Serb assassin suspect claims heroin conspiracy

BELGRADE, June 14 (Reuters) - The prime suspect in the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic denied on Monday he was behind the killing, but gave the court a detailed account of an alleged plot to "bomb" the West with heroin.

Analysts said it was just the sort of political smear they had expected from the appearance in court of Milorad "Legija" Lukovic, former commander of a crack police unit.

Rumours that the ex-Foreign Legionnaire would spill the beans on alleged corruption in Djindjic's cabinet sprouted the moment he gave himself up on May 2 after 14 months on the run. The aim, said Djindjic supporters, would be to tarnish the man who became the cutting edge of democratic reform in Serbia.

"With regard to the murder of Zoran Djindjic...I had absolutely nothing to do with this event," Lukovic told the trial of 13 accused in the March 12, 2003, murder.

Djindjic was shot dead by a sniper outside government headquarters. Prosecutors say crime bosses linked to the unit headed by Lukovic, and who had enjoyed the protection of the Slobodan Milosevic regime, were bent on toppling him.

The young reformer had not only infuriated nationalists by sending the former strongman to the UN war crimes tribunal, where he is now on trial, but was preparing a crackdown on organised crime. The exact motive for the crime, however, remains obscure.

"Regarding the allegations in the indictment I do not feel guilty," Lukovic said. "I did not associate with anyone nor did I commit hostile activities against anyone...," he added.

The secrets of the Milosevic years, effectively a decade of one-man rule backed by secret police, still have Serbia wrapped in a thick fog of conspiracy.

Lukovic alleged that after Milosevic was arrested in 2001, a plot was hatched by several aides in Djindjic's entourage, who saw their sudden possession of 700 kg (1,540 pounds) of state-seized heroin as a great way to avenge NATO's bombing of Serbia over Kosovo in 1999 -- and to make money.

The narcotics lode had been taken from drug-runners a few years earlier by Serbian police and kept in a Belgrade bank vault, where it was once shown off to the press.

Lukovic said top Djindjic aides told him it would be silly to throw away something worth hundreds of millions of dollars that could be sold for the profit of the impoverished state.

The West gave us bombs and depleted uranium, so why not pay them back in hard drugs, the argument went.

"To tell you the truth, I rather liked it. It could be a little bit of revenge of us ordinary people, who were bombed for 78 days, And if that is the will of the state, then I accept," he explained to the court.

A number of the aides he named immediatley denied the story in broadcast interviews on Monday, calling it a fabrication. One said the heroin was destroyed in keeping with the law.

But Lukovic said he smuggled the heroin with three of his men, across the rivers Danube and Drina and into neighbouring Bosnia, Croatia and Romania for later sale in western Europe.

It could be interesting to see how this case develops and if there is any truth to Legija's claims...can you please ping me or freepmail me if you find more info on this joan?

Joan, good posting! This is like the biggest news over here, and for sure many people are upset with Legija's testemony. When I say many people I mean that those people are politiciants and members of Djindjic's Democrtatic Party. The important thing is that after Djindjic was shot, all kind of affairs were mentioned in public including a lot of money that was stolen and was on bank account of Kolesar (member of DP), but Boris Tadic (presidential candidate) removed from the list all the people who were named publicly in wrong doing. He sort of wanted a new begining for Democratic Party, with "clean" people in it.
Legija would say lots of things that would be against Democratic Party and many things may be true, since people as Cedomir Jovanovic (young guy ex chief of cabinet for Djindjic) did have relations with mafia.
I can't wait to see how this case develops. To many questions, and now we'll hear the answers.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.