Milorad Ulemek
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Milorad Ulemek | |
|---|---|
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| Born | March 18, 1968 Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Alias(es) | Legija |
| Status | captive |
| Occupation | militant, gangster |
Milorad "Legija" Ulemek (Serbian Cyrillic: Милорад "Легија" Улемек) (aka. Milorad Luković - Милорад Луковић) (born on March 18, 1968 in Belgrade) is a currently incarcerated former Serbian militant who served in numerous military groups, most notoriously, the Red Berets, a branch of Serbia's secret police. He was also in the notorious Serbian-based underworld organisation known as the Zemun Clan. He is best known as the mastermind, as leader of the Zemun Clan, behind the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić in 2003.
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[edit] Early Life
His father Milan was a non-commissioned officer in the Yugoslav People's Army and his mother Natalija was a homemaker. He was a very lively boy that often got into trouble. He finished a course for an auto-mechanic and he graduated from the nursing school.
[edit] Serb Volunteer Guard
Ulemek returned to Serbia at the beginning of the Yugoslav wars (he deserted from the French Foreign Legion on March 18, 1992) and joined the Serb Volunteer Guard, aka "Arkan’s Tigers" (a paramilitary group). Their leader, "Arkan", was for many years a particular favorite of Slobodan Milošević.[citations needed] (Though Milošević would eventually turn against him, leading to his murder in 2000.) Ulemek first became combat instructor and later promoted to one of the Guard's deputy commanders, and fought with Arkan in Croatia and Bosnia. He commanded a special unit based in eastern Slavonia called Super Tigrovi (Super Tigers) who operated in 1994-1995 around the Bihać pocket.
[edit] Red Berets
When the Tigers were disbanded, in 1996 Ulemek joined the notorious Special Operations Unit of Serbia’s secret police, better known as the "Red Berets". The Red Berets were nominally an "antiterrorist unit". Ulemek became commander of the Red Berets in 1999.
He is suspected of involvement in the murder of four officials of Vuk Drašković's Serbian Renewal Movement in a staged traffic accident in 1999. (This was one of several unsuccessful attempts to kill Drašković himself.) A few months before, during the war in Kosovo, Legija commanded the Red Berets in the field. As in Bosnia and Croatia, he left behind numerous allegations of atrocities and war crimes.
Then came the fall of Milošević. Legija's role in this remains controversial, but the most generally accepted version is that he met with Vojislav Koštunica and Zoran Đinđić — who were then leaders of the opposition — and effectively negotiated a change of sides. The Red Berets would not intervene to save Milošević. The new government, in turn, would leave them most of their privileges and would not prosecute them or even inquire too deeply into their lives and their pasts.
Recently when the Kosovo province unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008, the media in Serbia has reported that Legija wants to go back to Kosovo. However, the current government is unlikely to let Legija out of his 40-year sentence and his statement soon quickly lost attention.
[edit] Trials
[edit] Ibarska magistrala assassination
In June of 2005, Legija was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for his involvement in Ibarska magistrala assassination, the attempted murder of Vuk Drašković in October 1999. The verdict was appealed and subsequently annulled in late March 2006 by Serbian Supreme Court.
The case went back for a District Court trial for the third time in mid-February 2007, and Ulemek again received 15 years.
[edit] Ivan Stambolić assassination
In July of 2005, Legija was sentenced to 40 years (maximum penalty) on the trial for the murder of Ivan Stambolić and the attempted murder of Vuk Drašković in Budva. In June 2006, the Supreme Court of Serbia upheld the verdict.
[edit] Zoran Đinđić assassination
On May 23, 2007 he was found guilty, along with 12 other members of organized crime group on a trial for assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, and sentenced to 40 years in jail. This trial lasted for more than three years, it was called "the trial of the century" in Serbia.
[edit] Ulemek's Books
Milorad Ulemek Legija wrote 7 books "Gvozdeni rov", "Legionar", "Momci iz Brazila", "Juda", "Kraj", "čopor" and "Magioničar".
