The former director of the Institute responsible for the protection of Serbian monuments is accused of having downgraded a protected site to promote the hotel project in Belgrade.
The trial makes a lot of noise in Belgrade? An official of the protection of cultural heritage in Serbia acknowledged having falsified a document on a site coveted by the son -in -law of Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, to make it a hotel. Justice must decide Thursday, May 15, on the detention of this official. The case relates to the former headquarters of the Yugoslavian staff in the heart of Belgrade, bombed several times in 1999 during the NATO air campaign, led by the United States and launched to end the war in Kosovo. The two buildings, partly ventilated and remained as it is, were classified in 2005 “Cultural good” protégé.
In November, the Serbian authorities decided to withdraw the site from the protected monuments list, opening the way to Jared Kushner and his luxury hotel and apartments, which aroused indignation and demonstrations because the bombing remains a still lively trauma in Serbia and the resentment against NATO is still strong. Meanwhile, a preliminary investigation was carried out by the prosecutor’s office for organized crime, he wrote in a statement.
The interim director suspected “abuse”
Suspicions went to the interim director of the Institute responsible for the protection of monuments, where searches took place on Monday May 12. Goran Vastic is suspected of“Official position abuse” and to have produced a « faux » By proposing that the site loses its cultural property status. The official then sent “The falsified proposal, made without the participation of conservation experts from the Institute”in government, by “The intermediary of the Ministry of Culture”added the press release. However, it is on the basis of this document that the government made the decision to withdraw the “Cultural good status” to these buildings. The civil servant thus has “Corus damage to the cultural heritage of the Republic of Serbia that he (…) had to preserve” indicates the prosecutor.
The two buildings were, from the time of their construction in 1965, a brutalist tribute to the Canyon of the Sutjeska river, where the supporters had won a decisive battle against the German forces in 1943. Contacted by AFP, the company of Mr. Kushner, Affinity Partners, did not comment immediately. The New York Times evokes in its columns a “Embarless complication” and quotes Affinity Partners who says that she “Will examine this case and determine (a) the next steps”.