Pukanić case suspect in 48-hour custody

Serbian police (MUP) have decided to remand Milenko Kuzmanovic in 48-hour custody. He was arrested on Saturday in Belgrade under suspicion of involvement in last fall's murder of Croat journalist and publisher Ivo Pukanic in Zagreb. Another person died in the blast. Pukanic case suspect in 48-hour custody Vreme weekly journalist Dejan Anastasijevic says that Kuzmanovic, known to police both in Serbia and Croatia, is suspected of being the very person who "brought the explosives used to assassinate Pukanic from Serbia to Croatia". Anastasijevic reminded that the suspect was also believed to have been the person who was to enable Robert and Luka Matanic, another two suspects in the case, to flee after the attack. But after spending 55 days in detention in Croatia, Kuzmanovic was released due to a lack of evidence, and returned to Serbia. "In the meantime, the Croatian police got an insider witness from the very crew that explained Kuzmanovic's role, then a request was sent from Croatia to our authorities to arrest him. Now he's arrested, and an investigation is expected to start, followed by an indictment," said Anastasijevic. This journalist also said that Kuzmanovic was indirectly close to Sreten Jocic, a.k.a. Joca Amsterdam, arrested in connection to the same case, and that a close friend of Jocic's had tried to transfer "the crew of killers" from Croatia to Serbia. Anastasijevic said that cooperation between the two countries' police forces "really is yielding results lately", and expressed his expectation that "this time, they will go all the way when it comes to breaking up criminal organizations".

Pukanić case suspect in 48-hour custody

Vreme weekly journalist Dejan Anastasijević says that Kuzmanović, known to police both in Serbia and Croatia, is suspected of being the very person who "brought the explosives used to assassinate Pukanić from Serbia to Croatia".

Anastasijević reminded that the suspect was also believed to have been the person who was to enable Robert and Luka Matanić, another two suspects in the case, to flee after the attack.

But after spending 55 days in detention in Croatia, Kuzmanović was released due to a lack of evidence, and returned to Serbia.

"In the meantime, the Croatian police got an insider witness from the very crew that explained Kuzmanović's role, then a request was sent from Croatia to our authorities to arrest him. Now he's arrested, and an investigation is expected to start, followed by an indictment," said Anastasijević.

This journalist also said that Kuzmanović was indirectly close to Sreten Jocić, a.k.a. Joca Amsterdam, arrested in connection to the same case, and that a close friend of Jocić's had tried to transfer "the crew of killers" from Croatia to Serbia.

Anastasijević said that cooperation between the two countries' police forces "really is yielding results lately", and expressed his expectation that "this time, they will go all the way when it comes to breaking up criminal organizations".