03. 03. 2014

"BRANKICA HAS TO BE PROTECTED FURTHER"

Belgrade, 03.03.2014 (B92, HRT) - There remains a need for police protection of the author of "The Insider" Brankica Stankovic, said Rodoljub Milovic, head of criminal police.

"We always perform a new security assessment after a certain time we. I hope that there will come a time when we will no longer have to provide security for her. For now, she still needs to be provided with police security," said Milovic in the program "Sundays at Two" on the Croatian Radio Television (HRT) in which Brankica Stankovic participated.

Milovic talked about what it was like when he told Brankica Stankovic that her life was in danger and that they will get police protection.

"All the information that we received showed that the life of Brankica Stankovic was threatened and that was the reason to start an initiative to grant her police protection. For me it was one, so to speak, ugly encounter. We presented unambiguous information and evidence. She accepted it, but not easily, "said Rodoljub Milovic.

"COURTING VUCIC, THE SAME AS COURTING TADIC"

"The media are now courting Aleksandar Vucic, the same as they used to court Boris Tadic," said the author of "The Insider" Brankica Stankovic for the show "Sundays at Two" on HRT. 

"There is no criticism in the media and I think this is due to self-censorship. I do not think that Vucic is calling editorial offices - it is the work of the editors. There must be government oversight by the media," said Brankica Stankovic.

Asked by the program's author Aleksandar Stankovic what she thinks about Vucic as a politician who has recognized Kosovo, she said she was interested in whether Vucic would agree on the Kosovo issue if Tadic has made the same decisions.

"I do not remember that Vucic somewhere said that he recognized Kosovo. Of course, the political climate has changed. "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia" is a lie and no one wants to say that it was lost already in 1999. It is very important to name things by right names, even if it is done by Vucic," said Brankica Stankovic.

Although she has been living with police protection for the past five years Brankica Stankovic remains optimistic, as she says-

"I believe that something will change. I think that Serbia will not be a normal country until people can do their jobs normally without having to worry about their security. If the state demonstrates its strength, and we know how this is done, then the state will do away with crime. I believe that something will change and that I will be able to live without security," said the author of "The Insider."

Brankica Stankovic said that she does not understand when someone living in Serbia says that he or she does not care about politics. 

Speaking about the moment when she found out that a sniper rifle was purchased that was supposed to kill her, Brankica Stankovic said that in addition to fear, she felt powerless.

"At that moment I thought that I would like to meet (criminal figure) Luka Bojovic and ask him what his problem is. Although 700,000 Euros for my execution is mentioned, I have no information that he paid it, but that he bought the sniper rifle. I have never found the information about who had ordered it (the execution)," said Brankica Stankovic.