Posted on 05/03/2004 3:53:13 PM PDT by knighthawk
BELGRADE: A notorious paramilitary leader suspected of masterminding the assassination of Serbia's prime minister last year has surrendered to police.
Milorad Lukovic, known by his nickname "Legija", surrendered in Belgrade on Sunday night, Serbian Interior Minister Dragan Jocic said.
He had been on the run since March 12, 2003, when reformist prime minister Zoran Djindjic was gunned down by a sniper in front of his Belgrade government headquarters.
Lukovic, who led a feared paramilitary unit loyal to then president Slobodan Milosevic during the 1990s wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, is the prime suspect in the slaying.
He has been tried in absentia since December, along with 13 other paramilitary and gang figures.
"Legija showed up in front of his house in Belgrade and told policemen guarding the house that he wanted to surrender," said Miroslav Milosevic, Serbia's public security chief.
Lukovic, 39, who allegedly also led a Belgrade criminal gang known as the Zemun Clan, went by his nickname, which means "legionnaire", after serving in the French Foreign Legion in the 1980s.
Lukovic's unit, known as Red Berets, is suspected of committing numerous war crimes against non-Serbs during the Balkans conflicts of the 1990s.
Djindjic, a reform-minded, pro-Western premier, masterminded the toppling of Milosevic in October 2000 and his extradition to the war crimes tribunal a year later.
Authorities have said the attack on Djindjic was part of a wider plot to unseat his pro-Western Government.
Lukovic was also suspected in a 1999 assassination attempt against Serbia and Montenegro's current Foreign Minister, Vuk Draskovic, during Milosevic's reign, when Mr Draskovic led the opposition against the former Yugoslav and Serbian president.
"I'm very glad he has surrendered," Mr Draskovic said. "He understood he cannot elude justice.
"I hope he will tell all about the crimes, who exactly committed them and who ordered them.
"Families of the victims need truth and accountability."
A member of Lukovic's unit, Zvezdan Jovanovic, is standing trial on suspicion of firing the bullet that killed Djindjic. Jovanovic's lawyer, Nenad Vukasovic, confirmed Lukovic's surrender.
"We'll see now how things will develop, but I expect many new, interesting details will emerge that will expose some from the former government, members of (Djindjic's) Democratic Party," Mr Vukasovic said. He did not elaborate.
The surrender will "reveal many quality details - many who claimed to be absolutely innocent will find themselves in the dock", Mr Vukasovic said. Belgrade media has alleged Lukovic hid in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Croatia after Djindjic's assassination.
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