Serbian police detain 750 people in search for prime minister’s assassin
Prime minister-designate Zoran Zivkovic, a close ally of the slain leader, told parliament as it prepared to vote on his candidacy that the government would push on with Western-backed reforms and pledged a drive to crush organised crime.
Zivkovic, 42, said the police operation launched after Djindjic was killed by a sniper in Belgrade on March 12 was showing results.
The government, which declared a state of emergency giving police extra powers to hold suspects and raid houses, says gangster bosses linked to Milosevic-era state security officials ordered the assassination in a bid to create chaos in Serbia.
Djindjic, who played a key role in toppling then Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevicin 2000, was shot dead near the main government building in Belgrade.
The murder triggered fears of renewed instability in impoverished Serbia.
“More than 750 people have been detained and many have been kept in custody. A large amount of firearms and communications equipment have been found,” Zivkovic said.
"This operation will continue. One of the government’s priorities is to improve the technical capacities of the police force, along with reorganising the judiciary,” he said.
Zivkovic said the government would remain on the same path, with the same tasks and unchanged goals but also gave an indication of the challenges ahead by announcing a cut in this year’s economic growth forecast to 3.5 from 5.0%.
“The murder will affect our economic forecast for this year,” Zivkovic said. “The truth is that we will need several years to reach the level of standard that will satisfy us.”
