He was also moving to neutralise the mafia-style gangs that he inherited from Mr

He was also moving to neutralise the mafia-style gangs that he inherited from Mr Milosevic’s era.The case singles out Zvezdan Jovanovic, a former JSO member, as the man who killed Mr Djindjic He was arrested only days after the murder. For many, they were heroes who defended Serbs.Mr Djindjic infuriated nationalists in 2001 by sending Mr Milosevic to the war crimes tribunal. They acted under the pretext of the current administration being too co-operative with the war crimes tribunal based in The Hague.Serbian society remains deeply divided on war crimes and atrocities committed by members of the former regime and paramilitaries against non-Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. The group, called Zemun Clan after a Belgrade neighbourhood, allegedly intended to restore to power the people close to the nationalist and pro-Milosevic policy. Lukovic is at large and will be tried in absentia, together with a dozen other suspects who managed to flee.The accused will sit behind steel bars and bullet-proof glass, while the proceedings will be televised on closed circuit flat screens.The charges against the 15 say that, under the auspices of Lukovic, they established an organised criminal group that conspired to remove from power Mr Djindjic and the rest of the post-Milosevic administration.

Many view Mr Djindjic’s assassination as a cruel remnant of Mr Milosevic’s era.Milorad Lukovic, also known as Legija, the man charged with masterminding the murder, headed the notorious Special Operations Unit (JSO) under Mr Milosevic. The unit has been blamed for numerous war crimes against non-Serbs in the wars that tore the former Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s. It brought to a standstill the reforms undertaken after Slobodan Milosevic, the former leader, fell from power three years ago. The biggest trial in Serbian history is due to open today when 15 suspects accused of assassinating the prime minister Zoran Djindjicappear at a special court in Belgrade. Most immigrants on board the ship were from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. In August 2000, 24 people drowned when a Turkish boat with 31 illegal immigrants capsized in the Aegean Sea.. Britain and other EU countries are pushing Turkey, which has long and porous borders, to crack down on illegal immigration.In 2001, more than 25 illegal migrants died off Turkey’s south coast when a Georgian-flagged ship carrying them to Greece hit rocks on New Year’s Day.

Turkey’s Anatolia news agency said the boat was believed to have sunk about 10 miles (15 km) off Marmaris. The island of Rhodes is about 30 miles south of Marmaris.Each year, thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa pass through Turkey on their way to European Union countries. Four more bodies were also located and coastguard teams were dispatched, the ministry added.Bayram Ozturk, head of the private Turkish Maritime Research Foundation, said there were strong winds in the area and that chances of survival for the other migrants were “very slim if any.”The cause of the sinking is not known, and the location of the shipwreck is unclear. He said a woman and a 10-year-old girl were among the passengers.The 14-metre (45ft) wooden boat, believed to be carrying immigrants from Jordan, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, left from the resort of Marmaris late Saturday, heading for Rhodes.Turkish authorities found 13 empty life jackets and the ship’s rudder but no sign of other survivors. Greek authorities were also searching for survivors.A Greek ferry found the bodies of three men floating near Rhodes, the Greek Merchant Marine Ministry said.

The only known survivor was found floating on a piece of wood on Saturday, and gave the only account of the sinking. A Turkish coastguard official identified the survivor as an Iranian man in his 20s.The man, who was suffering severe hypothermia told police that the boat suddenly filled up with water. Up to 60 illegal immigrants were feared drowned yesterday after their boat was shipwrecked off south-west Turkey. The organisation appeared to have given up the armed struggle in the late 1980s but it returned to the headlines in 1999 with the murder of a government law consultant..