Accusations seen as "strike to heart of police"

Accusations seen as "strike to heart of police"

That high ranking police position is today occupied by Rodoljub Milić, whom Šarić accused of fabricating the case against him in order to present him as "the leader of some new Zemun Clan."

Previously during the trial, where Šarić stands accused of smuggling tons of cocaine from South America to Europe, he referred to "a corrupt police general" as "Papaja" ("Papaya"), but would not reveal his name.

In a rambling statement before the Special Court on Monday, Šarić also spoke about Milović's "collaborating witness friend," referring to this person as "Mango" and claiming that he had "created the Zemun Clan."

"A similar thing happened as with the testimony of Milorad Ulemek Legija during the trial for the murder of Zoran Đinđić. The testimony was anticipated for days and what Legija might say, only to see his statements turn into a disaster. Similarly, now Šarić is conducting his defense in not really a smart way. Of course he blames the most the one who organized his arrest and that of his group," believes Novaković, who is also the author of several books about the Zemun Clan.

In his opinion, Šarić's testimony reflects "a complex situation" in terms of the clan's "legacy."

In his statement for the daily Danas Novaković was, however, explicit in his evaluation that Šarić's testimony was directed against the "the most honest" people in the police, and was "quite possibly a counterattack coming from the circle around the cabinet of the former minister of police (interior)."

Specifically, according to him, it has to do with former head of the cabinet Branko Lazarević and "fugitive businessman" Rodoljub Radulović, aka Miša Banana, who is charged with smuggling cocaine in his ships.

According to the sources the newspaper quoted, the situation in the Ministry of the Interior is now "very tense" - especially since the political changes took place there, and the departure of Ivica Dačić, who spent six years as minister of the interior. When asked which of the top police officials would be sacked, the daily quoted its sources as saying, "Everyone, sooner or later."

The article further said that Rodoljub Milović was not returning the newspaper's calls on Monday, while the UKP could not confirm that they would address the public.

At the same time, "no one could say whether Milović may have offered his resignation." Some ten days ago, this police official told the tabloid Kurir that if he was the person Šarić referred to as "Papaya," he was "proud of it."

"This is a copy of the trial of the so-called Zemun Clan for the murder of the prime minister," he was quoted as saying at the time.