The custody of Vesić was terminated

The detention of Goran Vesić, the former Minister of Construction in the Government of Serbia, was terminated, the High Court in Novi Sad announced.

He was arrested last week in connection with the fall of the canopy of the Railway Station in Novi Sad, when 15 people died and two were seriously injured. After the hearing, he was remanded in custody for up to 30 days, and yesterday he was admitted to the hospital due to his hunger strike.

"The extra-trial panel of the High Court in Novi Sad, ruling on the appeals of VJT and the suspect's lawyer, terminated the custody of the suspect Goran Vesić, finding that from the order on the investigation, as well as from the evidence submitted by the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad in the case files, for now there is no reasoned suspicion that he committed a serious crime against general security from art. 288 st. 2 of the CC in connection with the criminal offense of causing general danger from Art. 278 st. 3 in connection with para. 2 of the CC, which is a necessary condition for any person to be detained. The investigation is initiated against a person for whom there are grounds to suspect that he has committed a criminal offense, that is, a set of facts that indirectly indicate that a criminal offense has been committed or that a specific person is the perpetrator of a criminal offense. However, detention can only be ordered against a person for whom there is reasonable suspicion that he has committed a criminal offense, which is a set of facts that directly indicate that a certain person is the perpetrator of a criminal offense. Therefore, in order for a person to be detained, it is necessary that there is a higher level of suspicion than the level of suspicion that is sufficient to initiate an investigation. Bearing in mind that the public prosecutor for his claims stated in the order to conduct the investigation has not yet submitted evidence that indicates the existence of reasonable suspicion, the majority is of the opinion that at this moment there is no reasonable suspicion of the existence of a cause-and-effect relationship between the actions described by the prosecutor the actions and omissions of the suspect Goran Vesić, with the resulting consequences," the announcement reads.

"Since, when deciding on custody, the court is obliged to determine in the first place whether there is a well-founded suspicion that the person for whom custody is proposed has committed a criminal offense, which in the specific case does not appear for now, the panel assessed that the appeals are irrelevant states the VJT in the direction of influence on witnesses and other fears prescribed in article 211 paragraph 1 in points 1 to 4 of the CPC, so it terminated the custody of the suspect Goran Vesić and ordered his immediate release. "The termination of detention does not affect the further investigation," it added.