POLITICS-SERBIA: Organised Crime Cleaned Up, at a Cost

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic Reprint | | Print |

Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Apr 29 2003 (IPS) - The state of emergency was lifted in Serbia last week after a massive drive against organised crime under its cover.

The emergency, under which several individual rights were suspended, was lifted 42 days after it was imposed following the assassination of former prime minister Zoran Djindjic.

"The state of emergency, imposed for the first time in our modern history, enabled us to break the backbone of one of the most dangerous legacies of the former regime – organised crime," said Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic in a public address.

Investigation of the assassination established that the so-called Zemun Clan was behind the killing.

The Clan’s leaders were found to be former members of the secret police unit, the Red Berets, notorious for war crimes against non-Serbs in the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

The unit was created out of ordinary criminals under the regime of former leader Slobodan Milosevic in 1991, the police said. The unit was incorporated into the Serbian police in 1996.

The investigation proved what many had suspected for years. Red Berets took part in killings that eliminated competition to the Zemun Clan, and helped establish it as a dominant criminal group.

Profits from illegal operations like the smuggling of petrol and cigarettes were divided between the Clan and top officials of Milosevic’s regime. The regime also used the Clan for killing and abducting political opponents.

Many of these killings left people stunned. One such case was the murder of Ivan Stambolic, a political opponent of Milosevic. His remains were found only last month, when an arrested member of the Red Berets gave information under interrogation.

The police have brought charges against Milosevic and eight other persons for this crime.

"In the broad action under the state of emergency, we detained more than 10,000 people and 2,500 of them remain in custody," deputy Interior Minister Sreten Lukic told journalists last week.

"That enabled us to solve 15 killings and eight abductions of the late nineties, and to break 200 drug trading rings linked to the Zemun Clan," he said. "We have confiscated more than 40,000 pieces of illegal weapons, together with 11,500 rocket propelled grenade launchers and explosive devices. We have confiscated even one recoilless gun and an anti-aircraft missile launcher from civilians."

The new government had failed to dismantle the Red Berets after Milosevic’s fall from power in 2000. Such was the power of the Red Berets that the government was grateful to its commander at the time, Milorad Lukovic "Legija" for not intervening against people in the mass demonstrations that toppled Milosevic.

It appears now that sections of the new government were linked to the Clan. A separate investigation will be carried out to determine that.

The investigation in the assassination case established that Lukovic and a group of 18 people were directly behind the killing of Djindjic. Lukovic is still on the run, two members of the group were killed while resisting arrest, while the rest are behind bars.

The investigation established also that the judiciary was in some areas controlled by organised crime. The deputy state prosecutor of Serbia who was arrested recently has admitted being on the payroll of the Zemun Clan for years. He set aside all criminal charges brought by the police against the Clan.

But successful as they were, the actions of the Serbian authorities under the state of emergency prompted strong protests from human rights groups.

Many condemned the provision to detain suspects for up to 60 days without access to lawyers. "Thousands of people are still detained and the police used violence in obtaining confessions," Natasa Kandic, head of the Humanitarian Law Centre in Belgrade told IPS. "One cannot go into democracy with such repressive laws being introduced."

Most people, however, supported the government action. A survey by the Strategic Marketing Polling Agency showed that 73 per cent of the people supported the stringent measures.

"People feel it was high time to wipe out the remnants of Milosevic’s regime that has eaten their lives for 10 years," sociologist Slobodan Antonic told IPS. "They were fed up with what they saw and knew, but could not prove. Organised crime spread like a cancer through the whole society. This had to be done some time, and many feel it is better late than never."