14.6.2010 by ctstmaser.

Belgrade | 11 June 2010 | Bojana Barlovac

Milos Simovic (photo by FoNet)

Miljan Brkic, deputy head of the Croatian police, has confirmed reports that two convicted criminals arrested this week after one was shot were arguing over a woman. Sretko Kalinic and Milos Simovic, who were found guilty in absentia for the murder of the Serbian prime minister in 2003, are both being held in custody.
According to Zagreb daily Jutarnji List, Sretko Kalinic was having an affair with Milos Simovic’s wife, which led to a fight in Zagreb on Tuesday in which Simovic shot Kalinic.

Kalinic was found by Croatian police on the outskirts of Zagreb on Tuesday suffering from gunshot wounds. Two days after, Simovic, 30, was arrested by Serbian border police and was brought to Belgrade, where he admitted that he shot Kalinic.

Kalinic and Simovic, both members of the Zemun clan, were tried in absentia by a Belgrade court and found guilty by a first instance verdict for the March 2003 murder of the first democratically elected Serbian prime minister.

In May 2007 Kalinic was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder, but his sentence was commuted to 30 years in prison in November 2009. Simovic was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment.

Krunoslav Borovec, a spokesperson for the Croatian police, said that evidence found in the flats Kalinic and Simovic were using in Zagreb indicate that the two were funded from Serbia.

“It is known for sure that the source of funding Kalinic and Simovic was in Serbia, but it needs to be determined whether they had supporters in Zagreb,” Borovec said.

Because Kalinic holds Croatian citizenship it is unlikely that he will be extradited to Serbia before Croatia changes its constitution and signs an agreement on mutual extradition with Belgrade. Simovic has already been transfered to the Zabela prison in the Serbian town of Pozarevac.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/28702/

Top US Anti-Narcotics Official Heads to Kosovo

Pristina | 11 June 2010 | Petrit Collaku

David T. Johnson, Assistant Secretary

The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs David T. Johnson will meet Kosovo officials today after visiting Bulgaria.

Johnson will reiterate the US commitment to assisting Kosovo in efforts to improve rule-of-law when he meets with Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuqi, Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi and Justice Minister Haki Demolli, and he will also address fighting corruption at all levels.

While in Bulgaria the Assistant Secretary of State met with the country’s Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and expressed his satisfaction with the arrests this year of individuals linked to organised crime and corruption, the Sofia Echo reports.

Johnson also indicated U.S. support for Bulgaria’s decision to set up special tribunals to try cases of organised crime and corruption.

The U.S. has planned additional assistance to Bulgaria’s anti-crime and corruption units and will provide consultants to outline U.S. experience in this field, including mistakes made and lessons learnt, while helping with advice on institutional reform and support for the rule of law, Johnson said.

Borissov said that the U.S. was an essential partner in Bulgaria’s fight against contraband, money laundering and trafficking in human beings.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/28701/

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