Verdict for the murder of lawyer Vladimir Zrelec to be rendered today

Verdict for the murder of lawyer Vladimir Zrelec to be rendered today

He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

This is the first verdict for the murder of a lawyer in Serbia.

Namely, this is a first instance verdict to which both the prosecution and the defense are entitled to appeal to the Belgrade Court of Appeal.

Vladimir Saranovic has been convicted of the criminal offenses of aggravated murder and the unauthorized production and selling of narcotic drugs, since a quantity of marijuana was found in the apartment where he and his wife lived.

The Prosecution considers that its allegations in the indictment have been proven and claims that the motive for killing Zrelec lies in the letter of the now-deceased Slobodan Saranovic and that Zrelec had canceled his power of attorney to Saranovic, and that there was a problem between them because Zrelec represented Milos Delibasic.

The Prosecution also claims that Vladimir was unconditionally executing all of Slobodan Saranovic's orders.

During the trial, Saranovic denied allegations of murder of a Belgrade lawyer, confirming that he knew him and that he was introduced to him by his cousin, Slobodan Saranovic.

In his closing statement, he addressed the lawyer's widow, Anja Zrelec, stating that he was sorry for the loss of her husband, but that he had nothing to do with the murder. He confessed to a marijuana related offense, found in an apartment where he was staying with his wife during nearly two years of hiding from police.

This case is related to Zrelec's representation of Vladimir's relative from Montenegro, Slobodan Saranovic, killed in Budva in 2017.

A killed Belgrade lawyer was in charge of Slobodan Saranovic's casinos and exchange offices, and was also involved in proceedings in Serbia and Montenegro against him on suspicion of ordering the murder of Nikola Bojovic and Milos Vidakovic.

Vladimir Saranovic was formerly employed by the company of his murdered cousin.

The media previously wrote that the evidence in this case also contained a letter that Zrelec said "will be given to the police if something happened to him", written by Slobodan Saranovic.

More than two years after the murder of Zrelec, Vladimir Saranovic was on the run until his arrest on January 9, 2017, in the Zrenjanin area, following a warrant issued by the Belgrade High Court. He has been in custody ever since.

He was accused of shooting lawyer Zrelec from a moving car on December 1, 2015, in front of his law office situated in Vracar.

Three weeks after the armed assault, a Belgrade lawyer succumbed to injuries at the Emergency Center.