"If I had not been arrested, Jocic's name would probably not be mentioned in this case. I was not a go-between, as claimed in the indictment, and Jocic has nothing to do (with the murder)," Djurovic, a witness in the Belgrade trial of Sreten Jocic, Zeljko Milovanovic and Milenko Kuzmanovic, told the court.

Djurovic was identified by Tomislav Marjanovic as the middleman between Jocic and the Zagreb part of the group that conspired to kill Pukanic, to which Marjanovic belonged before he withdrew.

Testifying in the Belgrade trial via video link from the Zagreb County Court, Djurovic said that until the trial for the murder of Pukanic and Franjic he had not known anything about the murder or about Pukanic, nor had he followed Pukanic's work as a journalist.

Djurovic accused Marjanovic of making up the statement incriminating him and Jocic.

Djurovic is to continue with his testimony on Friday, when he will continue answering questions from Jocic, who started questioning him after the prosecution and the defence did so.

Jocic, Milovanovic and Kuzmanovic are indicted for conspiracy and first degree murder. They are accused of planting an explosive device on a moped in Zagreb in October 2008, which was then parked by Pukanic's car in the parking lot of his media company Nacional, for a reward of minimum EUR 1.5 million.

The Zagreb County Court on 3 November 2010 convicted six men of the murder, including Milovanovic, who was tried in his absence.

Robert Matanic, accused of assembling the criminal group, was given 33 years in jail, and his cousin Luka and their friend Amir Mafalani were each given 16 years' imprisonment as accessories. Milovanovic, accused of activating the explosive device, was sentenced to 40 years in jail, while Bojan Guduric, who was to have shot Pukanic had the explosive failed, was given a 30-year sentence. Slobodan Djurovic was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment as the connection to Sreten Jocic, who allegedly paid EUR 1.5 million to have Pukanic killed.