ZAGREB, June 1 (Hina) - Veselin Marinov, a Bulgarian with Croatian citizenship linked with organised crime circles, was killed on Friday by Vinko Zuljevic Klica, Zagreb police reported on Saturday.
ZAGREB, June 1 (Hina) - Veselin Marinov, a Bulgarian with Croatian
citizenship linked with organised crime circles, was killed on
Friday by Vinko Zuljevic Klica, Zagreb police reported on Saturday.
#L#
Evidence collected so far indicates that Marinov was killed by
suspect Vinko Z., police spokeswoman Stanka Saraja said at a press
conference without disclosing the suspect's surname, however,
Zuljevic was yesterday mentioned unofficially as the prime
suspect.
The suspect was arrested last night and is standing mute, Saraja
said.
According to Saraja, Marinov was killed in a Zagreb cafe yesterday
afternoon while in the company of Zuljevic and another person.
A row broke out and Zuljevic fired several shots at Marinov from his
Magnum 357, for which he has a licence, killing him on the spot.
After that, he left the bar and turned himself in about half an hour
later.
The identity of the third person is not known nor is it known if
Marinov carried a weapon and used it, Saraja said.
There are no witnesses to the murder because the guests and owner of
the cafe where the murder took place were watching a soccer game on
TV on the cafe's terrace. Saraja did confirm though that the owner
of the bar said he had heard at least four shots.
The police do not know the motives for the murder yet.
Asked if Marinov was to be a protected witness for the defence in the
trial of Zagreb mobsters at the Remetinec prison, Saraja said the
police had no such information.
Anto Nobilo, attorney for the members of the criminal underground
standing trial at Remetinec, said yesterday that Marinov had
informed him two weeks ago that the members of Vjekoslav Slisko's
clan were planning his murder.
Zuljevic was mentioned in the media as a close associate of
Vjekoslav Slisko, the head of a Zagreb mob clan killed last year in
Zagreb, and was a witness for the defence in the Remetinec trial.
Veselin Marinov was a witness in the investigation into Slisko's
murder as well. He told the police that Slisko had connections in
the police and that Ivan Brzovic and Markica Rebic, former heads of
the Croatian intelligence community, were his friends.
Marinov stood trial at the Zagreb County Court for the possession of
250 grams of heroine, but was acquitted after the testimony of
several members of the Croatian intelligence and the Service for
the Protection of the Constitutional Order.
He was also standing trial in Zagreb for organising an
international prostitution chain.
During 2000 and 2001, Bulgaria requested Croatia on several
occasions to hand Marinov over for the murder of a prostitute in
Varna in 1993.
Zuljevic will be taken before an investigating judge this
afternoon. The investigation in the case resumes.
(hina) rml