Who Shot Vuk Draskovic and Why

MONTENEGRO: "The terrorists arrived from Belgrade" was the predominant heading in all information pertaining to the arrest and appearance in front of the investigating judge in Podgorica, Svetlana Vujanovic, of the two suspected assassins who attacked the leader of the Serbian Renewal Party Vuk Draskovic. Namely, those arrested, brothers Ivan and Milan Lovric, born and residing in Belgrade, as well as suspects on the run Vladimir Jovanovic (1968) and Dusan Spasojevic (1968) from Belgrade, along with two up till now unidentified people whose detailed description is known to the Montenegrin police, are all from Belgrade i.e. Serbia which confirmed the statement of Vuk Boskovic, deputy minister of the Montenegrin police for public security, that Vuk Draskovic's would-be assassins came from the aforementioned republic. Vuk Boskovic then also stated that the police had identified those who had given out the command for the assassination as well as those who had provided them with logistic help, however those names as yet haven't been disclosed. Moreover, the Montenegrin police has asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) of Serbia to arrest Jovanovic and Spasojevic as well as to identify and also arrest the two unidentified people whose detailed description was forwarded to them. Therefore, the following days should prove whether an answer is forthcoming from Serbia on the basis of which a readiness for collaboration with the Montenegrins will be determined.

Whatever happens, in case it will be proven in court that the Montenegrin police has uncovered the executors, those who had given out the command and their assistants in Vuk Draskovic's attempted assassination, it will be a significant step which will break the all-too-long chain of unresolved murders and attempted murders which are gripping primarily Serbia and which have now moved to Montenegro as well.

The attempted Draskovic assassination came only fifteen days following the vicious slaying of Goran Zugic, the national security advisor. The shots in Budva had provoked the anger of the citizens of Montenegro to unbelievable proportions, who had to face up to the horrific realization that terrorism and unresolved murders are now also urgently knocking on Montenegro's door. The general feeling of insecurity spread rapidly throughout Montenegro to such an extent that, all of a sudden, all authorized state organs, starting with the police, found themselves in a highly unpleasant situation.

However, the shock was complete for Vuk Draskovic too who on that night of June 15th was sitting alone in the living room of his apartment in Budva's Podubovica suburb. It consists of one-story houses built some fifteen or so years ago and recently fitted out with new apartments which were put on the market and snatched up by well-to-do Belgrade and Serbian citizens, amongst them Draskovic himself. However, it isn't an elite nor luxurious housing complex. What one could say is that it is a housing complex situated at the bottom of a hill, a few kilometers from the coast, a God given place for relaxation in peace and shade, relatively far away from Budva's dense traffic and well known crowds and shrieks in the midst of summer. A solid road leads to this housing complex while a nice green belt surrounds the apartments.

Therefore, that evening Vuk Draskovic was alone in the house and the living room was only lit up by the TV which was turned on. On the basis of the thus far known details, the assassins stole up quietly. They jumped over the metal fence, slipped through the hedge and found themselves on the back yard terrace of Draskovic's apartment, directly in front of the balcony door protected by wooden lattices whose strips were in a horizontal position. It is more than certain that they spent a certain amount of time watching the victim, thinking how to complete their task through the lattices with a seven-eight centimeters opening. The impression is that they were more than impatient since Draskovic was only four meters away from them and they decided to aim for the head. Draskovic had a gnawing feeling and, according to his story, at the moment when he moved to take something from the table, he heard a shot even though a silencer was used and he felt something hot on his left ear. Draskovic threw himself on the floor and rolled towards the dining room and platform where he was safe from the bullets which (eight in total) got lodged in the walls and furniture. When he found himself on the platform and behind a huge column, Draskovic was completely protected and stood awaiting further events. After the shooting stopped and the attempt to break through the lattices failed (four-five strips were broken off) he heard noises which made him realize that his assassins were on the run.

It is difficult to say which bullet grazed Draskovic's right temple, it was most probably the second one which, having wounded him, ended up in the wall next to the first one. Draskovic had more than the average share of good luck. The first bullet struck him on the base of his left ear and experts say that a small movement of his head could have made the bullet end up in his brain. The second one grazed him all the way from his right brow, across his temple to the top of his right ear. This graze was sewn up by the doctors with six stitches while experts once again say that millimeters decided whether this injury would be fatal or not. Draskovic's composure and the lattices which reduced the assassins' maneuvering space led to the point where the assassins, in panic, fired off another six bullets into the air. Who ordered that the action be stopped after the lattices were broken shall be determined in the course of the investigation, however the police arrived two-three minutes at the scene after the shooting, alarmed by the neighbors. The assassins, as ascertained by the police, ran over the sand track towards the apartment of Vladimir Jovanovic, nicknamed Japanese, in Popa Jola Zeca Street no 21, some hundred or so meters from Draskovic's apartment.

One of the neighbors, from Belgrade, had obviously informed the police that some people were running along that track shortly after the shooting since around 7:30 PM the very next day Vuk Boskovic arrived in TV Montenegro's studio and told the newscast viewers that the police had resolved everything - we have identified the would be assassins, their assistants, those who had ordered that crime and all material evidence is in our possession.

Judging by how the scattered evidence was shown in the TV report, it is more than obvious that the assassins were in a huge panic. Namely, in Vladimir Jovanovic's apartment parts of the clothes which one of the assassins wore were found while other objects scattered throughout the flat proved that they had stayed there. Namely, the apartment was, as stated by the police, a place where they gathered and planned this crime following Jovanovic's orders and organization. In its vicinity is the apartment used by the Lovric brothers, Ivan (1974) and Milan (1981) and on the way to that flat, medicine gloves were found along with the upper part of a sweat suit and a Pietro Beretta 7.65 millimeter caliber gun complete with silencer with an erased manufacturing number. Police claim that ballistic evidence proved that the cartridges found on the scene of the crime were fired from that gun while another 357 Magnum gun with a box of bullets was found in the Lovric apartment, without a license.

Police also established that Draskovic's assassins had, on more than one occasion, in the course of May and June, stayed in Budva at the same time as Vuk Draskovic, i.e. that they were looking for a favorable chance to carry out their intention or task.

The exact time and place of arrest of the Lovric brothers still isn't known. However, what is known is that the police had blocked off Budva in a matter of seconds, that all roads out of town were closed and that in that action, as we were unofficially informed, some 3000 or so policemen took part. How and whether Jovanovic, Spasojevic and the other two unidentified people managed to break through that siege, still isn't known. If they couldn't use the road, they probably headed for the woods under cover of the night, since a hill covered with trees and vegetation lies overhead, fairly convenient for a getaway and cover, while a network of local roads and highways lies in that direction. Still, it is difficult to believe that they could have gotten out unnoticed easily, since a helicopter MUP unit was also engaged in the chase, and finally, it is difficult to believe that the local population would fail to report the movements of unidentified people. The most probable explanation is that they had an evacuation team nearby, yet that still doesn't explain why the Lovric brothers weren't pulled out with them. For now, no one from the Montenegrin police wishes to talk about this, since further investigation will most probably disclose all who had anything to do with this assassination, especially those who provided the assassinator with logistics. As far as those who had given out the order are concerned, Vuk and Danica Draskovic have no dilemma there and publicly inform all that violence and terror are trying to move from Belgrade to Montenegro. Minister Maras claims that the police won't allow that and that all has been undertaken to prevent just that, i.e. that it has been nipped in the bud.

Other than that, the Montenegrin police has admitted its own culpability in a way in Draskovic's attempted assassination. Immediately after the attempt minister Vukasin Maras dismissed the head of the Public Security Center in Bar, Bozidar Lekic (this center covers Bar, Ulcinj and Budva) along with the head of the State Security department for Budva, Velizar Marovic. The head of the central public security office in Bar, Predrag Asanin, was also dismissed along with the head of the public security office in Budva, Rajko Kuljaca. Minister Maras explained this personnel change by saying that they hadn't done all that they were obliged to prevent an assassination attempt on Draskovic. Maras himself stated that he had volunteered his own resignation to Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic due to Draskovic's attempted assassination because Goran Zugic's murder and Draskovic's attempted murder denied his claim that police had provided  maximum security to all, and that he personally feels responsible for all that had occurred. Maras's statement is backed by Draskovic's VREME interview in which he says that Maras told him a few months ago that he was perfectly safe in Montenegro and that there was no need to bring his private security along with him. Draskovic adds that he had noticed the presence of police surveillance yet that he doesn't know why they were absent on that specific evening.

After all these events, Montenegro's police has let all to know that it shall, both officially and unofficially, put all suspects under microscopic watch prior to their entrance into Montenegro and that free movement in Montenegro without police permission shall no longer be guaranteed to all members of the various services from the country, regardless of the types of badges they carry. It still isn't stated on what basis such information is leaked that is, whether that has anything to do with the eventual discovery of who had provided the logistics and who had given out the orders in these latest terrorist acts in Montenegro. As far as the actual Draskovic case is concerned, official Montenegro gave it more than its share of attention. After all the events, Draskovic was being looked after by Montenegro's top politicians. He was visited by President Milo Djukanovic and Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic, while minister Vukasin Maras stated that he doesn't go to bed prior to checking whether Vuk Draskovic is all right and whether he is totally safe. The anxious citizens have breathed a collective sigh of relief, however they are still asking themselves whether it really is possible that the threatening spiral of violence in Montenegro has been nipped in the bud.