Lawyer for ex-Serbia leader shot dead

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File photo shows Dragoslav Ognjanovic,  is surrounded by media during a break on the second day of the trial against  Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former  Yugoslavia at The Hague. — Reuters photo

BELGRADE: A leading lawyer who defended former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic on charges of war crimes has been shot dead in Belgrade, police said.

Dragoslav Ognjanovic, who was gunned down outside the apartment block where he lived, also represented a senior underworld figure, Serbian media reported.

“The police are searching for the person who killed … lawyer Dragoslav Ognjanovic and wounded his 26-year-old son in the arm,” said Serbian police official Dejan Kovacevic. The authorities did not link the murder of the 56-year-old to his work for Milosevic or Luka Bojovic, who is reportedly serving 18 years in a Spanish prison for possessing weapons.

The daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti said Bojovic is one of the main players in a battle between two gangs from Kotor in Montenegro that has left several dead.

Another Serbian lawyer, Vladimir Zrelec, who represented a top member of the rival gang, was murdered in December 2015 in Belgrade.

Viktor Gostiljac, who heads the Serbian bar association said ‘the entire profession’ was ‘in shock after this murder’. — AFP