The trial of Sreten Jocic and two members of his gang, accused of the murder of Ivo Pukanic, co-owner of the Croatian weekly Nacional, and his associate Niko Franjic, began at the Belgrade Higher Court on Tuesday.
The three accused were brought to the courthouse at 2 pm. After the indictment was read out, Jocic was scheduled to present his defence.
Many Croatian reporters are covering the trial.
The Special Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade indicted Josic, Zeljko Milovanovic and Milenko Kuzmanovic on 26 October 2009 for conspiracy and first degree murder. They are accused of following Pukanic for an extended period of time and preparing an explosive device in October 2008, which they planted on a scooter that was driven and parked by Pukanic's car in front of his media company in downtown Zagreb. They are accused of doing so for a reward not lower than EUR 1.5 million.
Jocic was arrested in Belgrade in late April 2009 and has been in custody since. Milovanovic, one of two persons suspected of committing the murder, was arrested in Belgrade on 31 May 2009, while Kuzmanovic was arrested the day before, also in Belgrade.
Three other men are on trial for the Pukanic and Franic murder in Zagreb. The trial of Robert and Luka Matanic, Amir Mafalani, Slobodan Djurovic and Bojan Guduric began on February 3. Guduric was extradited by Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he had turned himself two days before the start of the trial in Zagreb.
