Manojlovic: Demolition of General Staff Building in Belgrade an Example of Corruption

General Staff Building in Belgrade (Photo: PrintScreen YouTube)

Get Going for Change movement leader Savo Manojlovic said on Nov. 22 that the decision to demolish the General Staff building in Belgrade was one of the biggest examples of corruption and violation of the law, adding that if the government did not withdraw the decision, the movement would partake in civil disobedience and fight for that complex.

He told a news conference outside the General Staff building that in no European country was there concluding of a contract with a foreign investor which directly stated "that one will violate the law of their own country and bulldoze experts by utilizing the political power one has."

The General Staff and Defense Ministry buildings in downtown Belgrade, destroyed in the 1999 NATO bombing, lost their cultural property status by a decision made by the Serbian government late last week.

"To remove protection from the General Staff building, there also has to be a draft act by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments. Here not only did that act by the Institute not occur, but rather two directors were dismissed for wanting to do their job. We have information that the Security Information Agency barged in and harassed the (Institute's) employees because they were protecting the Constitution of Serbia," said Manojlovic.

Get Going for Change demands that Prime Minister Milos Vucevic withdraw the decision on the demolition of the General Staff building and "respect the laws and citizens of Serbia."