Six years since Đinđić murder

Serbia’s first democratically-elected prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, was assassinated six years ago to the day in front of government HQ. At exactly 12:25, CET Djindjic was shot twice by a sniper as he entered the government building. Six years since Djindjic murder He died shortly after in hospital. The verdicts for first-accused Milorad Ulemek and Zvezdan Jovanovic have still to be confirmed. At the first- and second-instance trials they were sentenced to 40 years in prison, and are now awaiting the beginning of third-instance proceedings. In one of his final interviews, shortly after an unsuccessful attempt on his life on Feb. 24, 2003 on the highway in front of the Belgrade Arena, Djindjic denied claims that he had concluded an agreement with the so-called “red berets”, members of the Ulemek-led Special Operations Unit (JSO), on Oct. 5, 2000 to help unseat Slobodan Milosevic in exchange for “some right above the law.” “They are not protected. Things have drastically changed since Ljubisa Buha’s statement and the entire anti-organized crime department is working intensively on that. The project has absolute priority and we will soon make a public statement about what is happening. Some outlines of a solution have already begun to appear and this is an enormous chance to finally break the last hard core of crime,” said Djindjic. The late prime minister was buried on March 15 on the Avenue of Heroes, in the presence of more than 70 foreign state delegations. More than 100,000 citizens joined a funeral procession along the streets of Belgrade. Observing the sixth anniversary of his assassination, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and members of the government will place a wreath on his memorial in the government garden, while Democratic Party (DS) MPs will place another on his grave in the New Cemetery. Wreaths will also be placed on the memorial in the government garden in the afternoon by former members of Djindjic’s government. Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) MPs will go on a traditional walk from their party headquarters to the Avenue of Heroes. The LDP will later hold a conference, “An Answer for the Future”, at Dom Sindikata, where the speakers will include Latinka Perovic and party leader Cedomir Jovanovic. The LDP will also screen a film, “The Final Word”, at the same location, which casts light on the facts in the Djindjic murder trial. Zoran Djindjic (B92, archive)

Six years since Đinđić murder

He died shortly after in hospital. The verdicts for first-accused Milorad Ulemek and Zvezdan Jovanović have still to be confirmed. At the first- and second-instance trials they were sentenced to 40 years in prison, and are now awaiting the beginning of third-instance proceedings.

In one of his final interviews, shortly after an unsuccessful attempt on his life on Feb. 24, 2003 on the highway in front of the Belgrade Arena, Đinđić denied claims that he had concluded an agreement with the so-called “red berets”, members of the Ulemek-led Special Operations Unit (JSO), on Oct. 5, 2000 to help unseat Slobodan Milošević in exchange for “some right above the law.”

“They are not protected. Things have drastically changed since Ljubiša Buha’s statement and the entire anti-organized crime department is working intensively on that. The project has absolute priority and we will soon make a public statement about what is happening. Some outlines of a solution have already begun to appear and this is an enormous chance to finally break the last hard core of crime,” said Đinđić.

The late prime minister was buried on March 15 on the Avenue of Heroes, in the presence of more than 70 foreign state delegations. More than 100,000 citizens joined a funeral procession along the streets of Belgrade.

Observing the sixth anniversary of his assassination, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković and members of the government will place a wreath on his memorial in the government garden, while Democratic Party (DS) MPs will place another on his grave in the New Cemetery.

Wreaths will also be placed on the memorial in the government garden in the afternoon by former members of Đinđić’s government. Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) MPs will go on a traditional walk from their party headquarters to the Avenue of Heroes.

The LDP will later hold a conference, “An Answer for the Future”, at Dom Sindikata, where the speakers will include Latinka Perović and party leader Čedomir Jovanović.

The LDP will also screen a film, “The Final Word”, at the same location, which casts light on the facts in the Đinđić murder trial.