Milosevic Accused in Killing of Serb
Police have filed charges against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and several of his allies in the abduction and killing of a former Serbian president, officials said Thursday.
Police investigating the March 12 assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic found the remains of former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic last month. Stambolic was once Milosevic’s mentor, but the two politicians later became bitter rivals.
Stambolic had been missing since he was abducted in August 2000 while jogging in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia-Montenegro, as Yugoslavia is now known. He disappeared just weeks before a Yugoslav presidential election in which Stambolic was going to challenge Milosevic.
“We have evidence that Milosevic suggested Stambolic’s ‘permanent removal,’ ” said a police source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A Belgrade official said police have filed charges against nine people, including Milosevic and his former state security chief, Radomir Rade Markovic.
The police official said two are accused of “inciting” the Stambolic slaying.
The actual killing was carried out by members of an elite paramilitary police unit loyal to Milosevic, the official alleged.
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