The Minister of Justice, Vladan Batic, stated that...

The Minister of Justice, Vladan Batic, stated that Serbia would not be abolishing the death penalty in the near future even though such actions would hinder their accession to the Council of Europe. "Serbia has to move its legislations closer to that of the European Union, but Europe should take into account that in recent years there has been a surge in crime in Serbia and that in some cases repression is necessary", declared Batic. The statement was made in relevance to an upcoming revision of the Serbian penal code.