BELGRADE, Dec 24 (Hina) - The trial of 36 persons indicted for the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was discontinued on Wednesday after some of defence attorneys walked out of the courtroom.
BELGRADE, Dec 24 (Hina) - The trial of 36 persons indicted for the
assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was
discontinued on Wednesday after some of defence attorneys walked out
of the courtroom.#L#
The reason for the attorneys leaving the special court for organised
crime in Belgrade was their protest against the decision of presiding
judge Marko Kljajevic to read out the April 7 statement of Zvezdan
Jovanovic, accused of killing the prime minister and wounding his
bodyguard with a sniper rifle. The defence attorneys requested that
all statements given by their clients be excluded from the case file.
When previously asked to enter his plea, Jovanovic decided to defend
himself by remaining silent, saying that he was subjected to extreme
pressure from executive authorities and did not trust the Serbian
judiciary.
The trial of the 36 indictees -- 14 of whom are still at large,
including the principal indictee, Milorad Lukovic aka Legija --
started yesterday and is expected to last until the end of this week,
when it will be adjourned until mid-January.
(Hina) rml