Famous basketball referee "taken down"; Arrested with the "Vračar Clan"

Uroš Nikolić, a well-known basketball referee, was arrested on Wednesday during a large-scale police operation. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime, he is suspected of being part of a criminal organization implicated in serious offenses, reports Blic.

According to reports, referee U.N. was arrested as part of an international police operation in which a total of 10 individuals were taken into custody.

The EuroLeague website notes that he is among the referees officiating games in the competition.

He is expected to be interrogated today by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime.

In a statement, the Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that those arrested in the operation include individuals with the following initials: B.S., U.N., S.M., M.A., N.O., M.T., and M.Ć; three people in Šabac: Dj.T., S.M., and D.G.; and three abroad: M.Dj., A.O., and V.M., two of whom are in Spain.

• Large police operation at over 30 locations in Serbia: UKP and SAJ arrest “Vračar Clan”

 

What the members of “Vračar” clan are accused of

The individuals, members of the organized criminal group known as the “Vračar” clan and a closely cooperating criminal network, were arrested on grounds of reasonable suspicion for committing the following crimes under the Serbian Criminal Code:

• Criminal association for committing crimes (Article 346)

• Murder (Article 114)

• Endangering public safety (Article 278)

It is alleged that members of the “Vračar” group, whose organizers Nikola Vušović is imprisoned in Germany and Uroš Piperski in Portugal, and who are being prosecuted by the Special Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade for organized crime, committed the following:

• On December 1, 2018, they allegedly committed murder of V.P.

• In 2020, they allegedly attempted three murders of N.A.

• In 2020 and 2021, they allegedly committed three instances of endangering public safety.

Additionally, members of the associated organized crime group allegedly committed murder of K.V. on June 18, 2020, who later died from his injuries on July 12, 2020.

Details of the “Vračar” clan arrests

Police Director Dragan Vasiljević revealed that the Criminal Police Directorate, in cooperation with Europol and Eurojust, conducted two large separate arrest operations across Serbia and abroad, resulting in the arrest of 29 individuals.

• Seven members of the “Vračar” clan were arrested for suspicion of committing two murders and three attempted murders in recent years in Serbia.

• Among the murders is the killing of Vladimir Popović (43), aka Vlada Pop, who was killed in early December 2018 in a café on Vračar.

• Marko Djordjević, aka Markedjani (38), was arrested in Dubai as a suspected member of the “Vračar” group.

• The group is also suspected of three attempted murders of Nenad Alajbegović, aka Alibeg.