Gangster "wrote" about SNS leader hit

The alleged plan to assassinate opposition SNS leader Tomislav Nikolic was revealed in a letter written by Milos Simovic, Belgrade daily Politika writes. Simovic was arrested last month after spending seven years on the run. He was a member of the notorious Zemun Clan crime group, and was sentenced in absentia to 30 years in prison for taking part in the 2003 conspiracy to murder Zoran Djindjic. Gangster "wrote" about SNS leader hit Now Simovic in his letter warned Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac that another gangster, Luka Bojovic, and his team were planning the assassination of the SNS party leader under orders from Vojislav Seselj, writes the daily. “According to what he’s written, the assassination plan is still active. Simovic claims he knew about the conspiracy to kill Nikolic but that he was not supposed to be a direct perpetrator,“ the daily’s source claimed. The source also pointed out that Simovic said "they did not give up on the plan even after he was arrested". “The letter contains some 15 sentences, but Simovic so far has not revealed the details about how and to whom Seselj conveyed such a message from his detention at the Hague (Tribunal), the details of it was to be carried out, nor the amount of money which was possibly offered to the assassins,“ the daily's source was quoted. The Nikolic assassination was planned before the shooting near Zagreb when Milos Simovic wounded Sretko Kalinic after which both were arrested – Kalinic in Zagreb and Simovic at the Serbian-Croatian border, writes the newspaper. Meanwhile, the Director of the Administration for the Execution of Penitentiary Sanctions Milan Obradovic said that nobody visited Simovic in prison last Sunday, including the Security-Information Agency (BIA) personnel. Some media reported on Wednesday that such a visit had occurred. As for Nikolic, the alleged target of the assassination, he said he had learned about it from the highest place in the state and that he was convinced he "must not take it lightly". The SNS leader pointed out that he "did not doubt" that the order to kill him had come from The Hague from the leader of the Serb Radical Party (SRS) Vojislav Seselj, and said that he "did not know what was going on with the man whom he had not seen in a normal state for years”. When asked why he thought Seselj would want him dead, Nikolic said it was because the SRS leader was "attempting to remove himself from the responsibility for the disaster of his party". For years, Nikolic was Seselj's closest associate, until he formed the SRS offshoot party, SNS. Seselj has been detained at the Hague since early 2003, and is on trial on charges of war crimes.

Gangster "wrote" about SNS leader hit

Now Simović in his letter warned Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac that another gangster, Luka Bojović, and his team were planning the assassination of the SNS party leader under orders from Vojislav Šešelj, writes the daily.

“According to what he’s written, the assassination plan is still active. Simović claims he knew about the conspiracy to kill Nikolić but that he was not supposed to be a direct perpetrator,“ the daily’s source claimed.

The source also pointed out that Simović said "they did not give up on the plan even after he was arrested".

“The letter contains some 15 sentences, but Simović so far has not revealed the details about how and to whom Šešelj conveyed such a message from his detention at the Hague (Tribunal), the details of it was to be carried out, nor the amount of money which was possibly offered to the assassins,“ the daily's source was quoted.

The Nikolić assassination was planned before the shooting near Zagreb when Miloš Simović wounded Sretko Kalinić after which both were arrested – Kalinić in Zagreb and Simović at the Serbian-Croatian border, writes the newspaper.

Meanwhile, the Director of the Administration for the Execution of Penitentiary Sanctions Milan Obradović said that nobody visited Simović in prison last Sunday, including the Security-Information Agency (BIA) personnel.

Some media reported on Wednesday that such a visit had occurred.

As for Nikolić, the alleged target of the assassination, he said he had learned about it from the highest place in the state and that he was convinced he "must not take it lightly".

The SNS leader pointed out that he "did not doubt" that the order to kill him had come from The Hague from the leader of the Serb Radical Party (SRS) Vojislav Šešelj, and said that he "did not know what was going on with the man whom he had not seen in a normal state for years”.

When asked why he thought Šešelj would want him dead, Nikolić said it was because the SRS leader was "attempting to remove himself from the responsibility for the disaster of his party".

For years, Nikolić was Šešelj's closest associate, until he formed the SRS offshoot party, SNS.

Šešelj has been detained at the Hague since early 2003, and is on trial on charges of war crimes.