The main suspect in the case was named by Serbian media as the person who plotted to kill the Serbian justice minister.
In the Knezevic developments, he spoke to Croatia’s state television station HRT and described the killing as a conspiracy forged by Djukanovic and Stanko (Kane) Subotic to silence Pukanic for his magazine Nacional’s 2002 coverage of the illicit tobacco trade, which Knezevic called “the biggest smuggling operation in Europe since the second world war.”
Knezevic made similar accusations to Serbian media earlier this year.
Subotic’s attorney, Rade Tadic, responded by calling Knezevic’s accusations “lies,” and said Knezevic had tried to blackmail his client in 2001 in connection with the Nacional series.
In the wake of Knezevic’s most recent comments, Serbia’s Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime, Miljko Radosavljevic, told Serbian media he has recently interviewed Knezevic in connection with a tobacco trafficking case against Subotic.
“Our estimate is that [Knezevic] has direct knowledge about the cigarette smuggling in this region that went on from 1995 until 2000,” Radosavljevic said. “Bearing in mind the importance of the information Mr. Knezevic has, we believe that his testimony would contribute to determining the truth, and we will likely send such a proposal to the court chamber.”
Jocic Plotted Murder?
In a related development, the Serbian daily Blic reported that an organized crime group connected to Sreten Jocic (aka Joca Amsterdam) plotted to assassinate Serbia’s Minister of Justice, Snezana Malovic, earlier this year. According to Blic, sources in law enforcement said the group hired hitmen to attack Malovic in January as she entered a maternity ward.
The plot was reportedly possible retaliation for Malovic’s insistence on passing the Law on Seizure of Assets Gained through Criminal Enterprises, which went into effect this year.
Jocic, the main suspect in the killing of Pukanic in Zagreb, will see his 6-month term of custody come to an end next week, at which point prosecutors may charge him.
--Michael Mehen
