The Defence Ministry has received a warning about the minister's order allowing the seizure of mobile phones

Serbia’s official in charge of protecting personal and public information warned Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin that access to telephone communication data is illegal without a court order.  

Rodoljub Šabić, the Serbian Commissioner in charge of protecting personal and public information, issued the warning saying that the Defence Ministry is illegally processing data collected from mobile phones seized temporarily without a court order. Defence Ministry staff and military personnel have been ordered to sign a document which allows their phones to be seized and inspected if they take them into areas where mobile phones are banned.  

The Commissioner’s office launched an investigation following a report from the Serbian Military Union which said that Minister Vulin ordered all ministry and military personnel to sign the document.  

The Defence Ministry reacted saying it was “unpleasantly surprised” that Commissioner Sabic went public while the proceedings that he initiated were still underway adding that “this is undoubtedly a political view”.  

The Ministry rejects as untrue the claims made on N1 TV that it did not respond to the Commissioner’s demand for information since the Military Security Agency did reply, it said.