Former Serbian State Security Members Convicted for Murder of Ćuruvija

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Special Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade has found four former members of the Serbian State Security guilty of participating in the murder of journalist and owner of "Dnevni Telegraf" Slavko Ćuruvija.

The murder occurred on April 11, 1999, and the Special Court in Belgrade has again declared an unknown person as the direct perpetrator of the journalist Ćuruvija's murder.

The president of the judicial panel, Snežana Jovanović, stated at the beginning of the verdict announcement that the members of the three-member judicial panel had decided by a majority vote to find the accused guilty of murder. After that, she continued reading the verdict, after which she will announce the sentences imposed on them, as well as their explanation.

The then head of the DB, Radomir Marković, and the head of the Belgrade DB center, Milan Radonjić, were found guilty of incitement to murder, while the former operative of the Belgrade center, Ratko Tomić, and a member of the DB reserve force, Miroslav Kurak, were found guilty as co-perpetrators of the murder, reports Telegraf. 

Incidentally, Kurak is at large, so the verdict was rendered in his absence. This is the second first-instance verdict, and according to the first, which was overturned, the mentioned individuals were sentenced to a total of 100 years in prison.

Veran Matić, president of the Commission for Investigating the Murder of Journalists, attended the reading of the verdict.