"Ulemek made industry out of criminal gang"

Deputy special prosecutor Jovan Prijic today delivered his closing argument in the Zemun Clan trial in Belgrade. Prijic told the judges that the first accused, Milorad Ulemek, a.k.a. Legija, made an organized crime industry out of a small time gang. "Ulemek made industry out of criminal gang" "The comparative exceptionality and unsurpassed nature of the criminal industrial organization of Ulemek and Dusan Spasojevic lies in the number and severity of the criminal acts committed," the deputy prosecutor believes. Ulemek is a former member of the French Foreign Legion and a former state security (DB) operative, who commanded its Special Operations Unit (JSO), while Spasojevic, nicknamed Siptar, was a gangster, shot dead by police shortly after the Djindjic assassination, in a failed arrest attempt. Mile Lukovic, a.k.a. Kum, another Zemun Clan figure, was also killed during the same raid in 2003. In courtroom today, Prijic said that until 2000, brothers Milos and Aleksandar Simovic, Vladimir Mililsavljevic, Ninoslav Konstatinovic and other Zemun Clan members, were a gang that sold small amounts of drugs and stole cars. But Ulemek had military training, a knowledge of telecommunications, and was also acquainted with conspiratorial methods of making orders and acting on them that he transplanted from the DB to the Zemun Clan, the deputy prosecutor told a panel of judges. Ulemek and Spasojevic had some 200 men under their direct control, the state said, and established a drug trafficking monopoly in the capital, as well as in Vojvodina and the town of Pozarevac. This monopoly came as a result of a series of murders, starting in 2000. A number of these murders, Prijic said, are connected to revenge killings after the death of Zeljko Raznatovic, a.k.a. Arkan, Ulemek's "role model and commander". Reminding of the testimonies of the protected witnesses, the gang insiders, Prijic said that former DB official Milorad Bracanovic was the one who gave the group intelligence on wiretapped conversations. As for the booty the gang acquired from November 2000 to May 2001, it amounted to 10.5 million Deutsche marks, according to the prosecution. Ulemek was entitled to half of the money, while Spasojevic distributed the rest among the gang's members. Zemun Clan leaders stood trial charged with 15 counts of murder, three kidnappings, and terrorist attacks on Defense Road company, and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Belgrade headquarters. They have already been found guilty of conspiring to kill Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, in March 2003. In addition to the 40 years behind bars he was handed in the Djindjic case trial, Ulemek previously received another 40-year term for his part in the 2000 murder of former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic, and an assassination attempt on Vuk Draskovic in 1999, when four people died. Ulemek, right, during the Djindjic trial (FoNet)

"Ulemek made industry out of criminal gang"

"The comparative exceptionality and unsurpassed nature of the criminal industrial organization of Ulemek and Dušan Spasojević lies in the number and severity of the criminal acts committed," the deputy prosecutor believes.

Ulemek is a former member of the French Foreign Legion and a former state security (DB) operative, who commanded its Special Operations Unit (JSO), while Spasojević, nicknamed Šiptar, was a gangster, shot dead by police shortly after the Đinđić assassination, in a failed arrest attempt.

Mile Luković, a.k.a. Kum, another Zemun Clan figure, was also killed during the same raid in 2003.

In courtroom today, Prijić said that until 2000, brothers Miloš and Aleksandar Simović, Vladimir Mililsavljević, Ninoslav Konstatinović and other Zemun Clan members, were a gang that sold small amounts of drugs and stole cars.

But Ulemek had military training, a knowledge of telecommunications, and was also acquainted with conspiratorial methods of making orders and acting on them that he transplanted from the DB to the Zemun Clan, the deputy prosecutor told a panel of judges.

Ulemek and Spasojević had some 200 men under their direct control, the state said, and established a drug trafficking monopoly in the capital, as well as in Vojvodina and the town of Požarevac. This monopoly came as a result of a series of murders, starting in 2000.

A number of these murders, Prijić said, are connected to revenge killings after the death of Željko Raznatović, a.k.a. Arkan, Ulemek's "role model and commander".

Reminding of the testimonies of the protected witnesses, the gang insiders, Prijić said that former DB official Milorad Bracanović was the one who gave the group intelligence on wiretapped conversations.

As for the booty the gang acquired from November 2000 to May 2001, it amounted to 10.5 million Deutsche marks, according to the prosecution.

Ulemek was entitled to half of the money, while Spasojević distributed the rest among the gang's members.

Zemun Clan leaders stood trial charged with 15 counts of murder, three kidnappings, and terrorist attacks on Defense Road company, and the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Belgrade headquarters.

They have already been found guilty of conspiring to kill Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, in March 2003.

In addition to the 40 years behind bars he was handed in the Đinđić case trial, Ulemek previously received another 40-year term for his part in the 2000 murder of former Serbian President Ivan Stambolić, and an assassination attempt on Vuk Drašković in 1999, when four people died.