Petar Panic, also known as “Pana,” is a one-eyed Serbian mobster with a rich criminal history and friends in the right places.

Panic once served as a bodyguard for Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, who was recently convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for crimes against humanity.

A new investigation by KRIK, a partner of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) shows the extent of Panic’s ties to Serbia’s powerful and controversial Minister of Health, Zlatibor Loncar.

Credit: Edin Pasovic, OCCRP

Angry over not being named director of a public company, a coalition partner of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic showed media this week a photo that fueled existing allegations that one of Vucic’s ministers was previously cooperating with organized crime figures.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic announced Monday plans to keep in place controversial Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar, despite reporting by an OCCRP partner showing dealings connecting him to organized crime.

Zlatibor Loncar (Photo: Dragana Peco)