Serbia Awaits Investigation Into Weapons Stash Near PM’s Home
By Gordana Andric
Results of analysis of the weapons found close to the Serbian Prime Minister’s home, which could clarify whether the stash was intended to be used to attack the PM, are expected today.
Dragan Mijovic, deputy chief of the Serbian police’s National Crime Centre, said the police on Monday would receive the results of DNA analysis of the arms stash discovered near Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic’s family home but the results will not be made public.
“If the information is made public too soon, the police will lose their advantage. The perpetrators [of the supposed attack] could influence witnesses or destroy evidence,” Mijovic told TV Pink.
On Saturday, hand grenades, a bazooka and a quantity of ammunition for machine-guns and snipers were found in the woods along the route that Vucic takes regularly.
At a press conference on Sunday, Vucic expressed suspicion that the arms stash was prepared for an attack on him but said DNA analysis would reveal what was it meant for.
“Then it will be clear what this all about is,” Vucic said, implying that it might show that the arms had been hidden by professionals preparing an attack on him.
The Prime Minister also said he had full confidence in Serbia’s security agencies and had no fear for his life.
Nebojsa Stefanovic, the Interior Minister, stated on Sunday that the investigation so far had showed that some of the weapons came from the battlefields of Croatia and Bosnia.
“What we have established so far is the origin of some of the weapons, that the hand-held rocket launcher is from the Croatian battlefields while two of four hand-grenades were from a battlefield in Bosnia, near Sarajevo,” Stefanovic said.
He also emphasized the importance of DNA analysis and said the the police were investigating potential suspects that could have stored the discovered weapons.
“I hope that we will come to information that will shed a complete light on all this,” Stefanovic stated.