Mihalj Kertes

The Higher Court's verdict comes almost 15 years after the initiation of criminal proceedings in the case.

Markovic was tried in absentia as she is inaccessible to Serbia's judicial authorities. An international warrant was issued for her arrest in 2005.

The Special Court in Belgrade has found Bojana Bajrusevic guilty of cigarette smuggling and sentenced her to five years in prison.

But her co-defendants in the trial, including former Federal Customs Administration Director Mihalj Kertes, have all been acquitted.

BELGRADE - Businessman Stanko Subotic, former director of the Federal Customs Administration Mihalj Kertes and 13 other persons have been cleared of charges for cigarette smuggling in the course of 1995/96 at the Special Court in Belgrade on Friday.

BELGRADE - The Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime suggested to the Belgrade Special Court on Thursday that businessmen Stanko Subotic should be sentenced to eight years of imprisonment for organising cigarette smuggling actions in Serbia during the '90s, while the proposed sentence for his associates entails two to six years of imprisonment.

BELGRADE - The Belgrade Special Court Monday rejected charges against Mihalj Kertes, former director of Federal Customs Bureau of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia accused of illegally transferring state money to Cyprus, as the statute of limitations (SOL) in the case has expired.