Serbia’s Justice Ministry Publishes the 49 Names Pardoned by Vučić

Serbia’s Ministry of Justice on Tuesday afternoon, 3 November, published the full list of 49 people pardoned by former president Aleksandar Vučić, more than five weeks after he announced the decisions on 27 September, shortly before he left office. The release followed a day in which higher courts in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš disclosed the names of those whose cases they handle.

Who is on the pardon list

The best-known name is Dijana Hrkalović, a former state secretary in the Interior Ministry, who was being retried for trading in influence. A Belgrade court had sentenced her to 16 months in prison, but the Appellate Court annulled that verdict in December 2025 and a new trial began in March 2026. According to Radio Free Europe, she was charged in three cases with pressuring subordinates to act against their official duties.

The list also includes Marko Pavlović, accused of attempted aggravated murder for driving into student Sonja Ponjavić on Ruzveltova Street in Belgrade in January 2025, during a silent commemoration for the Novi Sad canopy victims. His verdict had been scheduled for 6 November. Miodrag Selaković, who drove through a blockade at the Law Faculty and knocked down pensioner Veroljub Sarić, is also on it, as are several men tried over attacks on protesters and activists.

Others include former Niš Higher Court president Dragana Živadinović, accused of abuse of office; former Niš City Assembly president Igor Novaković; and Tomo Stojić, head of security at the Milan Blagojević – Namenska factory in Lučani when two workers died in 2017. The list also covers twelve members of the so-called Novi Sad group charged with plotting against the constitutional order, among them activists of the opposition Movement of Free Citizens and the student group STAV, who have said they do not accept the pardon.

The ministry’s defence and the prosecutors’ request

The ministry said it could publish the names only after formally delivering the decisions to the courts. It described pardon as an explicit constitutional power of the president under Article 112 of the Constitution, and argued that its use does not in itself interfere with the judiciary or amount to abuse of office.

The Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime (TOK) had already asked the ministry on 30 October for all documentation, including correspondence with Vučić’s cabinet and the opinions of courts and prosecutors on each case. Vučić said in September that the decisions were his personal choice, made despite the opinions of various state services.

Reactions

Lawyer Viktor Gostiljac told Insajder that the criteria behind the pardons remain unknown, while criminologist Aleksandar Stevanović urged prosecutors to examine how they were granted. Milica Radović, the lawyer for Sonja Ponjavić, said the student’s family received the news with disbelief. Vučić has not commented publicly on the published list.