Mafia in Croatia, Serbia “weaker than ever”

Deputy Serbian Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Bruno Vekaric announced “new blows to the (criminal) underground”. At the same time, he assessed that mafia in Serbia and Croatia were now weaker then ever. Mafia in Croatia, Serbia “weaker than ever” Vekaric pointed out that the “arrests of Sretko Kalinic and Milos Simovic”, members of the Zemun Clan gang convicted of the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic who had been at large for seven years, was "a major turning point in Serbia's history". Kalinic and Simovic had been at large since the assassination in March 2003, and they were tried in absence, whereby they were both sentenced to 30 years of prison. In an interview for the Zagreb weekly Globus, Vekaric assessed that Serbia and Croatia have excellent cooperation in the fight against crime. "The constitutional changes in Croatia which enable it to extradite its citizens to other countries if they committed a serious criminal act is a large step forward," Vekaric underscored. The paper also reported Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic's assessment of good cooperation with the Croatian prosecution. "There is no room for the perpetrators of war crimes and organized crime in Croatia and Serbia. Milos Simovic's arrest clearly shows this," Vukcevic said. "We have paved the way for close cooperation between Belgrade and Zagreb, which has become the backbone of the regional fight against organized crime," he pointed out.

Mafia in Croatia, Serbia “weaker than ever”

Vekarić pointed out that the “arrests of Sretko Kalinić and Miloš Simović”, members of the Zemun Clan gang convicted of the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić who had been at large for seven years, was "a major turning point in Serbia's history".

Kalinić and Simovic had been at large since the assassination in March 2003, and they were tried in absence, whereby they were both sentenced to 30 years of prison.

In an interview for the Zagreb weekly Globus, Vekarić assessed that Serbia and Croatia have excellent cooperation in the fight against crime.

"The constitutional changes in Croatia which enable it to extradite its citizens to other countries if they committed a serious criminal act is a large step forward," Vekarić underscored.

The paper also reported Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević's assessment of good cooperation with the Croatian prosecution.

"There is no room for the perpetrators of war crimes and organized crime in Croatia and Serbia. Miloš Simović's arrest clearly shows this," Vukčević said.

"We have paved the way for close cooperation between Belgrade and Zagreb, which has become the backbone of the regional fight against organized crime," he pointed out.