TC10:00:00Police Raid
Friday night in Belgrade – Serbian Police are about to gatecrash a private party. They are looking for drugs and guns – the hard currency of Serbia’s Mafia economy. The gatecrashers are heavily armed – and not welcome. It’s all part of a tough new approach to organised crime, one of the nastiest legacies of the Milosevic era.The police action is aimed at Mafia bosses who grew rich on the battlefields of Croatia and Bosnia. In recent years they've turned on each other.
TC: 10:00:51Killings Montage
Amid the murders and massacres – other, darker crimes came to light. This badly decayed body is all that remains of one of Slobodan Milosevic's oldest friends, Ivan Stambolic- a former Yugoslav President. Mafia killers kept Stambolic waiting at the graveside while they dug a bigger hole – and then shot him in the head. In March this year, the government decided to act.
TC: 10:01:24Batic (In Serbian)ASTON:VLADAN BATICMinister of Justice
Every state has its Mafia; the problem here though is that the Mafia wanted their own state.We could not allow Serbia to become a kind of European Columbia. The Gordian knot had to be cut.
TC: 10:01:39Djindjic Funeral
But the gangsters struck first. Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic - the man everyone hoped would transform Serbia - was shot dead killing the hopes of millions of Serbs and of western governments.Mourners flooded the streets of Belgrade to remember their fallen leader – a man who’d promised to beat the Mafia and send its leaders to the Hague on war crimes charges.
TC: 10:02:05ReconstructionASTON:Reconstruction
All the signs suggest that Djindjic’s murder – on Wednesday March 12th - was an inside job.As the Prime Minister drove towards Parliament, three gunmen gained access to a nearby building. Zoran Djindjic – on crutches after a football injury was an easy target. His Head of Security was off work; someone had turned off the CCTV cameras. As Djindjic stepped out of his car, a bullet pierced his heart – a symbol of how deeply the Mafia had penetrated Serbian life.
TC: 10:02:48Mihailovic:(In Serbian)ASTON:DUSAN MIHAJLOVICMinister of Interior Affairs
The gangsters found out what Djindjic was going to do – thanks to their spies in the police. So they pulled the trigger first. It was only a matter of days before we were going to act – but they were quicker than us. They thought that by murdering the Prime Minister they would provoke a coup d’etat and change the Government. And that way they would save themselves from being arrested.
TC: 10:03:21Crackdown MontageASTON:Police Footage
Instead, Zoran Djindjic’s death provoked a showdown with organised crime… exposing their multi-million pound drug deals, their vast private armouries and their links to international crime. An incredible 10,000 people were arrested – the biggest police operation Serbia has ever seen. More than 3,000 now face charges - many of them members of Serbia's most powerful Mafia gang, the Zemun clan. 45 people are accused of plotting to kill the Prime Minister, including several secret service agents and a top army officer.
TC: 10:04:17Todorovic in car
One man who’s glad to see the gangsters behind bars is Miroslav Todorovic, a former judge who tried several Mafia cases. He made the mistake of denouncing the Zemun Gang on national television. The next day, he was abducted right outside Serbia’s Supreme Court and taken to the gang’s headquarters in West Belgrade. The house has been demolished, but Todorovic will never forget his encounter with the gang’s leader, Dusan Spasojevic. This is the first time he has spoken on television about his ordeal.
TC:10:04:53Todorovic Sync(In Serbian)ASTON:MIROSLAV TODOROVICFormer Judge
They made me open my mouth, as I did so he pushed the gun into my mouth and said ‘Good, good. With such a mouth and this weapon, you can’t miss’.
TC: 10:05:11Walking by swimming pool
Todorovic feared he would not leave the house alive. The gang leader took him down to this empty swimming pool and, at gunpoint, ordered him to strip and enter the pool.
TC: 10:05:29Todorovic (In Serbian)
When a man experiences such humiliation so big and so horrible, many other things lose their importance. I’m in my sixties and I was naked, at the mercy of a murderer. It’s devastating.
TC: 10:05:59Spasojevic Dead
Todorovic was released. Police shot dead his torturers two months ago when they raided a Zemun gang safe house, looking for Djindjic's killers. Serb authorities say the two men were resisting arrest.
TC: 10:06:16Belgrade shots
But like many things in Belgrade the attack on organised crime isn’t quite what it seems. One of the leading suspects has mysteriously gone missing and important evidence of the Mafia’s links with high level politicians and police officers has been destroyed. The most damning claim though is that the government here has simply destroyed one Mafia network with the help of another rival gang.
TC: 10:06:40Ceca VideoASTON:"PROOF" Ceca 2000
And that’s because the Mafia have such a grip on Serb society, from football to pop music. One of Serbia’s most popular singers – Ceca is the widow of the indicted war criminal Arkan. Her music videos reflect the gangster culture of guns and revenge killings. Ceca herself has not been spared, accused of tax fraud and possessing weapons.
TC:10:07:07Football club
Football too is caught in the Mafia’s net. Six league presidents have been murdered. Ceca is President of FC Obilic, one of Serbia’s leading teams. The club’s now under investigation for alleged money laundering. Obilic’s Acting President insists the Club and Ceca are innocent – the target of rival interests who want to take over their team.
TC: 10:07:33Binic (In Serbian)ASTON:DRAGISA BINICObilic FC
She started a hunger strike because she feels that there’s a hidden agenda behind her arrest. We’ve begged her to take food. She’s refused. She says and I quote: “ I think they are going to send me to the Hague for the mistakes my husband Arkan made. If that’s their aim, they’d better get a move on."
TC: 10:08:02Street scenes
Few people can escape the long shadow of Belgrade’s gangs – even Serbia’s most popular politician.Former Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has been on the backfoot since two of his advisers were accused of meeting Djindjic’s killer’s days before his murder. Kostunica says the government's pursuing a political vendetta against his advisers.
TC: 10:08:27KostunicaASTON:VOJISLAV KOSTUNICA President of Yugoslavia 2000-2003
I consider both of them to be political prisoners. They had nothing to do with the assassination of Prime Minister Djindjic. The government has given already some signs, some proofs that it has intentions to use the state of emergency and the assassination of Prime Minister Djindjic in order to get rid of its political rivals.
TC: 10:08:52Lecture hall
Such questions will now be decided by Serbia’s prosecutors and judges, here discussing the legal fight against organised crime. It'll be a massive task not least because dozens of top judges and prosecutors have been removed during the state of emergency. Serbia's justice minister is under pressure to get results. So he’s taken a leaf out of the Italian law book.
TC: 10:09:18Batic (In Serbian)ASTON:VLADAN BATICMinister of Justice
We are following the practises of different countries. First of all, Italy, which is the leading country in the fight against organised crime. They’ve got the special police, the special prosecutor, the special courts. And in a way we have incorporated the experience of the Italian judiciary into our own.
TC: 10:09:37New courts
A former military court is being prepared for the Mafia trials – complete with bullet proof glass cages for the accused.Human rights campaigners say the trials – due to start in September – will only succeed if witnesses are properly protected- and that will cost money.
TC: 10:09:56Biserko ASTON:SONIA BISERKOHelsinki Human Rights Commission
It will have problems, enormous problems because they will have problems with witnesses, they will have problems with judges, with lawyers. Because all these professions suffer the problems that we have all over. And of course witnesses will have to be protected and this is going to be a big problem for all the country where safety is not really so highly ranking.
TC: 10:10:18Shop logosstreets
On the surface, Belgrade seems a lot more prosperous now than in the war years.There are even hints that the former pariah state could join the EU and NATO. But before all that can happen, Serbia needs more outside help to tackle the Mafia’s main sources of income – smuggling, extortion and human trafficking.
TC: 10:10:41Mihailovic (In Serbian)ASTON:DUSAN MIHAJLOVICMinister of Interior Affairs
The mobsters are acting like real globalisers. They don’t know any boundaries. And they are united all over the planet. And that's why we have to fight them globally, united and co-operating. I’m asking the British government and other European nations, including the United States and other developed countries to help our police, customs and judiciary to become a firm and safe barrier against organised crime.
TC: 10:11:27Police outside nightclub
Removing the Milosevic regime then hasn't solved all of Serbia's problems. In some ways, it’s made them worse. Unless the outside world offers more cash aid, the crime and corruption which has engulfed Belgrade could soon become this country's biggest export.
ENDS
Friday night in Belgrade – Serbian Police are about to gatecrash a private party. They are looking for drugs and guns – the hard currency of Serbia’s Mafia economy. The gatecrashers are heavily armed – and not welcome. It’s all part of a tough new approach to organised crime, one of the nastiest legacies of the Milosevic era.The police action is aimed at Mafia bosses who grew rich on the battlefields of Croatia and Bosnia. In recent years they've turned on each other.
TC: 10:00:51Killings Montage
Amid the murders and massacres – other, darker crimes came to light. This badly decayed body is all that remains of one of Slobodan Milosevic's oldest friends, Ivan Stambolic- a former Yugoslav President. Mafia killers kept Stambolic waiting at the graveside while they dug a bigger hole – and then shot him in the head. In March this year, the government decided to act.
TC: 10:01:24Batic (In Serbian)ASTON:VLADAN BATICMinister of Justice
Every state has its Mafia; the problem here though is that the Mafia wanted their own state.We could not allow Serbia to become a kind of European Columbia. The Gordian knot had to be cut.
TC: 10:01:39Djindjic Funeral
But the gangsters struck first. Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic - the man everyone hoped would transform Serbia - was shot dead killing the hopes of millions of Serbs and of western governments.Mourners flooded the streets of Belgrade to remember their fallen leader – a man who’d promised to beat the Mafia and send its leaders to the Hague on war crimes charges.
TC: 10:02:05ReconstructionASTON:Reconstruction
All the signs suggest that Djindjic’s murder – on Wednesday March 12th - was an inside job.As the Prime Minister drove towards Parliament, three gunmen gained access to a nearby building. Zoran Djindjic – on crutches after a football injury was an easy target. His Head of Security was off work; someone had turned off the CCTV cameras. As Djindjic stepped out of his car, a bullet pierced his heart – a symbol of how deeply the Mafia had penetrated Serbian life.
TC: 10:02:48Mihailovic:(In Serbian)ASTON:DUSAN MIHAJLOVICMinister of Interior Affairs
The gangsters found out what Djindjic was going to do – thanks to their spies in the police. So they pulled the trigger first. It was only a matter of days before we were going to act – but they were quicker than us. They thought that by murdering the Prime Minister they would provoke a coup d’etat and change the Government. And that way they would save themselves from being arrested.
TC: 10:03:21Crackdown MontageASTON:Police Footage
Instead, Zoran Djindjic’s death provoked a showdown with organised crime… exposing their multi-million pound drug deals, their vast private armouries and their links to international crime. An incredible 10,000 people were arrested – the biggest police operation Serbia has ever seen. More than 3,000 now face charges - many of them members of Serbia's most powerful Mafia gang, the Zemun clan. 45 people are accused of plotting to kill the Prime Minister, including several secret service agents and a top army officer.
TC: 10:04:17Todorovic in car
One man who’s glad to see the gangsters behind bars is Miroslav Todorovic, a former judge who tried several Mafia cases. He made the mistake of denouncing the Zemun Gang on national television. The next day, he was abducted right outside Serbia’s Supreme Court and taken to the gang’s headquarters in West Belgrade. The house has been demolished, but Todorovic will never forget his encounter with the gang’s leader, Dusan Spasojevic. This is the first time he has spoken on television about his ordeal.
TC:10:04:53Todorovic Sync(In Serbian)ASTON:MIROSLAV TODOROVICFormer Judge
They made me open my mouth, as I did so he pushed the gun into my mouth and said ‘Good, good. With such a mouth and this weapon, you can’t miss’.
TC: 10:05:11Walking by swimming pool
Todorovic feared he would not leave the house alive. The gang leader took him down to this empty swimming pool and, at gunpoint, ordered him to strip and enter the pool.
TC: 10:05:29Todorovic (In Serbian)
When a man experiences such humiliation so big and so horrible, many other things lose their importance. I’m in my sixties and I was naked, at the mercy of a murderer. It’s devastating.
TC: 10:05:59Spasojevic Dead
Todorovic was released. Police shot dead his torturers two months ago when they raided a Zemun gang safe house, looking for Djindjic's killers. Serb authorities say the two men were resisting arrest.
TC: 10:06:16Belgrade shots
But like many things in Belgrade the attack on organised crime isn’t quite what it seems. One of the leading suspects has mysteriously gone missing and important evidence of the Mafia’s links with high level politicians and police officers has been destroyed. The most damning claim though is that the government here has simply destroyed one Mafia network with the help of another rival gang.
TC: 10:06:40Ceca VideoASTON:"PROOF" Ceca 2000
And that’s because the Mafia have such a grip on Serb society, from football to pop music. One of Serbia’s most popular singers – Ceca is the widow of the indicted war criminal Arkan. Her music videos reflect the gangster culture of guns and revenge killings. Ceca herself has not been spared, accused of tax fraud and possessing weapons.
TC:10:07:07Football club
Football too is caught in the Mafia’s net. Six league presidents have been murdered. Ceca is President of FC Obilic, one of Serbia’s leading teams. The club’s now under investigation for alleged money laundering. Obilic’s Acting President insists the Club and Ceca are innocent – the target of rival interests who want to take over their team.
TC: 10:07:33Binic (In Serbian)ASTON:DRAGISA BINICObilic FC
She started a hunger strike because she feels that there’s a hidden agenda behind her arrest. We’ve begged her to take food. She’s refused. She says and I quote: “ I think they are going to send me to the Hague for the mistakes my husband Arkan made. If that’s their aim, they’d better get a move on."
TC: 10:08:02Street scenes
Few people can escape the long shadow of Belgrade’s gangs – even Serbia’s most popular politician.Former Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has been on the backfoot since two of his advisers were accused of meeting Djindjic’s killer’s days before his murder. Kostunica says the government's pursuing a political vendetta against his advisers.
TC: 10:08:27KostunicaASTON:VOJISLAV KOSTUNICA President of Yugoslavia 2000-2003
I consider both of them to be political prisoners. They had nothing to do with the assassination of Prime Minister Djindjic. The government has given already some signs, some proofs that it has intentions to use the state of emergency and the assassination of Prime Minister Djindjic in order to get rid of its political rivals.
TC: 10:08:52Lecture hall
Such questions will now be decided by Serbia’s prosecutors and judges, here discussing the legal fight against organised crime. It'll be a massive task not least because dozens of top judges and prosecutors have been removed during the state of emergency. Serbia's justice minister is under pressure to get results. So he’s taken a leaf out of the Italian law book.
TC: 10:09:18Batic (In Serbian)ASTON:VLADAN BATICMinister of Justice
We are following the practises of different countries. First of all, Italy, which is the leading country in the fight against organised crime. They’ve got the special police, the special prosecutor, the special courts. And in a way we have incorporated the experience of the Italian judiciary into our own.
TC: 10:09:37New courts
A former military court is being prepared for the Mafia trials – complete with bullet proof glass cages for the accused.Human rights campaigners say the trials – due to start in September – will only succeed if witnesses are properly protected- and that will cost money.
TC: 10:09:56Biserko ASTON:SONIA BISERKOHelsinki Human Rights Commission
It will have problems, enormous problems because they will have problems with witnesses, they will have problems with judges, with lawyers. Because all these professions suffer the problems that we have all over. And of course witnesses will have to be protected and this is going to be a big problem for all the country where safety is not really so highly ranking.
TC: 10:10:18Shop logosstreets
On the surface, Belgrade seems a lot more prosperous now than in the war years.There are even hints that the former pariah state could join the EU and NATO. But before all that can happen, Serbia needs more outside help to tackle the Mafia’s main sources of income – smuggling, extortion and human trafficking.
TC: 10:10:41Mihailovic (In Serbian)ASTON:DUSAN MIHAJLOVICMinister of Interior Affairs
The mobsters are acting like real globalisers. They don’t know any boundaries. And they are united all over the planet. And that's why we have to fight them globally, united and co-operating. I’m asking the British government and other European nations, including the United States and other developed countries to help our police, customs and judiciary to become a firm and safe barrier against organised crime.
TC: 10:11:27Police outside nightclub
Removing the Milosevic regime then hasn't solved all of Serbia's problems. In some ways, it’s made them worse. Unless the outside world offers more cash aid, the crime and corruption which has engulfed Belgrade could soon become this country's biggest export.
ENDS