Sniper, plotter jailed for Serbian Prime Minister's assassination
Thursday, May 24, 2007
A SERBIAN court yesterday ordered 40-year jail terms for the sniper and mastermind behind the 2003 assassination of prime minister Zoran Djindjic, which sparked a major crisis in the Balkan nation.
Ten other men were convicted for up to 35 years for the killing of Djindjic — an act which stunned the world as it sought to encourage Serbia out of isolation after the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
"This was a political murder, a criminal deed aimed against the state," said presiding judge Nata Mesarovic reading the verdict to a packed court, which included Serbian President Boris Tadic and former members of the Djindjic cabinet.
Former police commando unit leader, 39-year-old Milorad Ulemek — known as "Legija" for having once been a French Foreign Legionnaire — was given a maximum 40-year sentence for organising the assassination.
Another unit member, Zvezdan "The Snake" Jovanovic, 41, was also jailed for 40 years. He was accused of firing the shot that felled Djindjic on the steps of his Belgrade office on March 12, 2003.
Ten other defendants were jailed for between eight and 35 years, though five are on the run. Charges were withdrawn against a 13th accused under a plea bargaining deal.
The 12 were guilty of "endangering constitutional order" in a bid to "gain power and influence on authorities" by killing the prime minister, Mesarovic said as she read the 105-page verdict.
Djindjic was murdered "after democratic changes in Serbia, when most of the citizens believed that the situation in Serbia could be changed and life could be better," the judge continued.
"The most painful thing is the knowledge that we live in a country where the prime minister can be killed by an organised criminal group in order to gain political power."
Ulemek and Jovanovic sat calmly as the verdict was read, but demanded to leave the courtroom once the judge began explaining the reasons for the verdict, saying they did not want to listen.
The pair had pleaded not guilty and rejected all charges. They are expected to appeal against the verdict, but the process could take several months.
Ulemek was a veteran of the Bosnian and Kosovo wars. He is widely believed to have headed the so-called Zemun Gang, named after a Belgrade suburb where they were based.
After his arrest within days of the assassination, Jovanovic confessed to the murder, but said in closing statements last month it had been given to police "under duress".
He had told police "Djindjic's assassination was politically motivated" to hamper attempts to arrest suspects wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
"Legija insisted that Djindjic had to be murdered in order to stop extraditions to The Hague tribunal," he said in a statement at the time. The ruling brings to an end the "Trial of the Century" for Serbia.AFP
Ten other men were convicted for up to 35 years for the killing of Djindjic — an act which stunned the world as it sought to encourage Serbia out of isolation after the fall of strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
"This was a political murder, a criminal deed aimed against the state," said presiding judge Nata Mesarovic reading the verdict to a packed court, which included Serbian President Boris Tadic and former members of the Djindjic cabinet.
Former police commando unit leader, 39-year-old Milorad Ulemek — known as "Legija" for having once been a French Foreign Legionnaire — was given a maximum 40-year sentence for organising the assassination.
Another unit member, Zvezdan "The Snake" Jovanovic, 41, was also jailed for 40 years. He was accused of firing the shot that felled Djindjic on the steps of his Belgrade office on March 12, 2003.
Ten other defendants were jailed for between eight and 35 years, though five are on the run. Charges were withdrawn against a 13th accused under a plea bargaining deal.
The 12 were guilty of "endangering constitutional order" in a bid to "gain power and influence on authorities" by killing the prime minister, Mesarovic said as she read the 105-page verdict.
Djindjic was murdered "after democratic changes in Serbia, when most of the citizens believed that the situation in Serbia could be changed and life could be better," the judge continued.
"The most painful thing is the knowledge that we live in a country where the prime minister can be killed by an organised criminal group in order to gain political power."
Ulemek and Jovanovic sat calmly as the verdict was read, but demanded to leave the courtroom once the judge began explaining the reasons for the verdict, saying they did not want to listen.
The pair had pleaded not guilty and rejected all charges. They are expected to appeal against the verdict, but the process could take several months.
Ulemek was a veteran of the Bosnian and Kosovo wars. He is widely believed to have headed the so-called Zemun Gang, named after a Belgrade suburb where they were based.
After his arrest within days of the assassination, Jovanovic confessed to the murder, but said in closing statements last month it had been given to police "under duress".
He had told police "Djindjic's assassination was politically motivated" to hamper attempts to arrest suspects wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
"Legija insisted that Djindjic had to be murdered in order to stop extraditions to The Hague tribunal," he said in a statement at the time. The ruling brings to an end the "Trial of the Century" for Serbia.AFP
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