Nemanjina Street in Belgrade. One of those who stood out in roughness was precisely Igor Žmirić.

Before the arrival of Žmirić, the acting commander was Miloš Maćešić, a man from within that unit, who succeeded the long-time commander Spasoje Vulević, who retired, in the command position.

In the image of similar units in the world

SAJ is a unit with tradition, and it was created during the time of old Yugoslavia, when the militia of that time looked to keep pace with the world, so the Serbian militia formed its own special unit in 1978. The name was in the spirit of socialism, the Militia Unit for Special Operations, and the first commander was Miloš Bujenović. This decision followed a series of terrorist attacks across Europe, so the state leadership at the time recognized the need for a special unit that would be able to intervene in the shortest possible time and eliminate a potential terrorist threat.

In recent years, the unit has been most frequently used during high-risk arrests when the use of weapons by suspects is expected.