BELGRADE, Sept 10 (Hina) - A former chief in the Serbian interior ministry's security service, Radomir Markovic, admitted during an investigation into the assassination of Premier Zoran Djindjic, that former Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic ordered the murder of Ivan Stambolic who went missing in August 2000 and whose body was found on Fruska Gora hill in April this year, the Belgrade daily "Kurir" stated.
BELGRADE, Sept 10 (Hina) - A former chief in the Serbian interior
ministry's security service, Radomir Markovic, admitted during an
investigation into the assassination of Premier Zoran Djindjic,
that former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic ordered the
murder of Ivan Stambolic who went missing in August 2000 and whose
body was found on Fruska Gora hill in April this year, the Belgrade
daily "Kurir" stated. #L#
The paper claimed on Wednesday that Markovic informed that
Stambolic's executioner was Milorad Lukovic Legija, a former
commander of the special operations unit (the so-called "Red
Berets") who is the prime suspect in Djindjic's murder on March 12,
this year.
"With regard to the office I held at the time, I often spoke to
Slobodan Milosevic face to face. I know that he often remarked that
the opposition in Serbia was made up of sheer bandits that should be
liquidated and that they should all be blown up at some meeting when
they were all together," the "Kurir" cites a statement Markovic
gave during the investigation. Markovic claims he could not agree
with the elimination of his political opponents.
One day, the daily continues, Markovic invited Legija to his
office. "Legija answered me immediately without even my asking him
anything and said that he had been given the task by Milosevic, to
liquidate Stambolic," Markovic said.
Legija also told me that Milosevic told him that Stambolic's
execution was a matter of State and of high priority and that
serious repercussions could be expected should Stambolic be
allowed to continue being involved in politics, the daily cites
Markovic's statement during the investigation.
Following the Sabre operation which the police conducted after the
Djindjic's and the discovery of Stambolic's body, an indictment was
issued against five members of the special operations unit,
charging them with these murders.
Milosevic himself in Scheveningen Detention in The Hague refused
recently to make any statement on this matter saying that he would
give his statement to investigating judges in Belgrade.
(hina) sp ms