Veselin "Vesko" Vukotić (born 12 February 1958) is a Montenegrin criminal and

hitman Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

. He was arrested in February 2006 and released from jail in August 2009.

Criminal activity

Vukotić is best known as one of the assassins of

Enver Hadri Enver Hadri (1941 – 25 February 1990) was a Kosovo Albanian human rights activist. According to an Albanian blog AACL, he was assassinated while he stopped at a traffic light in Brussels, by three Yugoslavians allegedly working for State S ...

, a Kosovo-Albanian human rights activist, accused by Yugoslav State Security Service as a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

and

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

agent. On February 25, 1990, Hadri was shot by Vukotić,

Andrija Lakonić Andrija ( sr-cyr, Андрија, ) is the South Slavic variant of Greek ''Andreas'' (Andrew). It may refer to: *Andrija Stipanović, basketballer *Andrija Žižić (born 1980), Croatian basketballer *Andrija Kaluđerović (born 1987), Serbian foot ...

, and

Darko Ašanin Darko is a common Slavic given name, and an Akan family name. People: * Darko (given name) * Darko (surname) Places: * Velké Dářko, a pond in the Czech Republic Movies: * ''Donnie Darko ''Donnie Darko'' is a 2001 American science fictio ...

(all employed and contracted by Yugoslav State Security Service ( SDB) at the time) in the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

capital

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. It is thought that the assassination was ordered by the Yugoslav secret service. Later that year Vukotić killed Lakonić at ''Nana'' nightclub in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

's neighbourhood of

Senjak Senjak ( sr-cyrl, Сењак, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. Located in Savski Venac, one of the three municipalities that constitute the very center of the city, it is an affluent neighborhood containing emba ...

in the presence of Ašanin and Serbian police inspector Miroslav Bižić. The very next day after the murder, Vukotić escaped to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with help from inspector Bižić.Posle izručenja Vukotića počinje istraga za prvo mafijaško ubistvo, ''Blic'', December 20, 2008
Both Ašanin and Bižić were later murdered. Despite arrest warrants, Vukotić continued traveling, spending most of his time in

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. On November 16, 1997, during a shooting at the Flash nightclub in

Prčanj Prčanj ( Montenegrin and Serbian: Прчањ, ) is a small town along the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 1128 people. It is located 5 kilometres west of Kotor, opposite to Dobrota and betwee ...

near

Kotor Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative c ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, he murdered sailor Duško Bošković and wounded Vladimir Pavićević.

Arrest and subsequent events

Arrest

Vukotić was arrested in late February 2006 by

Spanish police Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

at the

Barajas Airport Barajas may refer to: *Barajas (Madrid), the district of Madrid in which the airport lies **Barajas (Madrid Metro), station along Line 8 of the Madrid Metro **Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, principal airport of Madrid, Spain *Barajas (ar ...

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after landing there on a flight from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. At the time he traveled with a forged Croatian passport and driver's license issued to the name Ludvig Bulić. It is thought that the arrest was made as a result of a tip by Montenegrin police to their

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

counterparts who in turn extended the information to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The basis for Vukotić's arrest was a 16-year-old arrest warrant issued by the

Belgian police Law enforcement in Belgium is conducted by an integrated police service structured on the federal and local levels, made up of the Federal Police and the Local Police. Both forces are autonomous and subordinate to different authorities, but link ...

for Hadri's murder as well as the arrest warrant for Bošković's murder. There was talk that the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

(ICTY) showed interest in having Vukotić as a witness at the trial of

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...

since several witnesses mentioned Vukotić's name in their testimonies, but nothing ever came of it.

Imprisonment

Spanish authorities extradited Vukotić to Belgium where he spent more than two years in prison in Saint-Gilles. On December 18, 2008 Belgian authorities extradited him to Serbia under heavy security, because he had

Serbian citizenship Citizenship of Serbia is regulated by the ''Citizenship Law of the Republic of Serbia'', adopted in 2004 and based primarily on the principle of Jus sanguinis. Article 23 of the citizenship law stipulates that any foreign national with Serbian ...

. He was kept in (''Okružni zatvor'') in Novi Sad for less than a year.

Release

In August 2009, he suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

and later was released to freedom for medical treatment. Vukotić was arrested again on December 31, 2010 by local Serbian police, but was released to freedom a few hours later, on the same evening.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vukotic, Veselin Serbian murderers Serbian assassins People from Nikšić Living people 1958 births