Dragan Jočić
Dragan Jočić (, born 7 September 1960) is a Serbian lawyer and politician. He served as the Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia from 2004 until 2008 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica. He has been a member of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) since its inception until 2014. He also served as the party vice-president and has been a member of the party's executive board since its founding. From 1992 to 1997, he was an MP in the Serbian parliament. He was also a city council member and has been a member of the Belgrade City Council since 2000. Early life and education Jočić is of Montenegrin Serb descent, his family originating from Martinići, a village near Danilovgrad, Montenegro. He graduated from the University of Belgrade's Law School. After graduation, he started private law practice. Car accident On 25 January 2008, around 11:30pm CET, Jočić was severely injured in a car crash when a government-issued, chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz ML 500 that he was riding in hit a dog on the Belgrade-Niš highway near the town of Velika Plana. After hitting the animal, the driver, Mirko Damnjanović lost control of the vehicle, which then careened into a mid-highway divider, crossed into the oncoming traffic lanes, spun several times, and landed in a ditch. Jočić was then airlifted to Belgrade's Banjica orthopedic clinic with spinal injuries where an emergency surgery was performed early Saturday morning on 26 January 2008. Driver Damnjanović was rushed to Belgrade's Emergency Center where he also had an emergency surgery. It was initially reported that they're both in stable conditions following their surgeries. However, it soon became clear Jočić's condition remained life-threatening and a lot more serious than initially predicted and he was put back into intensive care where reanimation measures were performed. On 27 January 2008, a team of Russian neurosurgeons from Burdenko Institute arrived to Belgrade in order to help with Jočić's post-surgery recovery process. He then spent three weeks at the Orthopädische Universitätsklinik Balgrist in Zurich, Switzerland, before coming back to Serbia on 11 April 2008 and continuing the rehab at the Dr Miroslav Zotović Rehabilitation Clinic in Belgrade. In January 2009, his condition was reported as "much improved". However, as of October 2010, Jočić is still unable to walk and has been released from the rehab clinic (after spending two and a half years there) for further rehabilitation at home. In November 2015, in his first interview after the accident, given to NIN, Jočić said that the country's authorities have failed to protect him and give him needed help after the accident. He also stated that: "the length and painful way in which I try to accomplish what belongs to me, so that I can live, offends dignity". Controversy After being named Interior Minister on 3 March 2004, several newspapers reported that as a 21-year-old Jočić was directly involved in a 1981 kiosk robbery for which he was convicted to a 6-month conditional jail sentence. He confirmed the stories when asked