Serb minister among officials on trial over Kushner-linked real estate project in Belgrade

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic and three other officials went on trial on Wednesday on charges of abuse of office and falsifying documents in connection with a real estate project that was to be financed by a company of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

Kushner has since withdrawn from the planned multi-million investment that envisaged building a high-rise hotel, a luxury apartment complex, office spaces and shops to replace a sprawling bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade.

The plan was backed by the government of Serbia’s autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic who had said it would help improve ties with the U.S. But the Serbian public and international heritage groups opposed the idea to turn the protected cultural heritage zone into a commercial compound.

Built by prominent 20th century Yugoslav architect Nikola Dobrović, the building was damaged in the 1999 U.S.-led NATO bombing of Serbia over Kosovo. Many Serbs are still angry over the air war, launched to stop Belgrade’s crackdown against separatist ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

The building is considered a masterpiece of modernist architecture, and heritage groups have called for it to be preserved and revitalized.

Selakovic, who is a close ally of Vucic, and three other officials are accused of illegally lifting the protection status in 2024 for the site by forging documentation.

Also on trial is Slavica Jelaca, a culture ministry secretary, Goran Vasic, the acting head of the Serbian institute for the protection of cultural monuments, and Aleksandar Ivanovic, the acting manager of the cultural institute in Belgrade.

If convicted they could face up to three years in prison. They all pleaded not guilty as the trial opened.

Selakovic’s lawyer, Vladimir Djukanovic, said the indictment made no sense because there has been no evidence of personal gain either for Selakovic or any of the other accused.

“The only damage was done to the Republic of Serbia because a lucrative arrangement, something that could have improved our relationship with the United States, was destroyed,” Djukanovic told reporters.

Dozens of anti-government protesters chanting “thieves!” gathered outside the organized crime court building on Wednesday as the defendants arrived.

Student protester Dimitrije Radojevic described the proceedings as “a test for all of us” and “for the future of Serbia as a functional democratic country in which the rule of law is a fundamental and unshakable pillar of social order.”

The trial was adjourned to April 15.

The hearing comes days after the Serbian parliament passed a set of legal changes seen as an attempt to curb the independence of Serbia’s judiciary, particularly of the organized crime prosecutors who have been handling high-profile cases.

Marta Kos, the European Union’s enlargement commissioner, urged Serbia to retract the amendments, describing them as “a serious step back on Serbia’s EU path.”

Prosecutors on Wednesday held a 10-minute silent protest outside their offices against the changes.

Vucic, who has faced a campaign of national protests over a fatal train station disaster in November 2024, has launched a crackdown on protesters and moved to strengthen control over the police and other state institutions to tighten his grip on power. Many in Serbia blamed the collapse of a concrete canopy at the train station in the northern city of Novi Sad on poor renovation work due to corruption. Sixteen people died in the crash, triggering massive demonstrations.

Almost daily youth-led protests have shaken Vucic’s tough rule in the Balkan country for the first time since his right-wing populist party came to power over a decade ago.

Vucic has promised to take Serbia into the EU, but he has forged close ties with Russia and China while clamping down on democratic freedoms. He has labeled organized crime prosecutors as a “corrupt gang” and “criminals.”