Djindjic's assasination is definitely liberating Serbia of scum! 
Posted on 03/14/2003 5:01:42 AM PST by kattracks
Serbian Government Accuses Allies of Former President Milosevic of Assassinating Prime Minister
BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro March 14 —
The government on Friday accused allies of former President Slobodan Milosevic of organizing and carrying out the assassination of Serbia's prime minister.
In a statement, the government said a police investigation into the fatal shooting Wednesday of Zoran Djindjic shows that "a criminal clan, as well as some other groups, mainly police-security structures from Milosevic's times ... were involved in organizing and carrying out" the assassination.
By Thursday afternoon, 56 suspects had been arrested, including eight members of an underworld gang implicated in the killing. Three of the gang's members agreed to testify against others in the group and asked for protection, the government said.
"Their testimony confirms the participation of this criminal clan" in Djindjic's assassination in downtown Belgrade, the government said. Djindjic, 50, was instrumental in ousting Milosevic and extraditing him to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
A massive police sweep dubbed Operation Whirlwind targeted members of the Zemun Clan, a crime network named after a Belgrade suburb, whose ranks included former paramilitaries loyal to Milosevic.
Those detained also included Milosevic's former state security chief, Jovica Stanisic, and his deputy, Franko Simatovic, who headed notorious Serb paramilitary units in the Bosnian and Croatian wars of the early 1990s.
Simatovic was seen being led from his Belgrade home by three hooded policemen with machine guns. The Vecernje Novosti newspaper said Friday that Stanisic would be detained for 30 days to allow for a more thorough investigation.
Although long sidelined, the two are believed to have maintained significant influence among police and mob circles even after Milosevic's ouster in October 2000.
Serbian authorities introduced a nationwide state of emergency following the assassination, giving police and the military a free hand to arrest suspects without warrants and detain anyone for up to 30 days without bringing charges.
The Zemun clan ringleader, Milorad Lukovic, nicknamed Legija, succeeded Simatovic in 1997 as commander of the units that committed atrocities against civilians during the Balkan wars. Police said Lukovic went underground after Djindjic's killing.
Police also said their investigation found that three assassins were responsible for shooting Djindjic. One of the men was armed with a sniper rifle and the other two had handguns. They fired through an open window on the second floor of a nearby building and then fled the scene on foot.
Acting Serbian Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic said "close ties were created during Milosevic's regime between crime figures, war criminals and war profiteers" and that they likely joined forces to prevent Djindjic's efforts to crack down on crime and bring war crimes suspects to justice.
Djindjic made enemies for his pro-Western stance, for handing the former president to the tribunal and for declaring an open war on gangs involved in the widespread smuggling of goods, cigarettes, drugs and women.
There were fears that the volatile Balkan country could plunge into violence in a possible power struggle for Djindjic's successor.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Djindjic's loss "will be felt deeply."
A "new element of fragility and vulnerability" has returned to the Balkans, Powell said, adding that the United States stands ready with Europe to help Serbia "try to regroup and ... deal with this fragile situation."
Covic and four other Cabinet members are to be rotated as acting prime ministers until parliament elects a successor.
Djindjic's funeral was scheduled for Saturday.
Well that is a no-brainer.
You can always ping us at: *balkans
BELGRADE -- Friday – The body of former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic, who disappeared in Belgrade in August, 2000, was found last night.
Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic told media that four members of the now-disbanded Special Operations Unit who have been arrested had been involved in the abduction and murder.
The body was discovered in Vojvodina, where the former president had been taken to a grave prepared in advance and killed with two shots.
Slobodan Milosevic’s early career was guided by Stambolic, who was one of the most distinguished statesmen in the former Yugoslavia before being overthrown by his protégé in a political coup in 1987.
Stambolic later admitted that he had ignored “the bad sides” of Milosevic’s character and had been mistaken in choosing to groom him.
“When I see all this happening I think I should be criminally prosecuted,” he told media in 1998, referring to the destruction of the country under his successor.
Stambolic was abducted while on his regular morning jog just weeks before the election which overthrew Milosevic.
His disappearance, which was headline news in independent media, was not even mentioned by state newspapers and television until six days later.
Police Minister Mihajlovic, announcing the discovery of the body today, told media that the murder was politically motivated because it was feared that the popular Stambolic would stand against his former protégé.
He added that Milosevic and his wife Mira Markovic would be questioned in connection with the case
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Destro, this is what I mean by Free Slobo from Hague! Belgrade's prison is much more appropriate than the 5 star Scheveningen Hotel. Real charges for his crimes are in Belgrade.
Stam was clearly dissappeared by outsiders (ie HumWarriors) as part of the campaign to destabilize Yugoslavia. (From another thread)
Vooch, I clearly miss the connection. Help me understand your take?
Djindjic's assasination is definitely liberating Serbia of scum!
Voronin
Wrong. We've known for quite some time now.
VRN
P.S. When you find your 'other' brain cell, you should try rubbing them together and making a wish.
Are you in doubt as to who the JSO reported to?
Or are you merely posting here for form's sake after any hope of waging a successful PR campaign has already ended?
Actually yes.
The Surchin group is listed in the upper right corner. The blue box next to it informs that 1497 were arrested and 591 detained as of March 23, 2003.
There is no doubt that it was high noon for Serbia to deal with its organized crime and bring it to the levels of other European countries. I don't think anyone will object to that.
It is certainly very curious that the government "suddenly" solves all the crimes it couldn't solve until now.
It is rather disturbing that neither the media nor the civil liberties exist sufficiently unrestricted to protect from wanton planting of evidence, forced confessions and politicial witchhunt.
DOS is also very cleverly avoiding to deal with its own relationship with the "Red Berets," its own complicity in its operations since October 5, 2000, and with Djindjich's dealings with the Surchin gang. In other words, the blame is sought elsewhere but on the ruling colation, which remains pristine. Yet, we know that the Gavrilovich murder remains unsolved, and that one of DOS's top deputies was caught red-handed passing state secrets to a foreign "diplomat" (secret serevice agent).
In light of that, the Serbian government will save the day if it investigates its own ranks. If not, this will be the seed for another strife that will be full of allegations, distrust and violent settling of scores -- essentially a continuation of the practices of those who preceded them.
In that light, the president of the small but extremely iberal Christiam democratic Party of Serbia (DHSS), Vladan Batich, called for a formation of a truth commission that would investigate everyone. let's not forget that some Miloshevich-ersa cronies are hiding elsewhere, including the DOS.
PRISTINA -- Wednesday – Another former member of the outlawed Kosovo Liberation Army has been arrested by KFOR troops and UNMIK police in Djakovica. Maliq Ndrecu was arrested yesterday in an operation which blocked movement in the town for almost two hours.
The Association of Kosovo Liberation Army war invalids, of which Ndrecu is a member, has been unable to obtain any information on the arrest or the reason for it. The Association claimed today that the arrest was politically motivated. Ndrecu is being held in Pristina prison.
[B92]
The big bad boogieman Milosevic is gone and the return of Serb forces to the Presevo Valley is a sign as to which way the momentum has shifted.
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