Suspect questioned over murder of journalist

Suspect questioned over murder of journalist

BANJA LUKA -- The Serbian special prosecutor for organized crime and investigators of the prosecutor's office of Bosnia-Herzegovina questioned Stanko Kojić a.k.a. Geza.

The 46-year-old is suspected of murdering Milan Pantić, journalist of the Belgrade daily Večernje Novosti.

Spokesman of the Bosnian prosecutor's office Boris Grubešić did not wish to reveal any details of the Wednesday's interrogation, the Banja Luka-based daily Glas Srpske reports.

Kojić was questioned after the Bosnian Ministry of Justice granted the request of the Serbian judiciary.

Kojić is a suspect, together with one more person from Bijeljina, in the murder of Večernje Novosti correspondent Pantić, investigative journalist who reported extensively on corruption and crime.

Pantić was assaulted and killed on June 11, 2001, in Jagodina, Serbia.

At the conference "Who, what, where, when, how - Impunity of crimes against journalists" held Wednesday in Belgrade, Chairman of the Commission for investigating journalist murders Veran Matić said that a person potentially involved in the Pantić murder had been questioned.

Since the murder of Pantić in 2001 to this day, there were seven different task forces at the Interior Ministry (MUP) working on the case. It is clear even to a layman that this makes it is impossible to find the persons who committed the murder as well as those who ordered it, said Matić.

Kojić was born in Travnik in Bosnia and is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence for war crimes in committed in Srebrenica.

Kojić's last name was Savanović, and he changed it after the war in Bosnia.