Serbian police arrested Smederevo Mayor Jasmina Vojinović and two other local officials on November 12 in an investigation into suspected illegal dumping on city-owned land near the village of Radinac.
The Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Smederevo ordered the arrests. Police also detained Ivana Mitrović Stamenković, the head of the city administration, and Miroslav Ilić, director of the municipal utility Zelenilo i groblja.
Authorities suspect all three of failing to take required environmental protection measures. Police said Ilić is also suspected of unlawfully building and operating a facility that pollutes the environment. Prosecutors ordered police to hold the three for up to 48 hours before bringing them in for questioning.
Residents’ Complaints Led to a November Inspection
The investigation focuses on what happened after Smederevo’s municipal landfill closed in late September. Prosecutors suspect the officials chose another site near the city and that municipal waste was deposited there without the required permits. The site is in the Jelen Do area near Radinac.
Residents had circulated a petition and submitted it to the city administration. They asked whether Jelen Do had become the city’s new landfill and whether authorities had issued permits for waste disposal there.
Police said several residents’ complaints prompted an inspection on November 2. Officers visited the site with the prosecutor overseeing the case and inspectors from both national and city authorities. Police said the land where they found the dump belonged to the city.
Police Say the Utility Lacked Waste Disposal Permits
Police said further checks found that Zelenilo i groblja had neither a permit to dispose of municipal waste at the site nor the other documents required to use it as a landfill. The checks also found that the city administration lacked a local waste management plan and documentation for building a sanitary landfill.
The investigation involves officials from both the city administration and the public utility. Mitrović Stamenković heads the administration whose waste management records police examined, while Ilić runs the utility whose disposal permits came under scrutiny.
Vojinović is a member of the Serbian Progressive Party and previously led its local branch in Smederevo. Before becoming mayor, she served on the city council and worked as an adviser to the mayor. She also coordinated cooperation with groups of councillors in the city assembly.
Police said the three would appear before the prosecutor after the initial detention period. The case remains under investigation, and all three are presumed innocent.
