War of words over Đinđić murder background

War of words over Đinđić murder background

Terzić spoke to the media Monday, accusing minister of the interior in the Đinđić cabinet, Dušan Mihajlović, of trying to conceal his responsibility for the murder.

Mihajlović previously called on Terzić to explain why some of the conspirators in the assassination, jailed in 2001, were released from prison.

Vitorović, currently employed with the Special War Crimes Prosecution, told B92 it was Terzić who ordered the April 2001 release from prison of Zemun Clan members who later took part in the assassination.

Vitorović says he opposed the decision to set Mile Luković, the Simović brothers and Vladimir Milisavljević free, and claims the prosecution has written records about this.

The gang members were held on charges of kidnapping and forging passports.

Dušan Spasojević, marked as one of the leaders of the criminal enterprise that murdered the prime minister, was killed only days after the assassination as he resisted arrest. Spasojević also was detained with the group, but was released in September 2001.

The remaining members were set free in November the same year, and their release coincided with an armed protest staged by the Serbian state security agency (DB) Special Operations Unit (JSO).

Vitorović claims Terzić issued the order to release Zemun Clan members under pressure from the JSO, also known as the Red Berets.

The unit was disbanded in the wake of the Đinđić assassination, while much of its leadership ended up indicted of the murder and a number of other grave crimes committed over the years, including the 1999 assassination attempts on Vuk Drašković and the 2000 murder of former Serbian president Ivan Stambolić.

The unit’s former commander and his deputy, Milorad Ulemek and Zvezdan Jovanović, the first and second accused in the assassination trial, were found guilty and sentenced to 40-year jail terms each on May 23.

Even after the end of the trial, some political circles and individuals continued to voice concern that although the executors of the murder that shook Serbia—considered to have been an attack on the state itself— were tried and convicted, the political background and those that motivated and aided the perpetrators have not yet been exposed.