British say they "warned Đinđić”

Late PM Zoran Djindjic was given advice and instructions from Scotland Yard to protect himself, former London Metropolitan Police chief John Slater says. “Germany was responsible for estimating the risk and offering advice. They stated that Djindjic’s security was in danger because of the personal interest he showed in the fight against organized crime,” Slater said. British say they "warned Djindjic” Slater, who is now a police adviser in the Balkans, said last weekend in Belgrade at an international conference on organized crime that he had met with Djindjic on several occasions. He was an adviser to the Serbian Interior Ministry (MUP) in 2001, working in coordination with the Council of Europe. “I met with Djindjic on several occasions and talked with him about the problem of organized crime. During 2001-2002, I helped him establish a unit for investigating organized crime cases within the Interior Ministry,” Slater said. He added that this was financed by Great Britain and that “a lot of money was also given by Germany.” “Because of political reasons and demands from America, it was insisted that the unit investigate not only organize crime but war crimes as well. That did not help make the unit more efficient, because at that time, there were people in the MUP who were involved in activities of Milosevic’s regime and it was quite possible that some of them were involved in war crimes,” Slater claims in an interview with Politika newspaper. He said that the Germans gave "a lot of technical guidance and advice to the state on how to stop the possible assassination of the prime minister". “When the first attempt happened in the traffic incident, experts from Germany and me personally, openly warned that this was the first warning before the assassination, and we gave him concrete advice on how to change his way of life and routine in order to protect himself,” Slater said. “But he said, 'no, I am not afraid of them, and I will continue exactly as before'. When the second crash happened, we begged him to make a change. He was injured this time, he was on crutches and he was vulnerable because he could not run or hide. But then, he also said that he was not scared,” Slater said. The former British policeman said that he respected Djindjic’s courage and admired him, but added that he thought the prime minister might be alive now if he had listened to the advice. “On the other hand, when you take into consideration the fact who shot him, what training and weapons that person had, it can be concluded that if they were determined to kill him with the resources they had, they would have killed him sooner or later,” Slater said.

British say they "warned Đinđić”

Slater, who is now a police adviser in the Balkans, said last weekend in Belgrade at an international conference on organized crime that he had met with Đinđić on several occasions.

He was an adviser to the Serbian Interior Ministry (MUP) in 2001, working in coordination with the Council of Europe.

“I met with Đinđić on several occasions and talked with him about the problem of organized crime. During 2001-2002, I helped him establish a unit for investigating organized crime cases within the Interior Ministry,” Slater said.

He added that this was financed by Great Britain and that “a lot of money was also given by Germany.”

“Because of political reasons and demands from America, it was insisted that the unit investigate not only organize crime but war crimes as well. That did not help make the unit more efficient, because at that time, there were people in the MUP who were involved in activities of Milošević’s regime and it was quite possible that some of them were involved in war crimes,” Slater claims in an interview with Politika newspaper.

He said that the Germans gave "a lot of technical guidance and advice to the state on how to stop the possible assassination of the prime minister".

“When the first attempt happened in the traffic incident, experts from Germany and me personally, openly warned that this was the first warning before the assassination, and we gave him concrete advice on how to change his way of life and routine in order to protect himself,” Slater said.

“But he said, 'no, I am not afraid of them, and I will continue exactly as before'. When the second crash happened, we begged him to make a change. He was injured this time, he was on crutches and he was vulnerable because he could not run or hide. But then, he also said that he was not scared,” Slater said.

The former British policeman said that he respected Đinđić’s courage and admired him, but added that he thought the prime minister might be alive now if he had listened to the advice.

“On the other hand, when you take into consideration the fact who shot him, what training and weapons that person had, it can be concluded that if they were determined to kill him with the resources they had, they would have killed him sooner or later,” Slater said.