The Ibar highway assassination attempt refers to the events that occurred on the Ibar Highway in Serbia, a federal unit of FR Yugoslavia on 3 October 1999, when active members of the Yugoslav state security's Special Operations Unit (JSO) attempted to murder politician Vuk Draà ¡koviàon the Ibar Highway by slamming a truck full of sand into his two-car motorcade. Their intention was to make it appear as though it were a traffic accident.
Instead of killing Draà ¡koviÃÂ, who managed to survive the crash, they ended up killing four of his associates: high-ranking Serbian Renewal Movement member Veselin Boà ¡kovià(who was also Draà ¡koviÃÂ's brother-in-law), along with three bodyguards (Zvonko OsmajliÃÂ, VuÃÂko RakoÃÂeviÃÂ, and Dragan Vuà ¡uroviÃÂ).
On Sunday, 3 October 1999, in the early afternoon hours, Vuk Draà ¡koviàand his entourage were traveling in three cars southbound on the Ibar Highway. The trip began in front of Draà ¡koviÃÂ's house in Belgrade and the destination was Ravna Gora.
The original plan was to travel in two cars with Draà ¡koviÃÂ, his wife Danica Draà ¡koviÃÂ, SPO federal MP Gordana AniÃÂiÃÂ, and Draà ¡koviÃÂ's personal driver Bane in the jeep followed by the three bodyguards in the black BMW 520 right behind. However, immediately before setting off, Veselin Boà ¡koviÃÂ, Draà ¡koviÃÂ's brother-in-law, showed up in his Audi 8 in front of the house and joined the group. He also requested that Vuk Draà ¡koviàcome over to his car, so they can ride together, which Draà ¡koviàdid.
Thus, the modified driving arrangement was: a jeep with Danica, Gordana, and driver Bane first, followed by the Audi with Boà ¡koviàand Draà ¡koviàinside it, and finally the three bodyguards OsmajliÃÂ, RakoÃÂeviÃÂ, and Vuà ¡uroviàin the BMW just behind. Boà ¡koviàwas driving cautiously, and quickly gave up trying to keep up with the jeep driven by Bane that pulled way ahead and out of sight. The bodyguards in the BMW were right behind Boà ¡koviàand Draà ¡koviÃÂ, throughout.
Around fifteen minutes past noon, as the two cars were driving down the Ibar Highway through the municipal territory of the village of Petka near Lazarevac, a huge crash occurred. A green-coloured truck traveling in the opposite direction, toward Belgrade, abruptly swerved left into oncoming traffic five meters before the two cars, plowing into and over them. It hit the first car (an Audi) on the driver's side, bouncing it into the corn field, and then slammed into the second car (a BMW) with full force. The BMW went underneath the truck and exploded, incinerating the three people inside it.
Initially reported in Sunday bulletins as a traffic accident with four casualties, it soon became clear that there was much more to the crash. The very next day, on Monday, Draà ¡koviàhimself called it a "clear attempt on my life". He accused the authorities of 'state terrorism'.
Other political factors in Serbia at the time also reacted on the same day. The opposition coalition Alliance for Changes (SZP) called on the Serbian police authorities to "investigate every single detail of the crash". Speaking as a SZP representative, Democratic Party president Zoran ÃÂinÃÂiàsaid that the traffic accident near Lazarevac looked suspicious. He also relayed his expectation about the authorities "providing an immediate and convincing explanation of the event because if that doesn't happen, there will be suspicions that something abnormal occurred". Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) vice president Milorad Jovanoviàsaid that "it's too early to discuss the reasons for this tragedy since the police didn't yet provide all the information". The release by the New Democracy political party was the strongest: it clearly referred to the event as an "assassination attempt on Draà ¡koviÃÂ" and strongly condemned it.
On 5 October, Veselin Boà ¡koviàwas buried at TopÃÂider cemetery in Belgrade. Many opposition leaders came to the funeral, however no one from the ruling coalition showed up. Eulogizing his brother-in-law, Draà ¡koviàgave an impassioned speech:
On the following day on 6 October, Zvonko OsmajliÃÂ, VuÃÂko RakoÃÂeviÃÂ, and Dragan Vuà ¡uroviàwere being laid to rest at the same cemetery, and Draà ¡koviàdelivered another impassioned eulogy:
The trial started with four individuals on the indictment list: Nenad Bujoà ¡eviÃÂ, Nenad IliÃÂ, Radomir MarkoviÃÂ, and Milan RadonjiÃÂ.
The verdict in what turned out to be only the first trial (presided by judge Miroslav CvetkoviÃÂ) was delivered on 30 January 2003. The immediate assassins Nenad Bujoà ¡eviàand Nenad Iliàwere sentenced to 15 years in prison each, State Security chief Radomir Markoviàreceived 7 years, while State Security Belgrade Branch chief Milan Radonjiàwas found not guilty of all charges. The Supreme Court above verdict was subsequently annulled before the Supreme Court and a retrial was ordered.
The re-trial, which consisted of an expanded indictment list that now also included 8 more individuals (Milorad Ulemek, Mihalj Kertes, Branko ÃÂuriÃÂ, Dragià ¡a DiniÃÂ, Vidan MijailoviÃÂ, and 3 more JSO members), wrapped up on 29 June 2005 in the Belgrade District Court. It resulted in first degree sentences for the following individuals:
The remaining two individuals on the indictment list were absolved of any responsibility: Milan RadonjiÃÂ (the former State Security's Belgrade Branch chief) and Branko ÃÂuriÃÂ (the former Police Chief in Belgrade).
The sentence was made official on 23 November 2005, almost 5 months after it was delivered, because presiding judge Bojan Mià ¡iàtook an unusually long amount of time to write it up. This led to veiled public accusations of time wasting with the intent of sabotaging the appeals process which has a 1-year window from the date of the verdict being delivered, but can only start once the verdict is official. By taking almost 5 months to make the verdict official, judge Mià ¡iàeffectively made that time period unavailable for appeals, leaving only 7 months for the appeals instead of a full year.
Everyone involved with the case (public prosecutor, lawyers, and the accused) appealed the verdict, and the case went before the Supreme Court again between 27 March and 31 March 2006. The Supreme Court's 5-judge council had three options in regards to the district court verdict: upholding the verdict, modifying the verdict, or ordering a partial/full re-trial by partially/fully annulling the verdict.
On 16 May 2006, the Supreme Court made its decision public - it fully annulled the verdict and ordered a full re-trial for the second time. The prison detentions for all of the accused were extended.
The third trial, again under the presiding judge Bojan Mià ¡iÃÂ, ended on 14 February 2007. The verdict was delivered on 16 February, 2007. It resulted in the following sentences:
The remaining two individuals on the indictment list were again absolved of responsibility: Milan RadonjiÃÂ (former State Security's Belgrade branch chief) and Branko ÃÂuriÃÂ (former Police Chief in Belgrade). On appeal, the Supreme Court made a decision that the case should be again be re-tried in front of the Supreme Court rather than sending it back to the District Court.
On 3 March 2008, the fourth trial in the Ibar Highway case opened - this time in front of the Serbian Supreme Court's five-person council, which was presided over by judge Dragomir MilojeviÃÂ. According to the presiding judge the case was to be heard again from beginning to end with old evidence as well as new evidence that surfaced in the meantime.
On 19 June 2008, the Supreme Court delivered a verdict sentencing Rade MarkoviÃÂ, Milorad Ulemek, Branko BerÃÂek, and Nenad Iliàto 40 years for the murder of 4 men and the attempted murder of Vuk Draà ¡koviÃÂ. Nenad Bujoà ¡eviàwas sentenced to 35 years for the same crime, while Duà ¡ko MariÃÂiàand Leonid Milivojeviàgot 30 years.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court gave out sentences for hiding the evidence: Mihalj Kertes - 18 months, Dragià ¡a Dinià- 10 months, and Vidan Mijailovià- 6 months. Branko ÃÂuriàand Milan Radonjiàwere once again absolved of responsibility due to lack of any evidence against them.
This sentence was final for Kertes, MijailoviÃÂ, and DiniÃÂ while all others had a right to appeal it and did so. The supreme court met in late October 2009 to discuss their appeals. On 21 December 2009, the appeal verdict was announced and it confirmed all of the sentences for all accused, meaning that their sentences now became final.