Word: djindjic
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Serbia's slain Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was never terribly popular. But he was the closest thing his country had to a reformer in its political ranks. He had plans for fixing the economy. And he had plans for cleaning up the security forces that were tainted by their role during the bloody rule of strongman Slobodan Milosevic...
...plans, as described to TIME by police officials wrapping up their investigation into the plot, only began with the March 12 assassination. After the hit, the conspirators decided they would lie low while the government teetered. Then they would strike again--first at a Foreign Minister, then at two Djindjic aides. As panic spread, a special unit of the state security forces known as the Red Berets--some of whose commanders carried out the assassination--would step forward as guardian of the peace. The government would be forced to step down, and allies of Milosevic's bloody regime would volunteer...
Happily, exactly the opposite happened: the assassination resulted in a massive crackdown against criminal elements of the old regime still operating in Serbia's security forces. Code-named Operation Sabre, the investigation into Djindjic's murder has produced truck loads of evidence for the special prosecutor's office. The conspirators, police say, were led by two men: Milorad (Legija) Lukovic, still at large, and Dusan Spasojevic, who was killed resisting arrest. Both men served with the Red Berets, which has been linked to war crimes and now to dozens of political murders under the Milosevic regime. So far, 45 conspirators...
...killers of Zoran Djindjic, it turns out, had quite a plan. It started with the death of the Serbian Prime Minister on March 12, but did not end there. After the Djindjic hit, the conspirators planned to lie low while the government teetered; then they would strike again - first Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, then two top Djindjic aides. As panic spread, the special forces unit known as the Red Berets - some of whose commanders carried out the Djindjic murder - would step forward, posing as guardians of the peace. They would urge calm, and dispatch letters to local politicians and foreign...
...crimes and, now, to dozens of political murders under the Milosevic regime. Legija was "a killer paid by the state," according to Kandic, and had been running a drug trafficking and extortion ring out of the tiny Belgrade suburb of Zemun. The group had infiltrated not just Prime Minister Djindjic's security, but the prosecutor's office, where Djindjic's government had been preparing indictments against them. On the day Djindjic was killed, one conspirator was monitoring the Prime Minister's movements on closed-circuit television in state security offices and relaying the information to the assassin. "We knew...