Government Commission rejects Veljović's wife's appeal

The Government's Appeals Commission has rejected the appeal of police officer Tamara Veljović, filed against the decision by which she was recently suspended again for serious breach of official duty, Vijesti has learned.

According to the same information, the wife of the former director of the Police Directorate, Veselin Veljović, filed the appeal through her attorney, lawyer Mihailo Volkov, who appealed to the Government Commission against the decision of the Minister of Interior Danilo Šaranović to suspend her from work at the Ministry of Interior, i.e. the Police Directorate.

On April 28, Šaranović issued a decision to temporarily suspend the employee of the Department for Support to Police Organizational Units, Improvement of Police Work and Analytics, because disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against her for serious breach of official duty under Article 173, paragraph 1, item 28 of the Law on Internal Affairs - the existence of security obstacles to further work.

According to unofficial information from Vijesti, she stated in her appeal that the decision was made arbitrarily, that the reasons given were blanket, and that her right to defense was violated, and that "to this day she does not know 'what is in dispute' regarding her."

Vijesti unofficially learned that the Commission assessed that Veljović's allegations "that she does not know what is in dispute regarding her" have no impact on a different decision in the matter, because she will be allowed to actively participate in the disciplinary proceedings initiated against her.

"In the opinion of the Appeals Commission, the decisive factor is whether the needs of the first-instance body required the temporary suspension of the appellant as a preventive measure motivated by the need to protect the interests of the employer. The first-instance body stated in the appealed Decision that a police officer must be a person of the highest degree of honor and integrity, and the question arises as to how a person who has been found to have security impediments to further work in the police can perform his police duties conscientiously and in accordance with the law. The presence of a person who has been found to have security impediments to further work would have a demotivating effect on other employees and would call into question the legality of the work of the body itself. The Commission assessed that these reasons are sufficient and justified for the application of Article 176, paragraph 2 of the Law on Internal Affairs - 'A police officer may be temporarily suspended from work even when criminal proceedings have been initiated against him for a criminal offense prosecuted ex officio or disciplinary proceedings for a serious breach of official duty, if his presence at work would harm the interest, or reputation, of the Ministry and Police or obstructed the course of disciplinary proceedings.' The Appeals Commission, after reviewing the documentation that arose from the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the named person, which was classified or marked with a degree of secrecy, ultimately assessed that the appeal decision was made in a legally conducted procedure and with the proper application of substantive law, and that the actions of the first-instance body did not violate the rights to the detriment of the appellant," said Vijesti's interlocutor.

Tamara Veljović was repeatedly assigned to various positions in the security sector, and in early 2025 she was suspended due to disciplinary proceedings. After the Commission recently overturned that decision, she was suspended again at the end of April.

She got her job on December 14, 2010, and the decision on her employment was signed by her husband, Police Director Veselin Veljović.

After a year, she was assigned to the National Central Bureau of Interpol as an independent police commissioner-analyst for a period of six months. Her first work assignment was terminated on February 28, 2012, when the employment relationship was terminated by mutual consent.

Re-employment followed on December 5, 2013, when Veljović was hired for an indefinite period as a junior police inspector in the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ), following a public competition and a decision signed by the then director, Slavko Stojanović.