Serbs mourn prime minister

last updated 8 January 2015

Belgrade

Hundreds of thousands of people thronged the Belgrade streets outside St. Sava cathedral this week in a silent vigil for assassinated Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. The popular reformer, who led the movement to topple dictator Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, was gunned down outside his office last week by a sniper with ties to organized crime. Police have arrested more than 300 people in connection with the killing, including Svetlana Raznatovic, the widow of the late warlord and crime boss Arkan. Djindjic’s deputy, Zoran Zivkovic, who will replace him as party leader, vowed to follow his predecessor’s policies of close cooperation with the West and zero tolerance for corruption. “Djindjic showed us the way on virtually every issue,” Zivkovic said.