Interestingly, these operations involved organized crime groups not only from Serbia, but also from neighboring countries. The final destination for most of the shipments was Western Europe. These routes were controlled by the BIA, whose role was to ensure a smooth transition of goods through Serbian territory. For this, the Zemun Clan tapped the routes that were used to traffic oil and cigarettes during the UN-imposed sanctions in the 1990s. Īccording to an investigative reporter with expertise in organized crime, Dejan Anastasijevic, the main source of revenue for the Zemun Clan before Djindjic’s assassination-apart from kidnappings, extortion, and contract murders-was drug trafficking. This nexus between state officials, special police forces, and multiethnic organized crime groups with cross border activities, established during the 1990s and best described in the popular saying, “every state has its mafia, but only in Serbia the mafia has its state,” managed to survive long after Milosevic was toppled in 2000. The clan’s drug trafficking network extended from Bulgaria and Macedonia in the north, through Kosovo in the south, and stretched into Western Europe.
Ulemek had strong personal ties with the criminal underground in Serbia, especially with the Zemun Clan, whose bosses were Dusan “Siptar” Spasojevic and Mile “Kum” Lukovic. Led by Milorad Ulemek, an ex-French Foreign Legionnaire, the unit served Milosevic and his wife by conducting political assassinations, smuggling operations, and other tasks to protect the regime in general. The State Security Service was later renamed the Security Information Agency (BIA). The JSO was an elite police unit founded in the 1990s by Milosevic and Jovica Stanisic, the chief of the State Security Service. The rebellion is a crucial event for understanding the political background of the assassination. In November 2010, seven years after the assassination, Srdja Popovic, Djindjic’s family lawyer, filed criminal charges against the Special Operations Unit(JSO), for its participation in the 2001 rebellion. Therefore, it is crucial for both Serbia and the region to probe into the political background of the assassination and to prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law. Additionally, given that Serbia is one of the most influential countries in the western Balkans, such obstacles to emerging democratic institutions could have ramifications for the stability of the region. As long as the political sponsors responsible for his murder are not put on trial, this bullet will continue to rip through weak Serbian institutions and serve as a warning to any progressive individual or group not to rock the boat. In this sense, the bullet that went through Djindjic’s heart was aimed directly at the future of democracy in Serbia. It was a show of power that serves even today as a warning to anyone who dares to democratize Serbia by building strong democratic institutions and securing the rule of law. It was also an attempt to secure impunity for war criminals still active in the Serbian police and military forces. This article argues that the assassination was the result of a struggle between organized crime forces and modernizing and democratizing forces in Serbia. Djindjic’s assassination was not only a personal loss for his family and friends, but it was also a defining event of the period that came after the toppling of dictator Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000.
We are now in 2012 and the question asked by Vasic remains unanswered. This is how Milos Vasic ended his excellent book Atentat na Zorana in 2005, two years before the Special Court for Organized Crime sentenced twelve men, including Milorad Ulemek, also known as “Legija,” and Zvezdan Jovanovic, also known as “Zveki,” to a total of 378 years for the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Dr. But what has the assassination of Zoran Djindjic brought to those who were using political dogmas, prejudices, and ideology as an excuse for this crime? The process of returning Serbia to a normal state and its transformation into a well-governed country appears to be irreversible. “Here is the question-still unanswered-who are the masterminds behind Duca, Legija, and Zveki? Although some politicians have hinted and part of the public is convinced they exist, the official investigation has not clearly indicted anyone.
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