A trial against one minister and three high-ranking officials began in Serbia over charges of abuse of office and the forging of official documents as part of a real estate scheme to build a luxury complex in Belgrade, financed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The planned complex included a high-rise hotel, luxury apartment complex, office spaces and shops. To make way for this multi-million investment, real estate investors eyed a military complex in central Belgrade. The massive building is considered one of the city’s modernist masterpieces, built during the Yugoslav period by architect Nikola Dobrovic. It was bombed in 1999 by the US-led NATO coalition that sought to stop Serbia from attacking Kosovo.
Local public opinion and heritage groups, both in Serbia and abroad, called for the revitalisation of the complex while preserving its structure. However, the investment was supported by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, even after Kushner and his group withdrew from it.
The trial involves Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic and three officials. Selakovic is considered a close ally of Vucic, who has dominated Serbian politics and has been accused by critics of ruling in an increasingly authoritarian way. The accused risk up to three years in prison. They are accused of illegally lifting the building’s protected status in 2024 by using a forged document.
The trial’s opening was marred by anti-government protesters who chanted outside the organised crime court where it is taking place. The protest is part of a broader call against the Serbian government that has been ongoing almost without end since November 2024, when a train station disaster sparked widespread protests against corruption in the country.
More recently, protests started after the government passed a controversial reform of the judiciary system, a law that the EU also rebuked. The Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos called it “a serious step back on Serbia’s EU path.”
