Serbian Cabinet Members Lay Wreath at Site of Zoran Djindjic’s Assassination

Government members paid homage to the late prime minister (Beta/Government of Serrbia Press Office/Slobodan Miljevic)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and the members of her cabinet on March 12 laid a wreath at the entrance to the Serbian government building, where 17 years ago Zoran Djindjic, the first prime minister after the ouster of Slobodan Milosevic, was assassinated.

Along with Brnabic, ministers Nebojsa Stefanovic, Sinisa Mali, Rasim Ljajic, Zoran Djordjevic, Branko Ruzic, Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, Mladen Sarcevic, Nenad Popovic, Goran Knezevic, Branislav Nedimovic, Zorana Mihajlovic and Vanja Udovicic also paid homage to the late prime minister.

The same day Democratic Party leaders laid a wreath at the grave of the murdered prime minister and their leader, at the Alley of Meritorious Citizens at the Belgrade New Cemetery. The delegation was led by party leader Zoran Lutovac, who said on the occasion that on that day in 2003 not only was his party leader and the Serbian prime minister killed, but Serbian reforms as well.

Zoran Djindjic was assassinated on March 12, 2003, in the backyard of the Serbian Government building. Zvezdan Jovanovic, a Special Operations Unit operative of Yugoslavia’s secret police, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder, while his commanding officer, Milorad Ulemek, received the same sentence for organizing the assassination.

Djindjic was the first prime minister to be elected following the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, and after the Democratic Opposition of Serbia came to power. It was during his mandate that the democratization of Serbia was initiated, along with radical economic and social reforms. The political background of his murder has yet to be investigated.