By announcing that the case of former president of SR Serbia, Ivan Stambolić, who was kidnapped from a Belgrade park on 25 August 2000, was finally resolved, Serbian Police Minister Dušan Mihaljlović revealed that Stambolić had been taken by members of the Special Operations Unit, taken to Fruška Gora and killed with two shots. This was done on orders by then head of the Serbian Security Agency Rade Marković on instructions from then President Slobodan Milošević. He stated that the motive for the murder was political, implying that Milošević had Stambolić killed so that the latter would not run in the elections that were to be held one month later. However, the motive was not only political, but personal as well, as Milošević and Stambolić were not the usual political rivals, but inseparable friends from their youth, whose paths had drifted in different directions and should have crossed again, which is exactly what Milošević was trying to avoid.

Law School years

n the morning of 25 August 2000, four members of the Red Berets followed Stambolić in a white van (the same van used to later transport Milošević to his plane for The Hague) while he took his regular jog. He sat on a bench to rest, when the van stopped in front of him and the men inside pulled him in and took off. The kidnappers changed vehicles in Novi Belgrade and took Stambolić to Fruška gora, where they had already lined his grave with limestone. They killed him with two gunshots and buried him there. When Stambolić failed to return home in the afternoon, his family began to look for him in the hospitals and then reported his disappearance to police. The family members quickly realized that Milošević had learned of his plans to become politically active again and had him killed out of fear that Stambolić would prove to be superior to him. Stambolić's wife claims that she asked Milošević what had become of her husband, his friend from long ago. Milošević stated that he had ordered an immediate investigation, but that it was coming along poorly as “the family reported his disappearance several hours too late”.Milošević was born in Požarevac in 1941 and went to Belgrade in 1960 to study at the Faculty of Law, where his older Borislav was already attending. One year later, his high school sweetheart, Mirjana Marković, also arrived in Belgrade. At that time, the Law Faculty was reputed to be the center of the student intellectuals, with many young people attending who would later go on to take impressive positions in Serbian politics. One of them was Ivan Stambolić, who was born in the village of Brezova near Ivanjica. Ivan completed trade school, went to Belgrade and was employed as a metalworker at the Motor Industry in Rokovica and for a time worked for the company ‘Cer’ in Čačak.

However, while he was employed as head of the construction site of the Belgrade Youth Center, he began to study law part time in the evenings. His uncle was Petar Stambolić, one of the most significant post-war Serbian Communist function holders. Stambolić and Milošević met at law school. Stambolić once commented on his university days with Milošević: “We were constantly meeting. I had found a loyal companion in Slobodan. He commanded attention with his dynamic nature and his feisty attitude. Studying went easily for him and he successfully passed all his exams.” Milošević and his girlfriend, Mirjana Marković, who also came to study in Belgrade, were frequent guests in Stambolić’s apartment. Stambolić, who was five years older than the remaining students at school, and had greater seniority in the Party, became Secretary of the Faculty Commission, into which he brought his friend Milošević.

When Stambolić graduated and left university, Milošević took his place. After graduating, Stambolić went off to work in economics. He returned to Rakovica and became director of a small factory which produced technical gases for industry. The factory had only 63 employees and was in a state of decay. Nor were the other factories for technical gases in better standing, and their directors made a plan to join together into one company. Four small factories, among them ‘Rakovica’ came together on 17 June 1965 to form ‘Tehnogas’ with headquarters in Belgrade and its first director, Stambolić.

In 1965, Milošević married, his daughter was born, he served his military service in Zadar and was then employed in the City Assembly in Belgrade. In 1969, Stambolić invited his friend Milošević to Tehnogas in the position of Assistant Director. Under Stambolić and Milošević, the company was reborn, and in ten years, production increased twenty times and the company had 2200 employees. When Stambolić was appointed President of the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce in 1975, Milošević took his place as director of Tehnogas, and remained in that post to 1978. Stambolić went on to become Premier of Serbia, and on his recommendation, Milošević was appointed director of Beobank, one of the largest banks in SFR Yugoslavia, connected with the Serbian economy and with the state leadership, and through the bank many large transactions with international financial institutions were carried out. Milošević thus became one of the most powerful men in the Serbian economy. Mirjana Marković was employed at the Labour University and after five years began to teach Marxism at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, where she completed her Ph.D. degree.

Moving up the ladder

In 1982, Stambolić became president of the City Commission of the Federal Communists in Belgrade. The Belgrade Party organization had 220,000 members. Stambolić decided to do away with the old harsh methods of persecution and instead opted for a gentle liberalization of the cultural and media space, and he began bringing in young educated people on which he could rely.

In 1982, he brought Milošević into the Presidency of the Central Commission of SK Serbia, along with a series of other bright young experts. Stambolić was in conflict with the old Communist guard and for a time, Milošević hesitated to accept his invitation when Stambolić asked him to give up the bank and become a professional party man, for he was unsure of whether Stambolić would win that battle. However, in 1984, Stambolić did win and he became president of the Serbian Communist Party, the man who ruled the Republic. He wanted to bring someone of trust to the position of Secretary of the City Commission and thus Milošević took over one of the most powerful party positions in Serbia.

However, rigid Milošević did not agree ideologically with the liberal Stambolić. As soon as he entered into the City Committee, he began gathering loyal people around him, and received the most support from the professors of the Belgrade University who his wife had brought together and who were loyal to the Party. However, Stambolić later stated that they were “like brothers”. The families constantly visited each other, spent summer vacations together, celebrated children’s birthdays and wedding anniversaries together. In 1986, his mandate was up and from head of the Se4rbian Communist Party he moved on to become President of the Serbian Presidency.

It was important to him that he bring a loyal man to his former position, and again, that was Milošević, despite great opposition for that move in the Party. And in 1986, Milošević became the new president of the Serbian Communist Party. However, only a year and a half later, Milošević would overthrow Stambolić from his position as Serbian President and 14 years later he would kill him.

Taking Milošević with him

As soon as he was appointed as the number one man in the Serbian Communist Party, Milošević decided to step out from Stambolić’s shadow and destroy his best friend. In April 1987, he visited Kosovo and supported the Serbs there, for which the Serbian press began to celebrate him, in particular stressing his statements “They must never beat you”. The cult of his character began to form. He strengthened his circle of loyal followers in the party and he formed alliances with several of the powerful older politicians, such as General Nikola Ljubičić.

When he became Serbian President and appointed Milošević in his place, Stambolić appointed a young party liberal, Dušan Pavlović, as Milošević’s successor as head of the City Commission. Milošević decided to destroy Stambolić using Pavlović. He attacked Pavlović for his liberalism, and in order to discuss the case of “comrade Dušan Pavlović”, he called the famous VIII Session of the Serbian Communist Party. Stambolić was invited to attend the meeting and, not suspecting that Milošević had set a trap for him, he appeared calm and held a speech depicting Milošević and Pavlović as two friends wanting reconciliation. “I have likely known comrades Slobo and Buco longer than anyone here. And I believe they are in the same position. So where is the problem? We all know what the nature of my job is, and that I had to create this personnel composition that we have today. I likely fall into the category of people who had the most influence there. I don’t know whether it would be tasteless to say that I consider it to be my greatest success if this leadership is united, and if it is not united then that is my greatest failure. Let Slobo and Buco meet up for coffee for half an hour each day, and let them find a solution, because I think that we can overcome this.”

Milošević assisted by the orchestrated actions of his followers turned the second day of the session into a real political trial of Pavlović, and in a dramatic turnaround he opened up the “Stambolić case”. After a long discussion, when the heat of the discussion around already liquidated Pavlović began to die down, Milošević began to excitedly speak as he led the meeting. “Comrades, there is something that I wish to tell you. Comrades, I have been sitting here silently debating for the last hour or two. We have received a letter. I requested that its authenticity be checked, to ensure that it is not a set up. Then I debating on closing the session only for the presidency. But I decided, since we have already been working openly like this for two days, that we should read the letter.” Milošević, acting surprised, had the letter from Stambolić read, as proof that several days earlier in the discussion of the City Commission on Pavlović, that Stambolić had applied pressure that he not be replaced. Milošević commented that this was unacceptable as “there is no individual who can allow himself to be placed above the organs of the Federal Communists and to give or take away support with a letter, regardless of his position.”
Milošević commented, “I am personally affected by this incident, even emotionally, truly, as never before have we seen such a thing in our Communist Alliance.”

Stambolić on the block

Now it was Stambolić on the daily agenda. He admitted to having written the letter, he even read it aloud at the meeting, and in that letter there was nothing unusual for the Communist practices of the time. However, Milošević’s followers began to immediately act shocked, and renewed the discussion, now against Stambolić and they even heard suggestions that a party commission to “investigate the case of Comrade Ivan Stambolić” should be founded. At the end of the meeting, Milošević did not go that far, but he passed the conclusions proposing that Pavlović should be thrown out of the presidency. However, Stambolić was already politically done for, and only the public did not know that following the VIII Session of the Serbian Communist Party that he was a political corpse.

One day after that meeting, Stambolić traveled to the Serbian interior but he did not receive the usual police accompaniment he had previously had as Head of State. His photographs disappeared from the newspapers, he was no longer invited to parties and a public campaign demanding his replacement began. These requests arrived from various parts of Serbia, coordinated by Milošević’s men and on 14 December 1987, at the 33rd Session of the Serbian Presidency, Stambolić was replaced from his post as Serbian President and instead appointed president of the Yugoslav Bank for international cooperation.

In a traffic accident, his oldest daughter Bojana was killed on 28 April 1988. Milošević attended the funeral, the two men embraced, but Stambolić’s wife Katarina, who still to this day is suspicious of her daughter’s death, did not wish to accept condolences from Milošević: his offered hand was left held out in the air. And that is how Milošević pushed his best friend and protector Stambolić out of Serbia’s political life and became the untouchable leader of Serbia. Stambolić remained director of the bank for a full ten years, to 1997. In the years that followed, he rarely publicly criticized Milošević. Only later he admitted to making one political gesture. In early 1991, following the massive demonstrations against Milošević, he sent Milošević a letter telling him to step down.

Documentary film which proves who the killer of Djindjić is

On Sunday, 30 March 2003, Serbian Radio Television broadcast an exclusive documentary film which revealed to the Serbian police that Zvezdan Jovanović Zveki, deputy commander of the Red Berets for special operations, was the direct executor in the assassination of Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjić. This is a documentary film which the Serbian police have also given to The Hague investigators, and which shows the meeting of then Serbian President Slobodan Milošević to the special units of the Serbian secret police, the Red Berets.

For the Hague investigators, this documentary film serves as one of the key pieces of evidence that Milošević was in fact completely in control of that unit and its activities. The film was shown during the testimony of one of the rebel Serbs in Croatia, Dragan Vasiljković, better known as Captain Dragan, in the case against Slobodan Milošević.

After the assassination of Premier Djindjić in Belgrade only weeks ago, this film has shown to be key in finding his killer. This film shows that Milošević visited that unit for the celebration of the anniversary of its establishment. During the celebration, Milošević reviewed the unit, received a special award and listened to a speech on all the activities of the unit in the territory of virtually the entire former Yugoslavia during the last decade.

Slobodan Milošević was brought to the Red Beret celebration by then head of the Serbian secret police Jovica Stanišić and was accompanied by Milorad Luković Legija, today the prime suspect in the Djindjić assassination. These three men relaxed and enjoyed the celebration and Milošević shook hands with each of the veteran members of the Red Berets.

Among those veterans was Zvezdan Jovanović, director executor of Zoran Djindjić. In the film, we clearly see the killer salute Milošević and shout out: “Lieutenant-Colonel Jovanović Zvezdan” and shake hands with Slobodan Milošević.

The units also held a demonstration in the use of firearms the unit used. At that time, Jovanović used the same gun that was later used to murder Djindjić to fire two shots in a display of his own skill.

On watching the film again, the Serbian police ascertained that Djindjić was killed with the same weapon that was used in demonstration that day. That was not particularly difficult to conclude, as there is supposedly only one Heckler&Koch G3 rifle in Serbia, and is worth some 15 thousand Euro. Later the rifle was found buried in a Belgrade suburb.

In the announcements prior to showing the film on Serbian Television, it was stated that some of the persons depicted in the film were already in jail, while some are yet to end up there.

Together with Jovica Stanišić and Frenkie Simatović, former head of Serbian Television Milorad Vučelić could also end up in prison, as could former head of customs Mihalj Kertes, who also received a special award on the day of Milošević’s visit to the Red Berets. Together with Stanišić, in the 1990s they were responsible for coordinating the financing of the unit, which received a great deal of its funds from all of the members involved in the profitable cigarette smuggling business.

Stambolić’s letter to Milošević
In March 1991, Stambolić sent Milošević a letter telling him to step down

Ivan Stambolić’s last contact with Slobodan Milošević was in a letter sent in March 1991 following the great anti-Milošević demonstrations in Belgrade, in which 2 people died. His letter is as follows:

“You isolated me from everything, counting on my characteristics, so well known to you. In three and a half years you have concentrated and returned to all the darkest and worst things of that time which you gladly and forcefully strive for. You cheated and destroyed people, organizations, movements, the state. But the cheated and the destroyed have become your cursed mirror. You pressured me into an asylum of silence with the feeling of responsibility for having brought you there on my back, which you watched for some time. All you needed was for me to give you the knife. And I gave it to you. You didn’t hesitate for even a moment. You repeated, not only there, the worst side of Serbian history, thinking, perhaps underestimating, that we Serbs have no other history. Sometimes it seems as though you understand Serbia and that you love only its darker side.

In your newspapers, Milošević, quickly following the VIII session, I read that “the seeds in my bud need to be squashed”! That was the last time, when those evils words and thoughts were released to the public, that I telephoned you. In fury, and likely in fear, I cannot recall what I yelled into the receiver. I know that in your defense you stated that others do it to and that the press is free. In know that not even remotely did you mention the possibility that those lies could be denied, and that the evil words and orders by called by their true name.

So, what lead me to contact you again? Blood! Death again! Blood fell on Belgrade’s streets, and will never again be washed away. That is why, Slobodan Milošević, go. Withdraw alone, of your own will, as everything else you have done! The great gratitude of the nation on your resignation will save you from a social and moral lynch, the kind you and your pals subjected your predecessors to. The drama is great even when the hero is small, the size of the drama does not determine the size of the hero. Slobodan Milošević, play out the final act!”