Sreten Jocic, accused of the murder of co-owner of the Croatian weekly Nacional Ivo Pukanic and his associate Niko Franjic, told the Belgrade High Court on Wednesday that prior to the arrest of his close friend Slobodan Djurovic he had never heard of Pukanic, adding that had never followed the developments in the Croatian media.
Jocic told the court he had never heard of Nacional weekly and that he always considered Croatia too provincial. Presiding judge Vladimir Vucici cut him off, stressing he would not allow insults against another country in his courtroom.
He reiterated he had nothing to do with the assassination.
The trial of Jocic, aka Joca Amsterdam, and two members of his gang, accused of the murder of Pukanic and Franjic, stated yesterday
The Special Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade indicted Jocic, Zeljko Milovanovic and Milenko Kuzmanovic on 26 October 2009 for conspiracy and first degree murder. They are accused of following Pukanic for an extended period of time and preparing an explosive device in October 2008, which they planted on a scooter that was driven and parked by Pukanic's car in front of his media company in downtown Zagreb. They are accused of doing so for a reward not lower than EUR 1.5 million.
Five other men are on trial in Zagreb for the murder of Pukanic and his associate Niko Franic. The trial of Robert and Luka Matanic, Amir Mafalani, Slobodan Djurovic and Bojan Guduric began on February 3. Guduric was extradited by Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he had turned himself two days before the start of the trial in Zagreb.
The trial will resume on Thursday.
