Kosovo MP Names Alleged Serbian Crime Leaders

Zvonko Veselinovic, a controversial businessman from Kosovo, is often mentioned in public, along with Milan Radoicic. Due to their connections to organized crime, both have been on the US "blacklist" since 2021, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.

Veselinovic and Radoicic, in December 2022, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions.

Armend Muja, a representative of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti's Vetëvendosje party, stirred up the regional public when, three years ago, he published a list with the names of "Serbian criminal organizations and their leaders."

The list that Muja published at the time mentioned the Civil Protection, which he claimed was formed by Goran Rakić, Igor Simić, Slavko Simić, Miloš Perović, Nenad Đurić and Stevan Pavićević.

The Northern Brigade, which was created by Andrija Vuçiq (brother of Serbian President Aleksandar Vuçiq), Milan Radoićić, Zvonko Veselinović and Radula Stević. The Northern Brigade and the Civil Protection should be declared terrorist organizations – said Muja.

Veselinović's name is not unknown even in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Zvonko Veselinović and his brother Žarko Veselinović, according to the checks of "persons of interest to security" of the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have been regularly coming to this country in recent years. OSA was also informed of this information, and the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as we unofficially learn, also has extensive materials from last year on the role of Zvonko Veselinović in the transportation of Russians and Serbs by the BiH security services, it is alleged that Zvonko Veselinović's helicopter was regularly used for transportation.

Belgrade journalist Predrag Popović wrote that Veselinović bought a Sikorski S-76 helicopter in Germany.

The American model, which can carry 12 passengers and two pilots, with a range of 761 km, costs about half a million euros. Veselinović painted it in the colors of the Serbian flag and placed it in a hangar at the Batajnica airport. The same type of helicopter is used by Serbian President Aleksandar Vuçiq"Both use that means of transport for security reasons, but increasingly they fly in different directions, each on their own side," Popovic wrote.

Several houses were even built in Vrbnica to house those with questionable backgrounds, and one of them was used by a Russian citizen, a former officer of the GRU (Russian military intelligence). Members of Serbia's far-right organizations were also frequent guests in Vrbnica.

Zvonko Veselinović is known as a close and loyal friend of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vuçiq. One Vuçiq Likewise, Ana Brnabić, when she was prime minister, often defended this controversial businessman in their public appearances.

When you show me the criminal group of Zvonko Veselinović and Milan Radoićić, and show me the decisions where they are a criminal group or do not go further, even if you and President Aleksandar Vuçiq "You told me this and you asked me to do it, don't do it. Don't criminalize Serbs from the Srpska list," Brnabić said.

According to the Nova.rs portal, Veselinović and Radoičić are godfathers and have been repeatedly linked to serious crimes, but have never been convicted. Vučić has repeatedly denied any connection to them. Veselinović, who was designated by the US Treasury Department as a "notorious corrupt person", was arrested several times for various criminal offenses. This is related to murder, drug trafficking, car and truck theft, building barricades at the Jarinje and Brnjak border crossings, and illegal gravel mining.

His name first appears in the White Book of Organized Crime, a Serbian police document published in early 2000. Veselinović was described as the suspected leader of a group that "stole iconic vehicle engines" from the southern (Albanian) part of the city to the northern (Serbian) part, and that also operated in Prishtina and cities in Serbia.