Serbia: Former Security Chief Threatens To Release Security Files

Published: 22 November 2013

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Former Serbian state security chief Rade Marković has threatened to reveal 15 sensitive files that "could endanger the state," if an investigation against him is not dropped, Balkan Insight reports.

A Serbian commission is probing Marković's suspected involvement in the murder of journalist Slavka Ćuruvije as a part of a widespread investigation into a spate of journalist deaths in the 1990s. Ćuruvije was shot and killed in 1999 after claiming that former Serbian president Slobodan Milošević was responsible for NATO bombings in Serbia.

The investigative commission attempted to gain new testimony from Marković who is currently in prison for attempted murder. Authorities reported the results of the interview on Tuesday, saying that the former security chief became irate with law enforcement officials and said that if the investigation continues his wife "will move to Zagreb, while 15 files will be published all over the European press."

Marković reportedly called his wife immediately after the encounter.

According to Serbian broadcaster B92, the commission is taking Marković's threats seriously.

Marković has refused to cooperate with police, claiming he was promised release in 2014. He reportedly spoke to an advisor of Serbian president Tomislav Nikolić and requested a pardon.

President Nikolić has not responded to Marković's request, which was previously rejected by the Ministry of Justice.

Marković was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to 40 years for involvement in an assassination plot against several Serbian politicians, including former deputy Prime Minister of Yugoslavia Vuk Drašković, as well as falsifying official statements.