Serbian prosecutor admits being on gangster payroll

Milan Sarajlic, the Deputy State Prosecutor of Serbia, has admitted working for underworld criminals, the Serbian government said yesterday.

Mr Sarajlic confessed to "having been on the payroll" of the so-called Zemun Clan," it said in a statement. The gang, named after a district in Belgrade, has been blamed for ordering the assassination of the Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, last week.

Mr Sarajlic admitted having received €150,000 (£102,000) out of €1m promised to him by the gangsters for his services. He was arrested on Wednesday by Serbian police in the search for the killers of Mr Djindjic.

His arrest has proved how far gangsters have corroded the justice system. Mr Sarajlic undermined the investigation into the assassination of Mr Djindjic as he had disclosed the whereabouts of a protected witness who has agreed to testify on the work of the Zemun Clan, the government said. Mr Sarajlic frequently went to see and get instructions from Milorad Lukovic Legija, Dusan Spasojevic and Mile Lukovic, leaders of the gang in their fortress-like base in Zemun, the statement also said.

The two Lukovics, who are not related, and Mr Spasojevic are believed to have organised the assassination.

According to the Serbian police, Mr Sarajlic admitted "obstructing all the investigations into the Zemun Clan" in the past. He allegedly put pressure and lobbied within the judiciary to release the gang members whenever they were in trouble.

One of his duties was to inform the gang on the actions and work of the Special State Prosecutor, appointed only weeks ago in an effort to fight organised crime.

Mr Sarajlic was responsible for the quick release of Dejan "Bugsy" Milenkovic last month, the police said. Mr Milenkovic drove the truck that was involved in an earlier assassination attempt on Mr Djindjic.

Serbian police said that Mr Sarajlic also admitted obstructing investigations into a number of assassinations dating back to October 2000, when the former president Slobodan Milosevic fell from power. The most prominent cases, police said, were the killing of the anti-Milosevic journalist Slavko Curuvija in 1999 and an assassination attempt against Vuk Draskovic, the opposition leader, in the same year.

Mr Sarajlic also obstructed investigations into the killings of Zika Petrovic, the general manager of Yugoslav Airlines, in 2000 and Radovan Stojicic, deputy interior minister of Serbia in 1997. Mr Sarajlic is the first state official to be arrested for having connections with organised crime in Serbia. Analysts say that the arrest confirmed the long-suspected linksbetween the state and organised crime.

Following a public outcry against the judiciary for failing to crack down on criminals, the head of the Supreme Court of Serbia, Leposava Karamarkovic, resigned yesterday.

Police says that they have arrested about 1,000 people following the assassination of Mr Djindjic.