Ana Brnabic, Serbia’s prime minister, said in an interview that Mr. Vucic, far from being Mr. Belivuk’s partner, was his target. “Obviously, the mafia would not be so strong if it did not have support in the government,” she said. Vladimir Vuletic, a Belgrade law professor and former Partizan vice president who went public with accusations of government collusion with the arrested gang leader, has been savaged daily in tabloid newspapers supporting Mr. Vucic. Also smeared by the tabloids has been Krik, a highly respected group of investigative journalists that has reported for years on links between government officials and Mr. Belivuk’s gang. Stevan Dojcinovic, Krik’s editor in chief, said that organized crime in Serbia — and government officials — had long been tied to the “brutal force of nature” provided by soccer hooligans.

Source: New York Times March 20, 2021 09:00 UTC