Prison terms for polluters in Serbia

NEWS 02.05.201812:56
N1

The District Court in Belgrade’s Obrenovac municipality sentenced two people for the illegal storage of hazardous waste, Serbian Environmental Protection Minister Goran Trivan said on Wednesday.

The court sentenced one person to four years in prison and a fine of 600,000 Dinars (5,000 Euro) and another to 18 months in prison and a fine of 150,000 Dinars (1,200 Euro).  

Trivan said these are the first sentences handed down for the illegal storing of hazardous waste in Obrenovac showed that Serbia is tackling environmental crimes seriously. “Serbia is starting to seriously respond to crimes against the environment,” the minister said.  

Serbian security and local communal services found 25 tons of hazardous waste buried in barrels in the village of Vukicevic outside Obrenovac in December 2017 and February 2018. The operations brought together the Security Intelligence Service (BIA), the police and the local authorities.