Serbian activists sue Wagner PMC for recruiting mercenaries for war in Ukraine

On Thursday, Serbian and pro-Ukrainian activists in Serbia filed criminal complaints against Russia's infamous Wagner Group, accusing it of recruiting Serbs to fight in Ukraine. Source: European Pravda citing Reuters. In addition to the names of Wagner PMC, Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko, the Russian ambassador to Serbia, and Aleksandar Vulin, Director of the Security Information Agency of Serbia, and former Minister of Internal Affairs, also appear in the lawsuit.

"We have reasonable suspicion that Vulin ... gave orders, directives and guidelines that the activities of the Wagner Group in Serbia should not be prevented," Cedomir Stojkovic, a Belgrade-based lawyer and one of the initiators of the lawsuit, has explained. 

Stojkovic added that Botsan-Kharchenko, who enjoys diplomatic immunity, could not be prosecuted in Serbia, but that he should be ordered to leave the country. Once a criminal complaint is filed, it is up to the state prosecutor to decide whether or not to proceed. Neither the Russian embassy to Belgrade, nor the Security Information Agency replied to requests for comment.

Serbian volunteers participated in hostilities on the side of pro-Russian forces in Ukraine in 2014 and 2015. Serbian law prohibits its citizens from participating in conflicts abroad, and several people have been convicted of doing so.

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Information about the participation of Serbs in the war in Ukraine on the side of Russia began to spread in social networks in mid-January.

At that time, Russian VKontakte social network posted photos of alleged Serbian militants who arrived in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Thereafter, Aleksandar Vucic, President of Serbia, said that Russia should stop trying to recruit Serbs to participate in hostilities on the side of the Wagner PMC in Ukraine.

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