Pallade Veneta - Serbia gripped by TV series about murder of prime minister

The political-crime thriller "Operation Sabre" has been a smash hit, with bitter memories of the 2003 assassination still close to the surface for many who had pinned their hopes on the dynamic new leader after the dark years of Slobodan Milosevic.

"I remember the incredible silence... you could feel the fear," actor Dragan Micanovic, who plays Djindjic in the series made by Serbia's public broadcaster, told AFP of his own memories of the murder's aftermath.

Djindjic -- the first democratically elected leader of post-communist Serbia -- was killed in broad daylight on March 12, 2003 in front of a government building in the heart of the capital Belgrade.

- 'Watershed moment' -

His supporters saw him as a leader set on transforming the pariah nation, tainted by war crimes committed during the 1990s Balkan wars, into a prosperous one headed for EU membership.

But to his enemies, he was a turncoat who oversaw the extradition of war-time leader Milosevic to The Hague, where he was tried by a UN tribunal for genocide and war crimes.

That was the ultimate motive for his killer, Zvezdan Jovanovic -- his tense interrogation recreated in the eight-part series, which is also showing on HBO Max for international audiences.

Jovanovic was a member of the so-called "Red Berets" -- a special unit formed by the State Security Service under Milosevic's regime. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in Djindjic's murder.

Series co-writer Vladimir Tagic, who was just 16 when Djindjic was killed, described the assassination as a watershed moment in his own life.

"From that moment on, I began to think about the world around me, realising that I was a part of it and couldn't live outside of it," Tagic told AFP.

The series features archive footage of the dizzying events along with dramatic renderings of the murder and its aftermath when more than 11,000 people including militia leaders, crime bosses and police officers were rounded up during the frantic dragnet codenamed "Operation Sabre".

"We felt it was necessary to remind people that this truly happened on our streets, in our city... I believe the archival material brought great emotional power to the story," said Tagic.

- 'Horrible moments' -

The formula has proven to be a powerful mix, with 70-year-old Belgrade resident Biljana Cubrilo saying the show brought back memories too painful to bear.

"I couldn't bring myself to relive those horrible moments," she told AFP.

The show's writers went through thousands of pages of court documents about Djindjic's murder, zeroing in on links between officials, security services and the criminal underworld.

"Our goal was to present a version of events supported by clear evidence," said co-writer Goran Stankovic.

"Reading their testimonies, often devoid of empathy, was deeply disturbing," he added.

News coverage from the time is also a major focus of the series, showing its role as a key influence on events.

For younger viewers with no memory of Djindjic or the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s -- a subject that remains taboo in many parts of Serbia -- the series has been an eye-opener.

"I felt torn... he was a man who tried to set things right," Vuk Randjic, a 21-year-old student in Belgrade, told AFP.

"But because of the entire system, he couldn't carry out the vision he had."

G.Riotto--PV