A protracted legal case involving a cannabis grower has emerged as a focal point ahead of Serbia’s upcoming elections, highlighting divisions amid widespread concerns over government corruption. Predrag Koluvija, who was arrested in November 2019, is at the center of a trial that has stretched into its eighth year and features allegations of collusion between state security agencies and narcotics traffickers.
Koluvija operated a farm, Jovanjica, located about an hour northwest of Belgrade, which held a license for hemp cultivation. Authorities, however, claimed that the cannabis plants grown exceeded the legally permitted levels of THC, the psychoactive component, and said they seized 65,000 plants—potentially marking the largest illicit cannabis operation uncovered in Europe to date. Koluvija disputes the accuracy of the THC testing and denies any involvement in drug trafficking.
Prosecutors allege that elements within Serbia’s domestic and military intelligence services, along with police officers, conspired to protect Koluvija and his operation in exchange for bribes and drugs. They have presented evidence of communication between these officials in an online messaging group intended to safeguard the farm from law enforcement actions. Koluvija rejects these claims, characterizing himself as an innocent hemp farmer caught in a politically motivated case.
The trial has become deeply entangled with Serbia’s broader political landscape. Koluvija suggests that certain intelligence factions manipulated the case to destabilize the government, specifically targeting Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s outgoing president who resigned last month amid protests over alleged systemic corruption and increasing authoritarianism. Vucic responded to public discontent by calling snap elections scheduled for this weekend.
Koluvija has further claimed that shortly after his arrest, while Vucic was hospitalized for a heart condition, prosecutors offered him freedom if he implicated the president’s younger brother, Andrej Vucic, as the leader of the narcotics operation. He refused, asserting that such an accusation would have led to Andrej’s detention and possibly a power struggle at the highest level. This narrative finds some support within political circles; in 2021, then-interior minister Aleksandar Vulin accused rogue police elements of fabricating the case to undermine the president. Vulin himself was sanctioned by the United States in 2023 over corruption allegations and later received the Russian Order of Friendship.
Local residents near Jovanjica offer a contrasting view, describing Koluvija as a generous employer who provided interest-free loans for housing and disputing the depiction of him as a criminal. Some suggest his prominence threatened vested interests within parts of the government seeking to remove him.
Throughout the trial, Vucic has maintained that the case against Koluvija is a contrived affair. Koluvija’s defense lawyer, a member of the ruling party, insists that his client is unaffiliated politically and has no personal ties to the president or his family.
The ongoing proceedings require the judiciary to weigh two competing explanations: whether intelligence agencies orchestrated a false drug scandal to unseat the president or whether those same agencies are implicated in running a major narcotics network. Regardless of the outcome, the case underscores persistent concerns about corruption affecting Serbia’s institutions at their core.