The "Belgrade" Style

Goran Zugic, Security Advisor to the President of Montenegro did not become the target of an assassination without a reason, nor is the timing of his liquidation accidental.  Events following his murder point to this, prior to the local elections in Podgorica and Herzeg Novi, in both of which cities Zugic used to be the top policeman in charge.  It is believed that whoever commissioned this assassination had a very clear objective - more precisely, that the assassination was intended to kill more than one fly in one shot and to create new unrest in the already tense atmosphere in Montenegro.

TYPICAL AMBUSH FOR PODGORICA:  Goran Zugic was murdered on May 31 at around 11 p.m. in the yard entrance to the building where he lives in Podgorica, at 9 Save Kovacevica Boulevard.  It was a typical assassination from ambush.  The assassin or assassins began their attack at the moment when Zugic exited his company's Audi and proceeded toward the locked entrance door to his building, about five meters distant from his car door.  Mowed down with a barrage of bullets he fell on the pavement, with his bag falling next to him, which he is said to have always carried open, especially during summer months when, because of light attire, he did not carry his gun strapped to his body, but kept it in his open bag.  Judging by what could be seen on the scene of the crime, Zugic did not have any opportunity to react.  He was hit with six bullets fired from a "Scorpion" with a silencer, caliber 7.65.  Three of the bullets hit him in the head, one hit him in the neck, and two were fired in his front torso.  Seven casings were found on the scene of the assassination and the trace of a shot which hit the pavement and ended up in the parked car.  Two casings were located underneath Zugic's head, three in the proximity of his lifeless body, while two were located around ten meters away from the place where Zugic fell.  Since the shots to the head and the neck were fired form close range, it is supposed that Zugic was disabled with the shots fired form a distance of ten meters, and the "job was finished" at closer range.  The dark yard, the surrounding buildings with warehouses and narrow alleys permitted the assassins to flee quickly, but it is known that some witnesses did give statements to the police which included the description of at least one of the assassins.

Why Goran Zugic?  This is one of the many questions which is being posed in Montenegro these days.  Why did this young man, whose meteoric rise in service at once won sympathy and respect with all who knew him, get assassinated in such a way.  He was born on May 1963 in Tuzla, where he completed elementary and secondary school, and graduated from the Law Faculty in Sarajevo with the average mark of A+.  As early as 1988 Zugic began to work for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and was appointed Chief of the State Security Service at their Center in Tuzla.  He occupied that position at the time the war began in Boznia and Herzegovian broke out, and at that time he moved to Montenegro with his family, where his parents were born: his father was born at the foot of Durmitor Mountain, while his mother was born in Dimitrovgrad; both of them worked in education.  In 1992, in Herceg Novi he got the job of Assistant Chief of the Center for Public Safety (after the famous affair with the deportation of refugees from Herzegovina), and soon after got the position of Chief after demonstrating his organizational capacities.  After the affair at the Center for Public Safety in Podgorica and after the rift in the highest echelons of the Montenegrin police which resulted in the firing of the Police Minister Nikola Pejakvoic and his assisstants, in 1995 Goran Zugic became the Chief of the Center for Safety of Podgorica, which beside the capital city also includes jurisdictions over Cetinje, Kolasin and Danilovgrad.

At the time of the rift in the Democratic Party of Socialists, he firmly committed to Milo Djukanovic's faction and became one of his most reliable associates.  At the time of the bloody January demonstrations in Podgorica, he tirelessly told the policemen who were attacked in front of the Montenegrin Government building "don't shoot, don't wield your truncheons."  He was considered a policemen who abided by the rule that no problem can be solved through brute force.  Since 1998 he took the position of Advisor for National Security to the President of Montenegro.  Exceptional professionalism at work is what his associates remember him by, and that is precisely why his opponents feared him.

"The murder of Goran Zugic is the work of a highly professional team made up of, in all likelihood, four to five people," an expert who insisted on remaining anonymous told VREME.  "On the fateful night Zugic was returning from an official call in Herceg Novic and was in all likelihood followed all along the way.  On the drive in to Podgorica he communicated with his associates on several occasions, and several minutes before his death he even spoke to his wife Natasa, inquiring about his eleven-month-old daughter Tara and his three-year-old son Andrej.  In front of his building he parked his jeep and entered his service car, an Audi.  He was most probably being followed at that point also, for Zugic constantly changed his parking location.  Therefore, there were at least two assassins, and most probably someone else was waiting a little further away to aid in their flight."

The VREME interviewee states that whoever commissioned the assassination must have chosen his target with great care, calculating on the fact that a spectacular murder of such proportions would disrupt the election campaign, while at the same time offering the possibility of rumors and guesses about the motives.  However, all motives outside of the political ones have been ruled out, regardless of the speculations in certain state media in Serbia which connect this murder to Zugic's former position in Tuzla, and even more ridiculous statements made by Federal Minister Goran Matic.  Zugic was not a man to ignore threats directed at him and responded to them with derisive laughter or a spitting gesture, just as he reacted to the angry words directed at him by Momir Bulatovic: "Before I leave Montenegro, I aim to put the last nail in your coffin," spoken at the time of the famous rift in the Democratic Socialist Party.  But precisely because of that statement, Bulatovic's latest statement regarding Zugic's murder seems hardly surprising: Bulatovic told reporters that he regrets the murder of every young man, but that he does not wish to comment on the particular case in question.  Because of the nature of Zugic' job, he had contact both with officers and with chiefs of the Yugoslav Army, but it is not known what the nature of that contact was, especially contact with those who are firm supporters of Slobodan Milosevic.  Judging by the statement made by Minister Vukasin Maras, who stated that the police will do everything in its power to bring to light the background of this case, the number of suspects has been narrowed down.

However, the direct connection between Zugic's murder and the local elections appears patently clear.  Certain members of Bulatovic's Socialist People's Party are saying around Podgorica that these elections will be easier that the last ones because, as they say, "may he rest in peace, for there is no longer any Goran Zugic who is the single person most responsible for Djukanovic's victory in the presidential elections and the 'better organized' parliamentary elections."  Such statements cause verbal conflicts which end at that, although they raise tensions, while on the other hand they cause spite among those who vow in cafes that they will do everything in their power to get as many of Zugic's acquaintances to vote for the ruling coalition.  Spite and anger in turn cause much speculation and abuse of the death of a young man, such as the speculations suggested by Federal Minister of Information Goran Matic whose party is running in the local elections in coalition with Bulatovic's socialists.  President Djukanovic who was deeply shaken by Zugic's death issued a call for restraint and reason, such as the ones that "crowned the late Zugic."

Few people expected the ruling coalition to come up against so many hurdles in these elections in a merciless elections campaign.  Admittedly, the ruling coalition is adamantly working on limiting the importance of the elections to the local level, although the outcome is exceptionally important for the future of Montenegro, while Momir Bulatovic's Coalition Yugoslavia is campaigning on the ticket of the future of Yugoslavia.  Their campaign includes parties from the ruling coalition in Serbia and in Yugoslavia - JUL and the Radicals with their candidates on the local ballots, while SPS sent the President of the Socialists of Belgrade, Ivica Dacic, together with various popular musicians who appeared at several election rallies.  Still, however, "the honored guests from Belgrade," as they were announced by Bulatovic's Socialist People's Party did not improve attendance of election rallies in Herceg Novi, in Kuca, and even less in Zeta.  And there Predrag Bulatovic told Ivica Dacic over the microphone and in front of the gathered crowd: "Ivica, we must open up borders in order for agricultural products to enter Serbia, a border that has been closed shut by the Government of Montenegro," which spurred loud commentaries in Zeta which is suffering these days from the lack of a market for fruits and vegetables.  What does the promise of the opening up of borders mean, beside the admission that the border had been sealed off exclusively in order to exert pressure against Montenegro, is one of the most frequent commentaries made regarding this issue.

However, despite all this, Predrag Bulatovic is hoping for victory for his party, that is to say for Bulatovic's coalition, both in Podgorica and in Herceg Novic, after which the calling of a general election is expected, at which a victory is also expected, along with the firing of President Djukanovic through constitutional channels, all of which is intended to definitely protect Montenegro, Serbia and Yugoslavia.  Predrag Bulatovic refers to patriotism and the Montenegrin tradition, while President Milo Djukanovic responded to all such taunts with the words that Momir Bulatovic is a spent politician and that his cousin Predrag demonstrated before Milosevic what kind of a Montenegrin he is.

In any case, it is clear that these elections are a conflict between Djukanovic and Slobodan Milosevic.  At the election rallies of Bulatovic's coalition, there are ever increasing numbers of Milosevic's pictures and ever louder slogans in his support, even though several months ago, Bulatovic's Socialist People's Party (SNP) sharply accused the Montenegrin Police of smuggling in Milosevic's pictures at their rallies and of writing slogans in the support of Milosevic.  Admittedly, at the time it was the Podgorica faction of SNP, only for the situation to change after the dramatic decision to enter into coalition with JUL and the Radicals.  At that time the SNP invited Milosevic to visit Montenegro, and it is still unclear at the moment when this article is being written whether he will show up there or not before the local elections.  According to a statement made by Zoran Zizic, Milosevic could show up in Podgorica at the final convention of Bulatovic's coalition on Wednesday evening, even though he later announced that the Yugoslav President will not visit Montenegro prior to the holding of the local elections.  However, it is expected that he will show up in Murino where at the place where many innocent civilians were killed during the NATO bombing he will illustrate the gravity of the betrayal by the Government of Montenegro, stating that it is only natural for Milosevic to go there, although it is not known when he will visit.

At their election rallies, the ruling coalition is reporting with pride everything that has been done and that will be done in the future.  The results of 20 million Euros invested in Montenegro, the assistance of the European Union for the elections, all of which are evident, even though the impression is that beside all these achievements, the ruling coalition never worked quite as hard as it is working at present.  However, no election campaign has been as difficult for them as this one, for now they are exposed to attacks coming from Bulatovic's coalition, from the Liberals, form Albanian parties, from certain communist parties, and even from independent candidates.  What the split between the 22,000 votes in Herceg Novi and of 115,000 votes in Podgorica will be, remains to be seen.  For now the SNP does not have any serious criticisms of the pre-election organization, while Prederag Bulatovic boasts that 45,000 votes in Podgorica are a certainty, which is enough to guarantee a victory.  "If we don't get that many votes, we will then know that the elections have been rigged," Bulatovic stated categorically.  It has nearly become a refrain that this time they will not permit Milo Djukanovic to rig the elections.  The conviction in the ruling coalition that they will carry the day in both communities is not waning, and even goes as far as to lay claims to forming a local government.  However, after everything that happened thus far, the most frequent question posed is whether the elections will end peacefully.  With this question the voters will go to vote in an election which, regardless who wins, will result in a Montenegro that will never be the same.