Interior Ministry: Kricak, Sekulovic on temporary leave after being placed in custody

BELGRADE - The Serbian Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday that Criminal Police Directorate chief Marko Kricak and Anti-Crime Service chief Bosko Sekulovic had been put on temporary leave after the Higher Court in Belgrade decided to place them in custody.

In a statement, the ministry said the decision to place them on temporary leave had been made pursuant to the Law on Police and that their deputies would take charge of the Criminal Police Directorate and the Anti-Corruption Service, respectively.

The court has ordered 30-day custody for the two on suspicion of office abuse in connection with the case of a May 12 murder at a Belgrade restaurant.

Kricak and Sekulovic have been placed in custody to prevent them from obstructing proceedings by witness tampering, the court said in a statement on Tuesday.

On Monday, they appeared for a hearing at the Higher Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, which requested that they be placed in custody.

Earlier, the Prosecutor's Office said Kricak and Sekulovic had been arrested on November 1 on suspicion of damaging and severely injuring the rights of an injured party, former Belgrade police chief V M, between May 12 and June 3 during proceedings in the case of the aggravated murder of a man identified as A N at the restaurant "27" through abuse of office, exceeding their authority and failure to perform official duties.

Kricak is also suspected of physically abusing and torturing a man identified as N L in the offices of the Criminal Police Directorate on May 16 alongside other, as-yet-unidentified police officers.

In a criminal complaint, Kricak has been accused of the criminal offence of abuse of office and the criminal offence of abuse and torture, while Sekulovic has been accused of office abuse.