Serbia: Judge Charged With Accepting Bribes

Published: 19 June 2015

Supreme Court of Cassation in Serbia

By Igor Spaic

Serbian authorities this week arrested a judge on charges of accepting bribes.

According to Minister of the Interior Nebojsa Stefanovic, the judge at the High Court in Belgrade, Branislav Blazic, demanded bribes from two people who wanted him to order an appeal of a verdict they didn't like at the Supreme Court of Cassation.

Zoran Matic and his son, Djordje, own three hotels in Belgrade. They allegedly bribed Blazic so he would order an appeal of a verdict against Djordje Matic. Matic was sentenced to two years in prison by a court in Novi Sad for abuse of  power in 2006.

All three suspects were arrested on Wednesday, Blazic in his apartment, and the Matics on the Horgos border crossing while trying to escape into Hungary. The case had been under investigation, and the police operation was initiated when authorities learned that the Matics were trying to leave Serbia.

All three men were ordered into investigative detention for 30 days.