By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
BELGRADE, Dec 23 2003 (IPS)

Thirty-six accused went on trial Tuesday afternoon in the case of the Mar. 12 assassination of former Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic.
      Zvezdan Jovanovic, the man alleged to have shot Djindjic was arrested within days of the killing. The suspected mastermind Milorad Lukovic “Legija” has not been caught, and is being tried in absentia.

Thirty-six accused went on trial Tuesday afternoon in the case of the assassination of former Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic.

The reform-minded Djindjic died from a single sniper bullet outside the government building in Belgrade March 12.

Zvezdan Jovanovic, the man alleged to have shot Djindjic was arrested within days of the killing. The suspected mastermind Milorad Lukovic “Legija” has not been caught, and is being tried in absentia.

Lukovic (35), former commander of the notorious Special Operations Unit (JSO) of the police is reported to have fled the day Djindjic was killed. Jovanovic (38) was his deputy commander.

The JSO was disbanded after the killing of Djindjic.

Fifteen of the 36 are accused of direct involvement in the assassination.. The rest belong to a group that that aimed to topple the government, the indictment said.

The public reading of the 44-page indictment marked the opening of the biggest trial in Serbian history. The first phase will continue until December 30. The trial is expected to last a year.

The trial had formally opened Monday, but was suspended for 24 hours after defence lawyers alleged partiality of the trial chamber. Their demand was rejected and the Serbian “trial of the century” finally began Tuesday.

“This is an unprecedented number of accused in an unprecedented case in Serbian history,” a highly placed source in the judiciary told IPS. “It has political implications for the country, but could also lead to proof that crime by the state dates back to the era of Milosevic, and that Djindjic was killed to bring the old forces back to power.”

The indictment says that the Zemun Clan led by Lukovic “undertook the campaign of endangering the constitutional order of the country in order to achieve profit and gain power.” Zemun is a Belgrade neighbourhood where Lukovic and most of his associates lived.

Sitting in the dock, members of the group heard the accusation that they had sought “to create an atmosphere of uncertainty and disturbance, and to eliminate key power figures in Serbia, starting with its prime minister Mr Zoran Djindjic.”

Their final aim, the indictment says, was to bring back their allies from the administration of former president Slobodan Milosevic.

Milosevic faces trial for war crimes in Croatia and Kosovo and for genocide in Bosnia. More than 200,000 non-Serbs were killed in the wars of the 1990s that tore the former Yugoslavia apart. The JSO, Serbian police and hundreds of paramilitary units had a hand in the atrocities.

Djindjic had extradited Milosevic to face trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague in the Netherlands. That decision infuriated Serb nationalists. Members of the JSO feared that their extradition to the ICTY would be next.

Several questions remain unanswered in the assassination, despite the indictment.

Milan Veruovic, Djindjic’s bodyguard who was seriously wounded in the shooting, had told Serbian media that two snipers opened fire from opposite positions. Serbian media also reported that investigators had found evidence that the bullets could not have been fired from a single position as the official investigation suggests.

The police and the state prosecutor have dismissed these claims.

But some continue to have doubts about the trial. “There were many people who wanted to remove Djindjic from power,” analyst Ivan Torov told IPS. “They come not only from the remnants of the old regime, but also from the class that grew rich in the past years. All the blame will be put on people like Lukovic who is out of reach, or on Jovanovic if he pulled the trigger. But who was behind all that, we might never know.”

Serbia was plunged into political crisis after Djinjdic’s death. The reforms he undertook after the downfall of Milosevic three years ago have barely taken root. The deep division between the reform-oriented successors of Djindjic and his opponents blocked progress in parliament, leading to a call for early elections Dec. 28.

Serbia remains deeply divided over the wars of the 1990s, war crimes against non-Serbs and its re-integration into Europe. Nationalist parties started fanning anti-Western feelings soon after Djindjic’s death. They blamed his pro-Western approach for the impoverishment of the nation.

The democracy and reform-oriented parties face a strong challenge from Milosevic’s sympathisers in the coming elections.

Excerpt:

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
BELGRADE, Dec 23 2003 (IPS)

Thirty-six accused went on trial Tuesday afternoon in the case of the assassination of former Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic.

The reform-minded Djindjic died from a single sniper bullet outside the government building in Belgrade March 12.

Zvezdan Jovanovic, the man alleged to have shot Djindjic was arrested within days of the killing. The suspected mastermind Milorad Lukovic “Legija” has not been caught, and is being tried in absentia.

Lukovic (35), former commander of the notorious Special Operations Unit (JSO) of the police is reported to have fled the day Djindjic was killed. Jovanovic (38) was his deputy commander.

The JSO was disbanded after the killing of Djindjic.

Fifteen of the 36 are accused of direct involvement in the assassination.. The rest belong to a group that that aimed to topple the government, the indictment said.

The public reading of the 44-page indictment marked the opening of the biggest trial in Serbian history. The first phase will continue until December 30. The trial is expected to last a year.

The trial had formally opened Monday, but was suspended for 24 hours after defence lawyers alleged partiality of the trial chamber. Their demand was rejected and the Serbian “trial of the century” finally began Tuesday.

“This is an unprecedented number of accused in an unprecedented case in Serbian history,” a highly placed source in the judiciary told IPS. “It has political implications for the country, but could also lead to proof that crime by the state dates back to the era of Milosevic, and that Djindjic was killed to bring the old forces back to power.”

The indictment says that the Zemun Clan led by Lukovic “undertook the campaign of endangering the constitutional order of the country in order to achieve profit and gain power.” Zemun is a Belgrade neighbourhood where Lukovic and most of his associates lived.

Sitting in the dock, members of the group heard the accusation that they had sought “to create an atmosphere of uncertainty and disturbance, and to eliminate key power figures in Serbia, starting with its prime minister Mr Zoran Djindjic.”

Their final aim, the indictment says, was to bring back their allies from the administration of former president Slobodan Milosevic.

Milosevic faces trial for war crimes in Croatia and Kosovo and for genocide in Bosnia. More than 200,000 non-Serbs were killed in the wars of the 1990s that tore the former Yugoslavia apart. The JSO, Serbian police and hundreds of paramilitary units had a hand in the atrocities.

Djindjic had extradited Milosevic to face trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague in the Netherlands. That decision infuriated Serb nationalists. Members of the JSO feared that their extradition to the ICTY would be next.

Several questions remain unanswered in the assassination, despite the indictment.

Milan Veruovic, Djindjic’s bodyguard who was seriously wounded in the shooting, had told Serbian media that two snipers opened fire from opposite positions. Serbian media also reported that investigators had found evidence that the bullets could not have been fired from a single position as the official investigation suggests.

The police and the state prosecutor have dismissed these claims.

But some continue to have doubts about the trial. “There were many people who wanted to remove Djindjic from power,” analyst Ivan Torov told IPS. “They come not only from the remnants of the old regime, but also from the class that grew rich in the past years. All the blame will be put on people like Lukovic who is out of reach, or on Jovanovic if he pulled the trigger. But who was behind all that, we might never know.”

Serbia was plunged into political crisis after Djinjdic’s death. The reforms he undertook after the downfall of Milosevic three years ago have barely taken root. The deep division between the reform-oriented successors of Djindjic and his opponents blocked progress in parliament, leading to a call for early elections Dec. 28.

Serbia remains deeply divided over the wars of the 1990s, war crimes against non-Serbs and its re-integration into Europe. Nationalist parties started fanning anti-Western feelings soon after Djindjic’s death. They blamed his pro-Western approach for the impoverishment of the nation.

The democracy and reform-oriented parties face a strong challenge from Milosevic’s sympathisers in the coming elections.

Excerpt: