Police commander held over Serbian PM’s murder

THE SUSPECTED mastermind behind last year’s assassination of Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic has surrendered to local police.

Serbian security officials say former special police commander Milorad “Legija” Lukovic gave himself up on Sunday outside his house in a Belgrade suburb.

The former French foreign legionnaire, who authorities have linked to a Belgrade mafia group, had been on the run for a year.

He was wanted as Serbia’s number-one fugitive for his alleged involvement in the killing of the prime minister in the country’s first non-communist government since World War II.

Mr Djindjic, a pro-western reformer who helped topple former Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic, was killed by a sniper outside government offices in central Belgrade in March, 2003.

The suspected gunman, Zvezdan Jovanovic, allegedly confessed to the assassination. However, during his trial, defence lawyers claimed his confession was made under duress.

Police have named 13 suspects alleged to be part of plot by the Zemun Clan crime gang to kill Mr Djindjic to head off crime reforms he was said to be undertaking. Five people, including the alleged gunman, are currently on trial for the murder.

One theory suggested that Mr Djindjic was killed for his part in the extradition of Milosevic to The Hague to stand trial at the UN war-crimes tribunal. Investigators now hope that the arrest of the former police commander will shed more light on what has been a national trauma.