Dragan Veselinov
Драган Веселинов
Veselinov in 2001
Minister of Agriculture
In office
25 January 2001 – 1 July 2003
Prime MinisterZoran Đinđić
Zoran Živković
Preceded byŽivanko Radovančev
Succeeded byStojan Jevtić
Personal details
Born (1950-05-03) 3 May 1950
Baranda, FPR Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian
Political partyPeople's Peasant Party
Alma materUniversity of Belgrade
OccupationEconomist, politician

Dragan Veselinov (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Веселинов, born 3 May 1950[1]) is a Serbian politician. As the president of the People's Peasant Party (founded in 1990), he was among few Serbians to go openly against the Serbian nationalist policies of Slobodan Milošević and his allies in the early 1990s.[2] He previously served as Minister of Agriculture in the Serbian government. He served under two prime ministers, Zoran Đinđić and Zoran Živković, from 2001 until 2003, before resigning under public pressure when his chauffeur-driven government-issued vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian on a sidewalk in Belgrade.

Car crash and ministerial resignation

On April 15, 2003, around 9:40 am, a government-issued Mitsubishi Pajero SUV with rotating lights turned on—driven by Stevan Bakalov with the Serbian Minister of Agriculture Veselinov and his bodyguard in the back seat—heading down Beogradska Street towards Slavija Square in downtown Belgrade struck a white Mercedes 190 taxi at the intersection with Njegoševa Street, then lost control and ended up on the sidewalk where three pedestrians were waiting to cross the street. The SUV struck the three pedestrians before slamming into a traffic pole and stopping. Thirty-two-year-old pedestrian Katarina Marić died instantly while another pedestrian, Srbislav Ćirić, was injured severely.[3]

Though the cabinet minister Veselinov did not show any intention of resigning initially, however, within two months—facing public pressure and mounting calls from within the government for him to do so—he announced his resignation on May 29, 2003.[4]

The court process started with the district public prosecutor's office issuing an indictment against Bakalov in late May 2004, more than a year after the event.[5] Eventually, on March 2, 2006, Veselinov's driver Bakalov received a five-year prison sentence for "causing the traffic accident".[6] The judicial council presided over by judge Branka Pejović found Bakalov guilty of driving at higher than allowed speed and running a red light. In May 2007, on appeal, the sentence was reduced to four years.[7] Bakalov served his sentence in the Zabela prison in Požarevac.[8]

On March 3, 2009—almost six years after the event and three years after the initial sentencing of Bakalov—as part of the legal process following a request by the victim Katarina Marić's family, Veselinov was questioned on suspicion that he had provided false testimony during the trial, supposedly lying about the car going through the Beogradska-Njegoševa intersection on a green light.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Dragan Veselinov | Otvoreni parlament". 2016-06-05. Archived from the original on 2016-06-05. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  2. ↑ Belgrade Journal; Double-Headed Eagle Cries to Serbs for Revenge, by Celestine Bohlen for The New York Times, September 12, 1990
  3. ↑ Zločin bez kazne, Kurir, April 14, 2004
  4. ↑ Veselinov podneo ostavku, B92, May 29, 2003
  5. ↑ Mihajlović štitio ubice moje kćerke, Glas javnosti, June 3, 2004
  6. ↑ Stevan Bakalov osuđen na pet godina zatvora, Glas javnosti, March 3, 2006
  7. ↑ Godišnjica pogibije Katarine Marić, B92, April 15, 2008
  8. ↑ Porodici poginule Katarine Marić odšteta od 5.000 evra, Vesti online, August 5, 2012
  9. ↑ Saslušan Dragan Veselinov, B92, March 4, 2009
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