Former Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has pardoned Marko Pavlović, who was charged with attempting to murder a female student who was hit by a car during a protest blockade in Belgrade. The decision terminates the criminal proceedings against him, the injured student’s lawyer, Milena Radović, said.
The incident occurred on January 16, 2025, on Ruzveltova Street, while participants in the action were paying tribute with a commemorative silence to those killed in the collapse of the railway station canopy in Novi Sad. According to the indictment, the car drove into the group, and the student was seriously injured.
The sentencing had been scheduled for November 6
The Higher Court in Belgrade had scheduled the verdict in the case to be handed down on November 6. Following the pardon, however, no verdict will be issued and the proceedings are to be terminated.
“I am going on Friday; the announcement of the verdict has been scheduled for me. It is clear that following the pardon there will be no verdict, but the termination of the proceedings,” Radović told N1. She said she would ask the presiding judge to inform those present of the decision.
According to the lawyer, for now she has only an email from the Ministry of Justice to the court. Radović said it must be clarified who initiated the procedure, what reasons were cited and whether the Pardons Commission had met.
The decision is part of pardons granted to 49 people
Pavlović’s pardon is part of a package covering 49 people, signed by Vučić on September 27, 2026, on the last day of his term in office. The decisions were sent to the courts on November 2, and the names of those pardoned began to be published at the beginning of the month.
The injured student’s father told Radio “Free Europe” that he did not accept the decision. “One person cannot tell someone ‘you are free’ if that person nearly killed my child,” he said. In his words, the pardon is “spitting on the judiciary, the judicial system and society.”
The student movement described the pardon as unacceptable and a dangerous precedent. The organization said that a pardon is an exceptional legal instrument that should not be used as a political tool.
Sources: n1info.rs, slobodnaevropa.org, danas.rs