SERBIAN COURT CONVICTS FORMER SECRET POLICEMEN OF KILLING A FORMER PRESIDENT.
Belgrade's Special Court on 18 July convicted eight former members of the Serbian secret police loyal to ex-President Slobodan Milosevic of killing his mentor and predecessor, Ivan Stambolic, in August 2000, and of attempting to kill prominent politician Vuk Draskovic earlier that year, the private Beta news agency reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 April and 22 and 24 September 2003). The
court handed down 40-year prison sentences to Milorad Lukovic-Ulemek (aka Legija), Branko Bercek, Dusko Maricic (aka Gumar), and Nenad Bujosevic; 15-year jail terms went to Radomir Markovic, Leonid Milivojevic, and Nenad Ilic; and Milorad Bracanovic received a
four-year sentence.
Their indictment noted that Milosevic regarded
both Stambolic and Draskovic as threats to his power. At the time of
his abduction, Stambolic was widely considered a strong contender
against Milosevic in the upcoming general elections, which ultimately brought about Milosevic's downfall.
Stambolic's remains were found in
a lime pit north of Belgrade in early 2003. The murder gripped
popular attention, and the weekly "NIN" ran the headline about the
killing: "The depths of our darkness." Legija has also been linked to
the killing of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic in March 2003. PM
