Serbia: Five Charged with Perjury in PM Assassination Case

News

Five former members of the Serbian military’s Special Operations Unit (JSO) have been charged with committing perjury during the investigation into the murder of Serbian Prime Minister in Zoran Djindjic in 2003.

September 22, 2011

The Office of the Organized Crime Prosecutor brought charges against Mica Petrakovic, Dragoslav Krsmanovic, Aleksandar Popovic, Zoran Gulic and Bosko Jovic, the Prosecutor’s office announced Wednesday.

The court says that the five men provided testimony which contradicted the facts determined in the final judgment taken by the Belgrade District Court.  The prosecutor contends that men were attempting to provide an alibi for Zvezdan Jovanovic on the day of Djindjic’s murder, March 12 2003.

Jovanovic was one of twelve men found guilty in 2007 of facilitating Djindjic’s murder.

The Prosecution contends that Jovic and Popovic gave false testimony under oath during hearings held January 11 and 15, 2007.  The men testified that they had been with Zvezdan Jovanovic on March 12, 2003, when Djindjic was killed.

Petrakovic, Krsmanovic and Gulic are charged with giving false testimony on January 16, 2007, when they told the Belgrade chamber that they had seen Zvezdan Jovanovic at a helipad in the northern Serbian town of Kula on the day in question.

There is no date set for the first hearing.