The commander of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ), Spasoje Vulević, has confirmed he was removed from his position and is retiring at his own request.
Vulević told the Beta news agency that a new job classification system was introduced on Thursday, and on Friday, he was told he was no longer counted on as commander because he was not under the control of Aleksandar Vučić.
“After finishing military high school and the military academy, I spent 33 years in the SAJ. I started as a regular member of the unit, went through all the command lines, and have been the unit’s commander since 2005. On Friday, September 5, they removed me and offered me the position of advisor to the minister. I refused that offer and am retiring at my request,” Vulević said.
He stated that he was informed of his dismissal by Minister Ivica Dačić and Police Director Dragan Vasiljević. “A new job classification was adopted on Thursday, and when a new classification is adopted, new solutions must be made for all members of the Police Directorate. Solutions are first made for commanders and chiefs. Dačić and Vasiljević called me and told me that they were not counting on me because, as they said, the president (Aleksandar Vučić) does not want to have an armed formation that is not under his absolute control, and because of that, I can no longer be the commander,” Vulević said.
He added that Dačić offered him the position of advisor to the minister.
“I thought about it and decided not to accept the offer; instead, I decided to go into early retirement,” Vulević said.
Spasoje Vulević was born in 1971 in Peć, where he attended elementary school.
He finished military high school in Belgrade, then the Military Academy, and has been working for the SAJ since 1993.
Source: Nova, Photo: Printscreen/YouTube/MUP