3 Arrested in Slaying of Serb Warlord
A week after the slaying of the Serbian warlord known as “Arkan,” police announced the arrests of three suspects Saturday and implied that the killing was probably a gangland hit, not a political move to silence the victim.
The announcement came after widespread rumors that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s security services had killed Arkan, whose real name was Zeljko Raznatovic, because the warlord knew too much about alleged government involvement in war crimes.
Opposition groups immediately questioned why the case was solved so quickly. They called on authorities to find out who ordered the killing.
Police Col. Milenko Ercic identified the suspects as Dobrosav Gavric, 23, the alleged triggerman; Dejan Pitulic, 33; and Vujadin Krstic, 36. Ercic said two of them had police ties: Pitulic was fired from the force last year, and Gavric was on leave.
Few details about the third suspect, Krstic, were released.
Ercic said the suspects had confessed. He said the arrests prove that Arkan’s slaying was “about ex-policemen and criminals.”
Arkan, who was gunned down Jan. 15 in Belgrade, the Yugoslav and Serbian capital, was known to have close ties to Milosevic’s security services.
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