War crimes lawyer gets death threat

Serbia's war crimes prosecutor, Vladimir Vukcevic, has received a death threat for extraditing war crimes indictees to the Hague…

Serbia's war crimes prosecutor, Vladimir Vukcevic, has received a death threat for extraditing war crimes indictees to the Hague tribunal, his office said today.

Since Mr Vukcevic's team found and arrested Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Stojan Zupljanin last week, they have received numerous threatening telephone calls, and there was a bomb threat when Zupljanin was transferred to prison in Belgrade.

"This was a very dramatic and pointed threat," the prosecutor's spokesman Bruno Vekaric told Serbia's RTS television. "The voice said Zupljanin's arrest would be the last one tolerated, but Vukcevic will not be forgiven any more extraditions."

The call was traced by police to the Netherlands.

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In April, authorities uncovered an assassination plot targeting Mr Vukcevic which involved Bosnian Serb former security officers.

Several judges in anti-mafia trials have reported receiving death threats and a judge in southeast Serbia was killed in a bomb blast in March.

Zupljanin is currently in custody and awaiting extradition.

His arrest leaves three ethnic Serbs still on the run from the United Nations court - Bosnian Serb ex-general Ratko Mladic, his wartime political boss Radovan Karadzic and Croatian Serb wartime leader Goran Hadzic

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