SERBIA: A former elite police officer accused of assassinating prime minister Zoran Djindjic was led handcuffed into court yesterday as 36 suspects faced trial in Serbia over the killing and other mafia-style crimes.
Ex-deputy commander Mr Zvezdan Jovanovic (38), of the feared Red Berets paramilitary unit, showed little emotion as he sat grim-faced next to other defendants behind bullet-proof glass.
Authorities blame gangster bosses linked to the Milosevic-era elite police unit for the March 12th murder of the pro-Western leader, who helped oust Slobodan Milosevic in 2000 and angered nationalists by sending him to The Hague war crimes court.
The trial started just days before a December 28th election pits Djindjic allies against resurgent hardline nationalists in a vote that could determine the fate of his pro-market reforms. The alleged mastermind of the killing, former Red Berets chief Milorad "Legija" Lukovic, and 14 other people suspected of conspiring or taking part in an assassination that shocked the West remain at large and will be tried in their absence.
The trial was adjourned until today after lawyers for the defendants complained their legal rights had been violated, saying they had not been given access to all documents and needed more time.
In a tense courtroom confrontation, they demanded that the panel of three judges and the prosecutor be taken off the case.
"The court treats us as enemies," Biljana Kajganic, who represents a suspect still on the run, told reporters.
Witnesses said Djindjic's mother attended the trial opening, as did a bodyguard wounded in the shooting. He has challenged the official version that one gunman fired two bullets, saying he heard three shots and believed there were two shooters.
Officials say a powerful crime gang led by Mr Lukovic aimed to topple the government with the help of the war-hardened special police he once commanded, in a plot called "Stop The Hague".
Many people in the country see the UN war crimes tribunal as anti-Serb. Mr Milosevic is on trial in The Hague accused of genocide and other war crimes.
Some 21 suspects were arrested in a massive dragnet after Djindjic was shot by a sniper outside government headquarters. Crime gangs linked to state security flourished under Milosevic when Serbia was isolated internationally. Officials said Djindjic planned a crackdown when he was killed. - (Reuters)