Four go on trial for murder of Croatian journalist

Four men accused of murdering a prominent Croatian journalist pleaded not guilty yesterday, as their trial began in a tightly guarded Zagreb courtroom watched over by police marksmen.

Ivo Pukanic was blown up alongside his marketing chief Niko Franjic in October 2008 as they got into a car outside the headquarters of Nacional, a weekly newspaper founded and edited by Mr Pukanic, which had acquired a reputation for in-depth investigations into crime and corruption.

The double killing in central Zagreb came amid a spate of violent attacks in Croatia, and prompted then prime minister Ivo Sanader to sack his interior and justice ministers and launch a crackdown on the organised crime that threatened Croatia’s bid for European Union membership.

The investigation into the case also brought about an unprecedented level of co-operation between ex-Yugoslav security services, and an operation code-named “Balkan Express” led to the arrest of a total of eight men who are due to face trial in Croatia and Serbia.

Robert and Luka Matanic, Amir Mafalani and Slobodan Djurovic denied involvement in the bombing, which prosecutors say was intended to stop Mr Pukanic publishing a report on links between Mafia groups in Croatia and other Balkan states.

A Serb called Zeljko Milovanovic is being held in Belgrade and will be tried in absentia or participate via a video link. Bojan Guduric, another Serb, only surrendered to police in Bosnia on Tuesday and is expected to be extradited to Croatia.

The man accused of ordering and paying at least €1.5 million for the murder is Sreten Jocic, also known as “Joca Amsterdam”, an allegedly major figure in Balkan drug trafficking. He has also been indicted over two other murders and faces trial in Belgrade.

According to prosecutors, Mr Djurovic asked Robert Matanic to recruit people for the job, after which they carried out surveillance on Mr Pukanic and acquired explosives and weapons.

Several hours before the assassination, Mr Milovanovic allegedly parked a scooter packed with explosives next to Mr Pukanic’s car, while Mr Guduric watched the scene from the attic of a nearby building armed with a sniper rifle, ready to shoot Mr Pukanic if the bomb failed to kill him.

Mr Milovanovic is a former member of the Red Berets, a special Serbian police unit that has been linked to many notorious crimes, including the 2003 assassination of Serbia’s reformist prime minister Zoran Djindjic.