Serbia Marks Second Anniversary of Djindjic Assassination

14/03/2005

Two years after the fatal shooting of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, many key questions remain unanswered.

By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 14/03/05

A woman lays flowers outside the Serbian government headquarters where Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated on 12 March 2003. [AFP]

Zoran Djindjic, Serbia's first prime minister following the collapse of the Milosevic regime, was assassinated on 12 March 2003 -- two years ago Saturday. Marking the anniversary, thousands of people visited his gravesite, carrying flowers and candles. Serbian President Boris Tadic, accompanied by other officials, political figures, friends of Djindjic and members of his family, paid tribute to him.

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica placed a wreath on the commemorative plaque near the entrance to the Serbian government building where Djindjic was gunned down. Zvezdan Jovanovic, a member of a Serbian secret police special ops unit, was arrested soon after the murder and confessed to it. At his trial, however, he has chosen to defend himself with silence.

Although those believed directly involved in the shooting have been arrested, investigators have yet to determine who may have ordered and financed the plot to assassinate Djindjic.

The immediate organisers of the assassination are known to have been members of the so-called Zemun Clan criminal gang, which has also been linked to the Milosevic regime and attacks on its political opponents. After Special Ops Commander Milorad Ulemek turned himself in to authorities on 2 May 2004, hopes were high that the full truth would be revealed. Buoying those hopes further, a key member of the Zemun Clan, Dejan Milenkovic, was arrested in Thessaloniki on 16 July 2004.

However, Ulemek denies any involvement in the assassination, insisting that he is being used as a scapegoat. Appearing before the Belgrade Special Court on 9 March, meanwhile, Milenkovic claimed to "know a lot" about the murder, adding that he would talk about it "when the time comes". Powerful people were connected, he suggested, while refusing to elaborate.

Some associates of Djindjic, such as Vladimir Popovic, have accused powerful forces in the country, including factions of the Serbian Army, the Orthodox Church, the Academy of Sciences and Arts, as well as Kostunica and his political allies of being behind the murder. The Belgrade prosecutor's office has already questioned several people cited by Popovic, but officials -- including former Serbian Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic -- say the accusations are unsubstantiated by police findings.

"There were no outside financiers or organisers," says journalist Milos Vasic, author of a book on the assassination. According to Vasic, however, it is likely that the killers had links to a wide network of organised crime groups across Southeast Europe.

"It is important to determine why [Milenkovic] was hiding in Greece," Vasic has said. "It is well known that Milorad Ulemek Legija traveled to Greece on several occasions before. Legija's moving through Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece and Croatia indicates the presence of a transnational criminal organisation. If our country wants to join the EU, it would be wise to investigate this matter in full."