The head of Serbia’s criminal police directorate has been arrested and charged with abuse of office, state media reported on Sunday. Marko Kricak is accused of suppressing and manipulating an investigation into the May murder of a suspected criminal underworld figure inside a Belgrade restaurant.
Background and Political Ties
The 42-year-old official was widely viewed as a supporter of defeated Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, whose right-wing populist faction lost to the opposition Student List during parliamentary elections on October 25. Student organizations have previously accused Kricak of police brutality during peaceful demonstrations directed against Vucic.
Removing Kricak alongside other loyalists within Serbia’s police and intelligence structures ranked among the primary demands set by student leaders. However, Belgrade chief prosecutor Nenad Stefanovic disputed any connection between the student movement’s demands and the police chief’s arrest during a statement to journalists, stating that the detention has no link to the legislative election results.
Career and Further Allegations
Despite the prosecutor’s remarks, the detention of a high-ranking law enforcement official linked to the former regime is being interpreted as a sign of the Vucic administration’s power structures gradually dismantling. Before joining Serbia’s domestic intelligence agency, the BIA, as a loyal member of Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party, Kricak worked as a car salesman.
He later became commander of the Serbian police personal protection unit in July 2023. In that role, investigators allege he personally directed the abduction of several university students, assaulted a female student, and threatened her with rape inside a Belgrade government building’s basement. Kricak transitioned to head the Serbian Criminal Police at the end of 2025.
