RAZOTKRIVANJE Mreža parapolicijskih organizacija: Pravoslavni templari i veze sa SNS-om

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Orthodox Knights Templar, wanted persons, SNS MPs and the defense of the "Jovanjica" affair - this is the story by Serbian BIRN, in which they reveal a parallel world within the civil security sector, a network of "expert" police organizations connected to the ruling party in Serbia.

They advocate for "family values", oppose equal rights for the LGBT population, demand harsher penalties for drug dealers, and the death penalty for pedophiles. They are Serbian nationalists who advocate for an economic and military alliance of Orthodox countries, while at the same time defending all of Christianity, not shying away from cooperation with Catholic comrades in defending Europe from the "influx of migrants". The latter is not surprising, as they call themselves the Orthodox Military Order of Knights Templar, after the Catholic monastic military order from the 12th century.

"The Templars were protectors of Christianity. I liked that story, and I joined it as soon as the opportunity arose," says Dušan Ivković, one of the members of this organization founded in 2019, for BIRN.

The founder and "first man of the Order" was Stevan Đokić, a former private detective, a frequent guest on Pink and Hepi television, who suddenly passed away in October this year from complications of coronavirus. An obituary was published in the daily newspaper "Politika" with the text: "Last farewell to friend and comrade, Stevo Đokić". Signed: "Aleksandar Vučić".

"They knew each other from way back. Stevan was a great security expert, and it's normal for many people to know such a person," says Ivković, explaining the relationship between Đokić and the President of Serbia.

The two long-time comrades, Ivković and Đokić, were not (and are not) only "Orthodox Templars", but also high-ranking officials of the Center for Security and Investigations DBA, a non-governmental organization in the security sector that became known to the wider public for its proposal of "civil patrols".

Đokić was the founder and president, while Ivković was the president of the Executive Board.

However, BIRN's research shows that DBA is a pioneering, but only one in a network of interconnected organizations in the civil security sector, connected to the Serbian Progressive Party, and which have been increasing in number in recent years. The organizations mapped by BIRN are named to evoke influential supranational institutions (International Police Organization, IPO, World Police Anti-Terrorist Organization, CTO, European Police Organization, EPO, Global Police Association, GPA), while the badges they emphasize resemble those used by police and security agencies.

DBA advertises the law firm of influential SNS member Vladimir Đukanović on its website, considers "Jovanjica" a fabricated affair, and criticizes the Serbian opposition. The president of the International Police Organization, IPO, is SNS MP Ilija Životić, while the head of the European Police Organization, EPO, is SNS councilor in the Zvezdara municipality, Vuk Mentović.

These organizations aspire to represent the police community; however, a member of most of them is also Nemanja Ristić, an extreme right-winger with a criminal past, who is still on Interpol's wanted list for his involvement in the attempted "coup d'état" in Montenegro in 2016.

Experts believe that these organizations represent a simulation of civil society in the security sector, and serve the authorities as a semblance of constructive opposition. At the same time, they are places for recruiting young people eager to belong to a "brotherhood", captivated by badges and nationalist ideas.

"They are definitely dangerous and were formed intentionally. It is clear that they were created from a single center. The fact that their badges resemble those of official security institutions, whether the BIA or the police, is tolerated by the state. They have created this parallel world of civil society and parapolice organizations – and they operate in both fields," Predrag Petrović, program director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, tells BIRN.

Templars: "influx of migrants" and "Ukrainian Chetniks"

The Orthodox Military Order of Knights Templar is registered at the same address as the Center for Security and Investigations DBA, and both were founded by Stevan Đokić. The organization advocates for the return of mandatory military service and the defense of Serbian holy sites in Kosovo, as well as in neighboring Montenegro and North Macedonia. They have particular animosity towards refugees, stating in a Facebook post that an "influx of migrants" is underway, emphasizing that "Orthodox and Muslims cannot be together".

Such views are not surprising, as, according to their own statements, some of its members are also among the People's Patrols, an extreme right-wing organization known for numerous anti-migrant actions.

Among the posts on the organization's Facebook page is a photo of the so-called "Chetnik Movement", a group of Serbian volunteers who fought for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Although the Orthodox Templars call themselves a "military order" and emphasize military hierarchy, its member Dušan Ivković denies they are armed.

"We do not possess weapons, far from it. The Templars were also soldiers, the name is mostly for that reason," he explains to BIRN.

When asked about the anti-migrant and anti-Islamic content on the group's Facebook page, as well as its ties to the People's Patrols, Ivković responded conciliatorily: "I think everyone deserves the right to live together. I haven't thought about it that way. I really can't answer those questions directly on behalf of the 'Templars' because Stevan's death has greatly hindered us. He was the key person."

One of the Orthodox Templars is 48-year-old Nemanja Ristić, who was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison in Montenegro in 2020 for his alleged involvement, according to the Montenegrin government, in the attempted coup d'état in 2016. The verdict for the entire case was overturned this year and sent back for retrial. Ristić is still on Interpol's wanted list, and Serbia has failed to extradite him to Montenegro all these years.

This former member of the right-wing movement Zavetnici is known for his legal troubles. In 2015, the Higher Court in Belgrade imposed a mandatory psychiatric treatment on Ristić for threatening Veran Matić, former director and editor of B92 television, as well as former US Ambassador Michael Kirby and public prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac.

"As soon as martial law is declared, and that will be soon, you will be arrested and sentenced to the harshest penalty provided by law, which means you will be shot by the Serbian Army on the order of the state leadership," Ristić wrote in an email to Matić.

Anthropologist Ivan Đorđević, analyzing the Orthodox Templar movement, says it is a very interesting global trend, emphasizing that Serbian nationalism has become internationalized and is no longer shy of Western influences.

"Through such a defined "Templar" order, several birds are killed with one stone: there is mystical pastoralism (a secret order known for inspiring various conspiracy theories), military hierarchy (for lovers of "firm discipline"), but also the inevitable topos of Christianity, family, and patriotic spirit. In addition, let's add populist ingredients that are part of the European mainstream (migrants, pedophiles, drug addicts...) and you have the perfect organization that thinks globally and acts locally," explains Đorđević.

(Non)Governmental Parapolice Organizations

Six organizations – Orthodox Templars, DBA, IPO, EPO, CTO, GPA – have common members, as well as coordinated actions: from humanitarian activities, educational forums, to mutually signed cooperation agreements. Besides the Templars, Nemanja Ristić is also a member of DBA, the World Police Anti-Terrorist Organization, CTO, and the International Police Organization, IPO.

Representatives of these parapolice organizations are frequent guests on pro-government television channels, where they speak as experts on crime, dangers from sects, drug addiction, and even domestic violence.

DBA, as an association founded in 2015, initiated a whole wave, according to members of these organizations for BIRN. With a membership card and a badge that resembles those of the Serbian police, DBA is engaged, as stated on its website, in "the development and improvement of security, investigation, and defense", primarily in the private sector, but "also through cooperation with state institutions".

The DBA website features advertisements for self-defense courses, "covert surveillance", warnings about the dangers of "sects" and drug addiction, and the organization also engages in humanitarian activities.

DBA came into the public eye after proposing the establishment of "civil patrols" in 2019, i.e., groups of citizens who would allegedly assist the Ministry of Internal Affairs in its regular activities, cooperation with school police officers, or traffic regulation in schools. The idea was met with criticism from experts who pointed out that the establishment of such patrols is a worrying extra-institutional decentralization of citizen security. The fact that Nemanja Ristić, as well as Miša Vacić, the current leader of the Serbian Right and former spokesperson for the Movement 1389, who has previously been convicted of discrimination against the LGBT population and illegal possession of weapons, supported the proposal caused particular concern.

DBA has clear ties to the ruling SNS. The organization advertises on its website the law firm of Vladimir Đukanović, a Member of Parliament and member of the SNS Main Board. Đukanović is also a member of the High Judicial Council and the State Prosecutorial Council. An influential SNS member is also one of the legal representatives of Predrag Koluvija, the first defendant in the "Jovanjica" case, whom the prosecution suspects of organizing a criminal group that produced at least 1.6 tons of illegal marijuana, with the support of police and security service members.

DBA defends Koluvija on its website, stating that Jovanjica is a "set-up affair", all with the aim of "attacking the President of Serbia and his family". After Koluvija was released from custody, DBA President Stevan Đokić wrote on his Facebook profile: "Thank God... finally good news".

Dušan Ivković, President of the DBA Executive Board, claims that MP Đukanović is not a formal member of the organization, but merely a friend of the deceased Đokić and a business partner, which is why his law firm is advertised. He did not want to elaborate on the support from the authorities and DBA's stance on the "Jovanjica" case: "Everyone has the right to their opinion. We are primarily for the truth, and we deal with security."

Vladimir Đukanović did not respond to BIRN's calls. His law firm stated that he does not wish to give media statements.

Nikola Sotirovski, husband of Dragana Sotirovski, Mayor of Niš and member of the SNS Main Board, is also a member of DBA. Sotirovski is also a member of the International Police Organization, IPO. Although he did not previously work in the security sector, he recently received a certificate as a security expert and "high officer" in this organization founded in 2018 by Ilija Životić, a former member of SPAS, and now an SNS MP in the national parliament.

IPO is the most internationally connected organization. Its international headquarters are in Milan, and on its website, they state that they have branches in 25 European and 10 African countries.

Ilija Životić, the head of the organization and a frequent guest on pro-government media, does not list any police work in his biography, but emphasizes that he graduated from the Higher School of Internal Affairs of Serbia in Zemun, which included military-police training at the Ministry of Internal Affairs camp in Mitrovo Polje. He highlights that in 2017, he completed master's studies in "Terrorism, Organized Crime, and Security" at the University of Belgrade's rectorate and published "numerous scientific papers in renowned professional journals".

Since 2020, IPO has also been a member of the UN Committee on Drug Control. In the same year, Životić delivered a speech on behalf of the organization at a UN conference in Vienna on combating transnational organized crime. The SNS MP spoke about the war between the Škaljari and Kavač clans, Montenegrin drug gangs, whose conflict had claimed dozens of lives in previous years. Part of the Kavač clan was also the criminal group of Veljko Belivuk, known for numerous ties to the ruling elite in Serbia, including the Secretary-General of the Government, Novak Nedić, as well as former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Dijana Hrkalović.

IPO openly and uncritically supports the state order. After the commander of the Savski Venac police station, Aleksandar Krstić, was criticized for violent behavior towards demonstrators during protests in Belgrade on November 27 this year, IPO posted a message of support for Krstić on its Facebook page.

Six days later, on December 3, they also published an invitation to attend the course "Prevention of Violent Overthrow of the State System", with the message to readers: "In accordance with the current situation".

IPO President Ilija Životić is also a member of the parliamentary Committee for the Control of Security Services. He did not respond to numerous calls and messages from BIRN regarding this story, nor to the email address listed on the organization's official website.

IPO and DBA cooperate closely. On March 30, 2021, Dušan Ivković attended the founding meeting of the Parliamentary Network for Digital Security in the Serbian Parliament as a joint representative of the two organizations. When asked who invited them, Ivković replies that he is not entirely sure.

"We are not participating in the network's work, we were just invited to the founding. Stevan (Đokić) told me, but I don't know exactly who invited us," the President of the DBA Executive Board justifies himself.

"If the state says so, then it is so"

In addition to DBA and IPO, which are more known to the public, the World Police Anti-Terrorist Organization, CTO, the European Police Organization, EPO, and the Global Police Association, GPA, have been formed in the last three years.

The founder of CTO is 25-year-old Dragan Pantić. In a conversation with BIRN, he admits that he has never worked in the police, but claims that he has been self-educating in the field of security since he was 14 years old.

"I haven't worked in the police, we've done some things for the Ministry of Internal Affairs unofficially, but we have many such friends. I have also attended several security training courses. I have certificates for covert surveillance, for juvenile delinquency, for drug addiction, forensics, and the like," Pantić tells BIRN.

He points out that his organization has about 300 members, mostly in Serbia, but also elsewhere in the Balkans and Western Europe. Pantić states that he is also one of the founders of DBA, and that the idea to establish a new organization that will work at the "European level" originated from that organization.

"And it is called the 'World Police Anti-Terrorist Organization' because we have members at the international level," he says.

Last year, CTO donated about 1500 masks to the Belgrade police and fire department. Pantić emphasizes that his organization only cooperates unofficially with the Ministry of Internal Affairs due to personal connections, but nothing "on paper".

"In Serbia, we are connected with people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and some of our members are from the police, or the BIA. We have many people from that world," he emphasized.

Pantić sees no problem with a person with a criminal background like Nemanja Ristić being a member of an organization that presents itself as a police association. "He is a member everywhere. You can also join us, we have no right to ask if someone has been detained or convicted... Even though he is on the wanted list, no one arrests him."

In August last year, CTO signed a cooperation agreement with another friendly organization from this group – the European Police Organization, EPO. This association was founded in 2019 by 28-year-old Vuk Mentović, an SNS councilor in the Zvezdara Municipal Assembly. Mentović's experience in the "security sector" is similar to Pantić's.

"We had the idea to call ourselves the European Police Organization because Serbia is geographically in Europe and we wanted to network and share our experiences with people from other countries," he points out to BIRN.

"Our goal is primarily to attract young people and guide them on the right path through seminars and educational courses, so they can understand the dangers of the 21st century, such as data theft on the internet, school violence, and generally everything related to youth and security," he explains.

When asked about the support from the ruling party, both Mentović and Pantić emphasize that it is primarily a matter of faith in the state.

"I support not the policy itself, but the state's positions shaped by people in positions of power. If the state says something is a certain way, then it is, it cannot be otherwise," says 25-year-old Pantić.

Predrag Petrović from BCBP warns that these parapolice organizations present themselves as protectors of the security profession and "do not care about democratic control and oversight".

"They advocate for strengthening security institutions, without realizing that strengthening institutions does not mean reducing control and oversight over them. This is indeed dangerous. Definitely, they have a tendency to recruit young people and draw them into their activities. In this way, they control those who might even become problematic for the authorities at some point," he states.

In September this year, DBA representatives also attended a Round Table on "What constitutes the criminal offense of human trafficking and how can we respond?", organized by the Center for Social Integration from Vranje. The event was part of a broader project "Security for People and Borders – Combating Migrant Smuggling in the Western Balkans", implemented by the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, Group 484, and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) with the financial support of the EU.

The bizarre fact is that prominent members of DBA formed the "Orthodox Templars", and they also have friendly relations with Levijatan, another extreme right-wing organization known for its attacks on refugees and migrants in Serbia.

Dušan Ivković, a member of DBA and the Orthodox Templars, says they attended the forum to "get to know the way of life" of migrants.

"We are interested in everything related to security, because to form an opinion about it, we must hear everything. If we made a mistake, then I know we made a mistake, and if we didn't, then I know why we didn't," explains Ivković.

After the Serbian Progressive Party came to power in 2012, the right-wing in Serbia shifted its focus from street-level to institutional struggle. Anthropologist Ivan Đorđevič believes this is a consequence of the transformation of the internal political scene and changes in global political trends. He states that parapolice organizations close to the authorities in Serbia have a "dual purpose".

"One is to keep SNS members and sympathizers who lean towards the old radical nationalist discourse within the party's fold, and the second reason is that this way a clearly structurally defined recruitment center for extreme right-wingers is established, whose activities must be under strict control," explains Đorđević.

"In this way, on the one hand, the pacification of potential anti-system elements is achieved, and on the other hand, some pseudo-paramilitary formations are created that can serve as a useful group for pressure or intimidation. Therefore, they are dangerous, all the more so because they are strictly controlled," concludes the research associate of the Ethnographic Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.