An investigation has been launched into and month-long detention set against two men suspected of attempted murder of journalist Dusan Miljus and businessman Josip Galinec, the Zagreb County Court reported on Monday, adding that suspects Djordje Vuletic and Darko Dakic today again pleaded not guilty.
The investigation will be carried out by judge Zdenko Posavec who set month-long detention against them due to possible tampering with witnesses and co-assailants and possible repetition of the crime. Dakic was also detained due to the gravity of the circumstances of the crime.
The defence lawyers for the two suspects said they would appeal.
According to unofficial information, six witnesses will be heard during the investigation.
Djordje Vuletic, 48, a former police officer and one of the accused in a high-profile late 1990s criminal organisation trial, and Darko Dakic, 32, last week again denied the police's suspicions that they brutally assaulted Galinec in September 2008. Dakic also denied responsibility for an assault on Jutarnji List reporter Miljus in June that year.
Vuletic is suspected of having "executed the attempted murder". Police have still not found out who hired them and hope to do so as part of Operation Shock 3, one of the more comprehensive operations against organised crime in recent years. Vuletic and Dakic were arrested in the operation last Wednesday alongside two other men, who were released after questioning.
The media have referred to Operation Shock 3 as a strike against the Zagreb underworld.
