Slavko Ćuruvija's killers sentenced to a total of 100 years in prison

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The Special Court found four members of the Serbian State Security guilty of the murder of the owner and journalist of "Dnevni telegraf" Slavko Ćuruvija, on April 11, 1999.

After the verdict was read, the presiding judge announced that the accused Radomir Marković and Milan Radonjić were sentenced to 30 years each. Miroslav Kurak and Ratko Romić received 20 years each, TV Prva reports.

Marković is the former head of the State Security Service and Radonjić was the head of the Belgrade center of the State Security at the time. Kurak was a member of the reserve force of the State Security at the time of Ćuruvija's murder, and Romić was an operative of the State Security. The time spent in custody and house arrest will be included in the sentences for Romić and Radonjić.

This verdict was not unanimous, but reached by a majority vote of 2:1 by the judges in the three-member panel. Both the prosecution and the defense have the right to appeal this court decision to the Appellate Court.

The verdict against the accused was delivered exactly 20 years after Ćuruvija's murder, and it is the first verdict for the murder of a journalist, while other murders, including those of Dada Vujasinović and Milan Pantić, have not yet been solved.