Witness "almost certain" DB was involved in Curuvija murder

Witness "almost certain" DB was involved in Curuvija murder

"The 9th department (of the State Security, DB) perhaps, those who were at the scene, I'm not saying it was the 9th, I cannot be precise, it is my conclusion on the basis of (my) official work and expertise, the official notes to which I have had access, the following itself of Curuvija is one of the indications" the witness said.

He added that his duties concerned "more" the Ibarska Highway case, and that previously, when it comes to the Curuvija case, he was tasked with "collecting information from his associates, journalists, editors, processing the scene of the execution of the crime," that he had spoken with the residents and passers-by - and at that time failed to arrive at "some operational knowledge or physical evidence that would shed light on the murder."

Softic also said that during Operation Saber - in the wake of the 2003 Djindjic assassination - he participated in the interrogation of the accused Radonjic, Romic and Kurak, and that the three were arrested after the publication of the "Curan" files. The witness said that releasing them had not been his decision to make, and that "at that moment there probably wasn't not enough evidence to file a criminal complaint."

Softic also told the court that he found out the RDB (the Department of State Security) was following Curuvija only after the publication of the Curan dossier, and that he previously had no operative information that Curuvija was "the subject of that department's processing."

Former deputy chief of the State Security Franko Simatovic again failed to appear in court on Wednesday.

Former DB chief Radomir Markovic, former head of the Belgrade DB Center Milan Radonjic, member of this center Ratko Romic and Milan Kurak, stand accused in the trial for the murder of Slavko Curuvija. Kurak, who is at large, has been indicted as the direct perpetrator.

Radonjic and Romic have been in custody since their arrest in January 2014.

Markovic in prison serving a sentence of 40 years in prison for another crime.

Curuvija, a Belgrade-based publisher and journalist, was shot and killed in April 1999 in front of his apartment. According to the charges Kurak's accomplice was Romic, who also struck Curuvija's friend Branka Prpa on the head with his pistol.

According to the indictment, Curuvija was killed because of his "public statements in the country and abroad, and criticism of the holders of political power, the possibility of influencing public opinion and action of opposition of social forces, and for the sake of preserving the existing government."