Fifty six arrested, eight from the suspect list

Belgrade, March 13, 2003 - From the beginning of the state of emergency and the operation to track down the assassins of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic till 17.00 today, the Serbian police arrested 56 persons suspected of taking part in the plot, eight of whom are from the list published yesterday. Three of the arrested have asked for protected witness status, and their statements confirm the involvement of the criminal group Zemunski Klan ('Zemun Gang') in the assassination of the Prime Minister and a number of other murders.

As of 17.00, the police arrested 56 persons suspected of having committed the crime of criminal association, from Article 277 of the Serbian Criminal Code. Eight persons from the Zemun Gang list, published yesterday, are among the arrested. Their names cannot be made public, in the interest of the investigation. Police continue to search intensively for this group's leaders who remain at large. Among them are Milorad Lukovic, aka 'Legija'; Dusan Spasojevic, aka 'Siptar'; and Mile Lukovic, aka 'Kum'.

Three arrested members of the Zemun Gang have asked for protected witness status and are currently giving statements to the special prosecutor. What they have said so far confirms that the criminal group was involved in the assassination of the Prime Minister and a number of other crimes and sheds light on other unsolved murders and crimes.

In cooperation with the police forces of neighbouring countries and intelligence services of several European countries, police have obtained information confirming that the Zemun Gang and some other groups [mostly comprising members of the police and security units of the Milosevic regime] were involved in the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.

Based on the information collected in the first 24 hours after the assassination, security forces gathered enough intelligence to confirm the allegations from the government's statement yesterday that the group was directly involved in an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister on Feb 21, 2003, and is also behind the Prime Minister's murder. It was also confirmed that the Gang's members, aided by other groups and accomplices, hired several mercenary teams for yesterday's operation.

In line with the Law on state of emergency measures, the police will continue with their broad investigation and the hunt for the criminal group's leaders.