Destruction of official records after the elections

Category: Elections, media and institutions

Period: from 26 Oct 2026

Outcome: Under investigation (as of 29 Oct 2026)

After the parliamentary elections of 25 October 2026, which the ruling list lost, posts and videos emerged of documents being shredded and carried out of state institutions, and the student movement says it received more than 1,500 reports in less than two days. Prosecutors had to issue urgent orders to the police to protect official records from destruction, and the police removed sacks of documents from the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund branches in Bor and Zaječar. Prosecutors in Belgrade and Bor have opened cases, while the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs deny the claims of destruction.

Urgent orders to prosecutors' offices

After the parliamentary elections of 25 October 2026, which the ruling list lost, posts and videos began circulating about documents being shredded and carried out of state institutions.

On 29 October, Supreme Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac ordered all chief prosecutors to urgently ask the police to prevent the destruction of official records in institutions, banks, the Security Information Agency (BIA) and the Military Intelligence Agency (VOA).

Police in institutions and reports

The First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade opened a case and ordered the police to carry out an on-site investigation. Acting on its order, the criminal police entered the Ministry of Construction and the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund on 30 October, and according to Insajder, removed black bags and boxes from the Fund.

The student movement says it received more than 1,500 reports of documents being destroyed in less than two days, while the State Archives points out that records may be destroyed only with its written approval. In Novi Sad, according to the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office, documents in several bags taken out of a state institution or local government body were secured after reports from citizens.

Shredding at PIO Fund headquarters

At the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIO Fund), the ASNS trade union claims that since the results were published, documents compromising the management have been shredded behind locked doors at the Directorate, and it has filed a criminal complaint against the director, Relja Ognjenović, a member of the Main Board of the SNS. The Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade instructed the Interior Ministry to gather information and seize the bags the union had kept. The Fund responds that this was routine shredding of papers containing insured persons' personal data.

The unions are also calling for Ognjenović's dismissal over pressure on employees. Claims by unions and associations that he was present in Pionirski Park in 2025 have not been established by any authority and are covered in the „Ćacilend“ affair.

Police at PIO Fund branches

On 30 and 31 October, sacks of documents were carried out of the PIO Fund branches in Bor and Zaječar. The police took the sacks away, and the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Bor opened a case.

According to the Ist Media portal, the police handed that prosecutor's office about 10,000 photographs of documents from the seized sacks, including certificates of length of employment.

On 5 November, the police also entered the provincial PIO Fund in Novi Sad, and on the same day reportedly also the Fund's premises in Bačka Palanka. The prosecution and the police have not officially commented on these operations.

Reports from other institutions

Similar reports have come from other institutions. Students and a group of diplomats claim that the destruction of documents was prevented at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which the ministry calls untrue. The Third Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade found that the sacks outside the Zemun Municipality building contained discarded copies, not originals, and for now sees no grounds to suspect a criminal offence.

In Subotica, the prosecutor's office identified the person who carried bags of documents out of the General Hospital, and in Čačak a citizens' association filed a criminal complaint over the risk that the City's financial records would be destroyed. On 6 November, the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Čačak opened a case over allegations that documents were being destroyed at public companies, while the city board of the SNS calls these allegations nonsense.

Director of the Fifth Belgrade Grammar School

In Belgrade, according to Nedeljnik and Vreme, on 1 November the police detained Ognjen Mrvaljević, principal of the Fifth Belgrade Grammar School, whom pupils had caught throwing bags of documents into a skip. According to the chair of the Parents' Council, there were more documents in the boot of his car, and according to parents, the papers included lists of pupils with their personal identification numbers.

The First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade said it had ordered the police to temporarily seize the documents found and take statements from the principal and witnesses. In a letter to staff, the principal claims he put only office waste in the skip and went to the police voluntarily, as a private citizen. On 9 November, parents filed a criminal complaint against him, among other things on suspicion of destroying an official document.

Claim about Postal Savings Bank money

Student List candidate Nemanja Karović said that an attempt to move around a billion dinars out of Poštanska štedionica had been prevented; the bank says no such attempt took place.

Participants

Relja Ognjenović: According to the union, he punished employees who refused SNS demands by firing them; a complaint has also been filed against him over the destruction of files after the election (responsible)
Republic Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIO Fund): According to the union, documents were shredded at the head office after the election, and sacks of documents were carried out of the Bor and Zaječar branches at night (responsible)
Zagorka Dolovac: On 29 October 2026 she issued an instruction for prosecutors to ask the police to prevent the destruction of files (investigation and courts)
Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office: On 29 October 2026 it issued an instruction for prosecutors' offices to urgently ask the police to prevent the destruction of files (investigation and courts)
First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade: On 29 October 2026 it opened a case into the destruction of files and ordered a police on-site investigation, without naming any institutions (investigation and courts)
Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad: On 29 October 2026 it ordered the police in Novi Sad to urgently prevent the destruction of official files (investigation and courts)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad: Acting on reports from citizens, it secured documents in several sacks that had been carried out of an institution (investigation and courts)
Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, Special Department for Combating Corruption: It asked the Interior Ministry for information on the complaint against Ognjenović and ordered a check on the president's letter to pensioners (investigation and courts)
Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia: It received orders from prosecutors to carry out site inspections and gather information on the destruction of records (investigation and courts)
Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions (ASNS): It reported shredding at the PIO Fund, filed a criminal complaint against the director and called for his dismissal (oversight and the public)
Association of Trade Unions of Retired Military Personnel of Serbia: On 29 October 2026, it called for Ognjenović to resign over pressure and opaque spending (oversight and the public)
Ivan Ninić: He published photos of sacks of paper that he claims came from the PIO Fund head office (oversight and the public)
BIRN: It published an analysis finding that since Ognjenović's appointment the Fund has spent about €100 million more on procurement than the earlier trend would suggest (oversight and the public)
Student List – Students Are Winning: On 29 October 2026, it called on employees to report the destruction of evidence and opened an address for whistleblowers (oversight and the public)
Nemanja Karović: He said there were indications that an attempt had been made to move a billion dinars out of Poštanska štedionica (oversight and the public)
Banka Poštanska štedionica (Postal Savings Bank): It said the claim of an attempt to move a billion dinars out was "untrue and unfounded" (commented on the case)
National Bank of Serbia: It said unverified information undermines confidence in the financial system (commented on the case)
Criminal Police Directorate (UKP), Interior Ministry: Entered the PIO Fund on the prosecution's orders and, according to Insajder, removed black sacks and boxes so their contents could be checked (investigation and courts)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia: Called false the claims by students and diplomats that the destruction of documents had been prevented at the ministry (commented on the case)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Bor: Opened a case over sacks removed from a PIO Fund branch; according to Ist Media, the police handed it about 10,000 photographs of the files (investigation and courts)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Zaječar: Went to the PIO Fund branch at the police's request and confirmed that the removed sacks contained documents (investigation and courts)
Third Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade: Established that the sacks outside the Zemun municipality building held discarded copies and for now sees no grounds for suspicion (investigation and courts)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Subotica: Checked reports of bags being carried out of the General Hospital and out of the police building that houses the BIA (investigation and courts)
Citizens' Association Znanjem za Čačak: Filed a criminal complaint over the risk that the City of Čačak's financial records would be destroyed (oversight and the public)
Ognjen Mrvaljević: According to Nedeljnik and Vreme, students caught him throwing bags of school documents and students' personal data into a rubbish container (responsible)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Čačak: It opened a case over allegations that official documents were destroyed in public companies in Čačak after the elections (investigation and courts)
Serbian Progressive Party: Its city board in Čačak claims that stories about documents and contracts being destroyed in the city administration are "nonsense" (commented on the case)