The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights was deeply saddened to hear the news that the authorities have found the body of bestially assassinated former President of the Presidency of Serbia Ivan Stambolić. The gravest fears of Ivan’s family and friends and the whole public in the past two and a half years have thus proven true. The news yet again corroborates what kind of society citizens of Serbia have lived in for over a decade. This horrible crime brings back the memories of the regime, which had for years presented the personal interests of its leaders as the supreme state ideal, enveloping them with the false veneer of patriotism, nation and a great world conspiracy. We use this opportunity to express our deepest condolences and sympathy to Ivan’s family and friends. We expect of the police to continue in their struggle to combat organized crime and to shed light also on the other murders that have rocked Serbia in the past decade.
