April 11, 2017<\/p>\n
By Svetlana Pali\u0107<\/em><\/p>\n Eighteen years havs elapsed since the murder of Slavko \u0106uruvija<\/strong>, owner and editor of daily newspaper Dnevni telegraf and news magazine Evropljanin, but during the course of the trial, which began almost two years ago, not even all of the prosecution witnesses have been heard to date.<\/p>\n If witness testimonies continue at this pace, a first instance judgement will not even be able to be brought in the following year.<\/p>\n Slavko \u0106uruvija was murdered at Easter on 11th<\/sup> April 1999, at the height of the NATO bombing campaign. That day he went for Sunday lunch with his friend Branko Prpa<\/strong>. As they walked around downtown Belgrade and Kalemegdan Fortress, they were followed by members of the Ninth Department of the Belgrade Centre of the State Security Service.<\/p>\n They had to immediately report every change and every detail to the Chief of the Centre, Milan Radonji\u0107<\/strong>, who was in charge of monitoring. A few minutes prior to the assassination, this monitoring was halted abruptly and the team of the Ninth department was ordered to withdraw immediately.<\/p>\n Slavko \u0106uruvija was killed by 17 gunshots in the foyer of the building at 35 Svetogorska Street.<\/p>\n The indictment for this crime was only filed 15 and a half years later, in December 2014. As is stated in the indictment, the murder of Slavko \u0106uruvija was organised at the very top of the state security service, headed by then Chief of the Sector Radomir Markovi\u0107<\/strong>. Cited as the co-organiser is Milan Radonji\u0107<\/strong>, former head of the Belgrade State Security Service Centre. Charged with actually committing the murder are Ratko Romi\u0107<\/strong>, then Chief Inspector of the Second Administration of the State Security Service, and Miroslav Kurak<\/strong>, a State Security Service reservist. According to the indictment, Kurak shot \u0106uruvija, while Romi\u0107 used the butt of his gun to strike Branko Prpa in the back of his head.<\/p>\n Markovi\u0107 is serving a 40-year prison terms for the attempted assassination of Vuk Dra\u0161kovi\u0107<\/strong> on the Ibar Highway, while he was previously found guilty of organising the attempted assassination of Dra\u0161kovi\u0107 in Budva and the murder of Ivan Stamboli\u0107<\/strong> on Fru\u0161ka Gora.<\/p>\n Radonji\u0107 and Romi\u0107 have been in custody since January 2014. The Trial Chamber did not accept the insistence of their lawyer, Zore Dobri\u010danin Nikodinovi\u0107<\/strong>, that they be allowed to defend themselves from freedom. Miroslav Kurak is on the run and is being tried in absentia.<\/p>\n \u201cThe State bodies in charge of bringing him [Kurak] to justice must know that their work is not finished with the issuing of warrants for his arrest. The public has a right to know whether our country is waiting for him to appear at one of Europe\u2019s borders or whether it has a concrete plan to discover where he\u2019s hiding and bring him in,\u201d reads the statement of the Commission for investigation murders of journalists, which was signed by its president, Veran Mati\u0107<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The trial for \u0106uruvija\u2019s murder began on 1st<\/sup> June 2015 in the building of the Special Department for Organised Crime of the Higher Court in Belgrade\u2019s Ustani\u010dka Street. At the preliminary hearing the prosecution proposed 90 witnesses, while the number of defence witnesses is still unknown.<\/p>\n It was stated at the beginning of the trial that the lawyers of the four accused would call around 20 witnesses, but the exact number is still unknown, also due to the fact that the court may reject defence proposals that it deems to be unfounded.<\/p>\n The Trail Chamber\u2019s three-judge panel, presided over by Sne\u017eana Jovanovi\u0107<\/strong>, heard the testimonies of 24 prosecution witnesses in the first year.<\/p>\n They were all employees of the State Security Service. The majority of them are members of the Ninth (monitoring) department, which followed \u0106uruvija 24 hours a day from 8th<\/sup> to 11th<\/sup> April. These witnesses generally had poor recollections of what they did on that day, where they were, how they reported and what they saw and heard.<\/p>\n It was confirmed irrefutably, however, that as many as 27 members of the State Security Service were following \u0106uruvija continuously, in shifts, 24 hours a day. And that they were suddenly withdrawn minutes prior to the murder, so that \u2013 according to the indictment \u2013 they would not be seen by the killer, thereby leaving the target unprotected.<\/p>\n The second year of the trial saw 39 witnesses heard, with the trial chamber having decided to schedule more than two hearings per month, which was the amount generally held during 2015.<\/p>\n Among the witnesses was also Milorad Ulemek aka Legija<\/strong>, former commander of the Special Operations Unit. His testimony in January 2014 \u2013 when he stated that he had heard from Radomir Markovi\u0107 who the killers of \u0106uruvija were, and that prior to that he had been asked by the State Security Service Chief to kill the owner of Dnevni Telegraf<\/em> \u2013 was presented in the media as being crucial to filing the indictment.<\/p>\n Ulemek, who is serving a combined 40-year sentence at the Po\u017earevac \u201cAlcatraz\u201d for the murders of Zoran<\/strong> \u0110in\u0111i\u0107<\/strong> and Ivan Stamboli<\/strong>\u0107<\/strong> and the assassination attempts on Vuk<\/strong> Dra\u0161kovi\u0107<\/strong> in Budva and on the Ibar highway, testified before the Trial Chamber on 27th<\/sup> September 2016.<\/p>\n Ulemek repeated part of his testimony, in which he stated that Markovi\u0107 told him after one meeting that his navigators in his next action would be \u201cthose Radonja\u2019s who killed \u0106uruvija\u201d (Romi\u0107 and Kurak), but under direct questioning by deputy prosecutor Milenko Mandi<\/strong>\u0107<\/strong> he declined to repeat his claim that Radomir Markovi\u0107 asked him, with his Special Operations Unit, to organise the murder of the Dnevni Telegraf<\/em> owner.<\/p>\n According to Ulemek\u2019s previous testimony, Markovi\u0107 had said: \u201cIt is necessary to remove one person who, with his current hostile activities, is seriously threatening the security of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n Before the court, Ulemek invoked his right not to have to say something that could lead to him being exposed to further prosecution. He also said that him and his family are being threatened, indirectly alluding to the accused Romi\u0107.<\/p>\n It is interesting that the last witness to have so far testified, Zoran Stijovi\u0107<\/strong>, a former State Security Service official, accused Radonji\u0107 of murder threats. Stijovi\u0107 testified on the destruction of State Security Service documentation, including parts of the Slavko \u0106uruvija dossier.<\/p>\n The same reason \u2013 fears for the safety of family members \u2013 also led to former Zemun Clan members, brothers Milo\u0161 and Aleksandar Simovi\u0107, not wanting to testify in detail. However, from their testimonies, as well as the testimonies of protected witnesss Dejan Milenkovi\u0107 aka Bagzi\u00a0and Miladin Suvajd\u017ei\u0107, known as \u0110ura Mutavi, it was confirmed that Ulemek asked the Zemun Clan to murder Kurak and Romi\u0107, who he said had killed \u0106uruvija.<\/p>\n Ulemek\u2019s testimony was presented in the media as being crucial, though the prosecutor\u2019s office distanced itself from such claims. However, expectations are high, so there were conflicting reactions following the testimony.<\/p>\n Then president of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, Vuka\u0161in Obradovi\u0107<\/strong> stated for publication Novi magazin<\/em>:<\/p>\n \u201cThe prosecution has obviously succumbed to pressure to complete this process as soon as possible, even with the help of Milorad Ulemek Legija. After what Ulemek testified, it seems to me that it\u2019s clear such a strategy was a mistake, because the court hasn\u2019t offered any new material evidence that would confirm the allegations in the indictment.\u201d<\/p>\n The legal representative of Slavko \u0106uruvija\u2019s children Jelena and Rade<\/strong>, Slobodan<\/strong> Ru\u017ei\u0107<\/strong>, reacted sharply to Obradovi\u0107\u2019s statement: he considers Ulemek\u2019s testimony is being valid, because it is clear that Radomir Markovi\u0107, with his statement \u201cthose Radonja\u2019s who killed \u0106uruvija\u201d, practically suggesting who the assassins were.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter 2000 there was some kind of order for the members of the Zemun Clan to kill Romi\u0107 and Kurako, and after to come to his [Ulemek\u2019s] place, and that later that order was revoked,\u201d said Ru\u017ei\u0107 for the same \u00a0\u00a0publication.<\/p>\n Veran Mati\u0107, President of the Commission for the Investigation of Murders of Journalists, had a similar impression. He stated immediately after the former SOU commander had testified:<\/p>\n \u201cMilorad Ulemek confirmed that Radomir Markovi\u0107 told him who the killers were, and he said that he sticks by his previous statement that Radomir Markovi\u0107 asked him to kill Kurako and Romi\u0107, as well as that he was threatened to withdraw from testifying. More than this couldn\u2019t even have been expected. The case, after his testimony, is even stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n A few days before Ulemek, on 23rd<\/sup> September 2016, testimony was given by Zoran Mijatovi\u0107<\/strong>, deputy chief of the State Security Service after the 5th<\/sup> October revolution. He said that there are links between the State Security Service and the murder:<\/p>\n \u201cThere cannot be coincidence in the fact that the Service followed both Slavko \u0106uruvija and Vuk Dra\u0161kovi\u0107, and that both times the monitoring was stopped just before the murder.\u201d<\/p>\n Also testifying before the three-judge trial chamber were senior officials of state and public security services, Milorad Bracanovi\u0107<\/strong> and Dragan Karleu\u0161a<\/strong>, Rodoljub Milovi\u0107<\/strong>, Mile Novakovi\u0107<\/strong> and Boro Banjac<\/strong>. Some of them had investigated the murder of Slavko \u0106uruvija and served as senior officials in \u201cPoskok\u201d and the later established UBPOK \u2013 police units formed with the aim of shedding light on murders considered as having a political motive.<\/p>\n Two of three crimes have been solved (the murder of Ivan Stamboli\u0107 and the attempted assassination of Vuk Dra\u0161kovi\u0107 on the Ibar Highway), while the murder of Slavko \u0106uruvija remains without an epilogue.<\/p>\n Failing to show at the trial were former State Security chief Jovica Stani\u0161i\u0107<\/strong> and his deputy, the creator of Ulemek\u2019s \u201cRed Berets\u201d SOU, Franko Simatovi\u0107 aka Frenki<\/strong>. Stani\u0161i\u0107 is said to be seriously ill, while Simatovi\u0107 was scheduled to testify three times, but didn\u2019t show up even once. Thus the court has yet to hear an explanation for the prosecution\u2019s claim that Simatovi\u0107 spoke with Miroslav Kurako three times on the day of the murder.<\/p>\n The trial\u2019s latest hearing saw testimony given by former Interior Minister Du\u0161an Mihajlovi\u0107<\/strong>, who repeated the statements \u201cI don\u2019t remember\u201d and \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d so many times that reporters counted that during just the first day of his two-day testimony he uttered them as many as a hundred times.<\/p>\n In the opinion of the lawyer of the defendants, \u201cthis kind of trial process only harms families and the public\u201d.<\/p>\n Radomir Markovi\u0107\u2019s lawyer, Vladimir Marinkov<\/strong>, says that after two years of the trial it cannot be said that revealing the murderer of Slavko \u0106uruvija is closer now than before indictments were filed in this case.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter a huge number of prosecution witnesses, the only thing we can conclude is that the prosecution is trying to disguise the lack of evidence and the fact that is has accused innocent people with this kind of approach to the trial. From month to month we hear from witnesses who have no knowledge of the subject matter of this trial, there is no physical evidence, and the proceedings amounts to questioning the work of various state bodies and services in the period between 1998 and 2003. Today it is quite clear that the indictment in this case is contrived and filed only to lead a trial, without any tangible evidence whatsoever, and even before light has been shed on the most basic facts relating to this case,\u201d considers Marinkov.<\/p>\n It remains for the testimonies of 27 prosecution witnesses to be heard, for physical evidence to be revealed and for defence witnesses to be heard. To date the exact number of defence witnesses is unknown, as the trial chamber has yet to make its final decision on this issue.<\/p>\n It is certain, as confirmed for us by Miroslav Kurako\u2019s lawyer Stevan Proti\u0107<\/strong>, that he will not propose a single witness, Radomir Markovi\u0107\u2019s lawyers will have several (\u201caround ten\u201d), while the most defence witnesses are expected to be called by Zore Dobri\u010danin Nikodinovi\u0107<\/strong>, defending Radonji\u0107 and Romi\u0107.<\/p>\n To date there have been speculations on a figure of thirty defence witnesses, but it is pointless to discuss this further until the Trial Chamber has its final say.<\/p>\n The trial for the murder of Slavko \u0106uruvija continues on 12th<\/sup> May 2017 with the testimonies of three witnesses who didn\u2019t get their turn in April, despite being planned. Among them is former State Security Chief Goran Petrovi\u0107<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nikola Radi\u0161i\u0107, journalist of N1 TV, believes that this trial is followed more than others, but that there is a striking lack of analysis and, more importantly, comments and positions of the prosecution. He says that even when the media try to get a comment, they are confronted by a wall of silence from the prosecution, which is not good in a case that is of great importance to the public.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough it seems that the trial is lasting indefinitely, it is still scheduled and connected more often and faster than most others. Once a month, between three and five days of trial, is much better than the average of the judiciary in Serbia. However, the hearings themselves are very slow. The questioning of witnesses is endless, with them posed a series of the same questions, which are often repeated, so one gets the impression that the witnesses are being deliberately bombarded with questions. In the end they seem completely exhausted and often distracted, and their testimony becomes increasingly unclear,\u201d says Radi\u0161i\u0107.<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t expect a verdict to be forthcoming anytime soon, \u201cand when it comes, it will be a first instance\u201d verdict. \u201cConsidering how most publicly interesting trials go, I don\u2019t think it will be the final one either. This means that we won\u2019t have an epilogue to this trial for a few more years, and even then we perhaps won\u2019t have the epilogue of the case.\u201d<\/p>\n From the questions of the trial chamber, says Politika<\/em> journalist Dorotea \u010carni\u0107, it is clear that they are particularly interested in the white Golf [VW car], which belonged to the Department, and which was used by defendant Ratko Romi\u0107.<\/p>\n \u010carni\u0107 says that the most siginificant thing is that the majority of witnesses confirmed the unusual activity of the Belgrade State Security Service Centre on the day of and before the murder, in terms of intense monitoring and untypically frequent reporting of chief Milan Radonji\u0107 regarding \u0106uruvija\u2019s movement, as well as the fact that the tracking was halted directly before the murder.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this juncture it\u2019s difficult to predict how long the process could last, but it is certain that we\u2019re a long way from the first instance verdict,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Veran Mati\u0107, President of the Commission for the Investigation of Murders of Journalists, believes that the \u0106uruvija case must be a priority.<\/p>\n \u201cThis trial could be effectively conducted with a greater number of days of questioning witnesses, because the fact that we waited far too long for the judicial process justifies some kind of priority when it comes to the public interest,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amnesty International also pointed out the importance of the \u0106uruvija case in its latest report.<\/p>\n At the same time, however, the part of the report in which Amnesty International claims that the trial for the murder of \u0106uruvija was stalled due to a \u201ckey witness\u201d not showing up \u2013 is not correct.<\/p>\n Todor Gardos subsequently explained to the Slavko \u0106uruvija Foundation that they had been referring to Milorad Ulemek. Ulemek, however, testified in September 2016.<\/p>\n Officials of the High Court in Belgrade say that AI\u2019s claims are incorrect, that all witnesses respond to court summons and that there has been no stalling, with only one hearing delayed of the 50 that had been scheduled until that time.<\/p>\n On the other hand, both prosecution and defence lawyers agree that there have been delays and obstructions to the investigation, which has not been completed after a full 15 years.<\/p>\n April 11, 2017 It is unclear how long the trial will last for the murder of \u0106uruvija, carried out precisely 18 years ago. Almost two years after the start of the trial of four defendents, an end is still not in sight By Svetlana Pali\u0107 Eighteen years havs elapsed since the murder of Slavko \u0106uruvija, owner and editor of daily newspaper Dnevni telegraf and news magazine Evropljanin, but during the course of the trial, which began almost two years ago, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content-en"],"yoast_head":"\nIndictment 15 and a half years later<\/h2>\n
Only 24 witnesses heard in the first year<\/h2>\n
Testimony of Milorad Ulemek<\/h2>\n
State Security links with the murder<\/h2>\n
Number of defence witnesses unknown<\/h2>\n
\nOBSERVER\u2019S IMPRESSIONS: WE\u2019RE A LONG WAY FROM AN EPILOGUE<\/h2>\n
\nAMNESTY INTERNATIONAL\u2019S MISTAKE<\/h2>\n
\n
\nPhoto: Dalibor Danilovi\u0107<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"