People in Montenegro know very well what the "tobacco mafia" is, but they are quite reserved. They told me "I wouldn't, I wouldn't" except Milija Prelević i Dritan Abazović. The situation is similar to that in Croatia. There are people who have a lot of information, but are afraid to speak, a journalist told Vijesti Andrija Jarak, the author of the series "Dosier Jarak", who once again brought murder to the fore Ivo Pukanić i Duško Jovanović.
Done in the best true crime format, the series attracted a lot of attention in Croatia, Montenegro, but also in the entire region, which is quite understandable, because the tentacles of the "tobacco mafia" have strongly permeated almost all the countries of the Western Balkans.
Andrija Jarak is a well-known journalist who has made six thousand live reports, including from Stara Vlaška, in the center of Zagreb, where Pukanić was killed by a planted explosive.
"I reported on all these cases live. I was on the spot, I heard what the police were saying, what the prosecution was saying," explains Jarak.
He worked on the series for 14 months. The first two episodes, he says, had fantastic ratings despite the fact that they are about crimes from 15 years ago.
"The interest still exists today, because in Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, the whole ex Yu, when something happens, for five days everyone talks, writes, speaks, and then on the seventh day everything is forgotten," says the journalist.
"Slobodan Šašić, Deputy Chief State Prosecutor, presented the official position of the state. At the time, he said that the ultimate purchasers and financiers remain unknown by name, but they undoubtedly belong to the circle of the international tobacco mafia. The goal was to prevent at all costs the writing of the weekly "Nacional" and its owner, which began in 2001. That's when the threats and pressures begin, since the attempt to bribe him failed, the only thing left was to silence him by taking his life," Jarak relayed the prosecutor's words.
The murder of Ivo Pukanić is also specific, says Jarak, because it is the first time a serious group of criminals, international murderers, appears.
"I remind you, the people who killed Pukanić, before that they committed a series of murders in Bulgaria. They cleaned up the mafia scene there, they killed the top of the Bulgarian mafia. They are not some kind of adventurers, fans, bullies. They are professional killers. Robert Matanic is ahead by all criteria Lucky Kalinić Zvijeri (killer of the 'Surčin clan' known for his cruelty - cf. Auth). He was a serious 'killer'", Andrija Jarak points out.
"That's exactly what we were dealing with: how is it possible for five world criminals to roam around Zagreb, follow Pukanić, communicate with each other, and no one disputes this. Who turned his head? Croatia has serious services, so who turned a blind eye", asks Jarak.
In addition, Jarak adds, when they sentenced murderers to a total of 163 years in prison in Croatia, they stopped.
"Now, did they stop or did someone tell them to stop? In any case, the investigation was never pursued. In the movie Ratko Knezevic says that Pukanić broke the largest smuggling ring in Europe. Knežević also openly calls names Canet Subotić's pause i Milo Đukanović. Why didn't the prosecuting authorities investigate this? This is completely unacceptable to me because Cane Subotic had Croatian citizenship at that time. Why was he never questioned", states Andrija Jarak, one of the many dilemmas regarding those who ordered the murder of Pukanić.
The author of the series "Dosier Jarak" speaks openly about Ivi Sanader, former Croatian Prime Minister.
"At that moment, Ivo Sanader is the master of everything and everyone in Croatia, doctor of science, eloquent, European, speaks five foreign languages, Europe loves him, Merkel he loves him, a man goes to the Orthodox Christmas and says 'Christ is born', 'Ready for home' was a fascist greeting for him... Sanader used one sentence to solve things that would have taken others days, weeks, months. And then we have a cover that for the first time questions something about Sanader. A collection of eight watches is appearing, each of which is worth 10.000 to 15.000 euros," explains Jarak by the fence that he does not want to in any way imply Sanader's connection with the murder of Pukanić.
In journalistic circles, he adds, it was known that Sanader was very angry with Pukanić.
"We all knew that Sanader Pukanić could not see with his eyes after that cover. It was open hatred on both sides," explains the Croatian journalist.
Andrija Jarak, while filming the series, also stayed in Montenegro. He says that he thinks that "Nacional", writing about the affairs of the "tobacco mafia", intrigued him Duško Jovanović and "Dan" transmitted the texts, as the current editor-in-chief of this daily, Mili Prelevic, told him, without any intervention.
"Of course, we contacted Mila Đukanović. We didn't get any answer, but I would like to ask him if he ordered that murder and how he is connected to this case. We tried to reach Canet Subotic through three registered companies, through a lawyer... No one ever answered," says Jarak.
He is convinced that the truth about the murders of Pukanić and Jovanović will be known.
"I think that the truth about the murder of Pukanić and Jovanović will be known. I'm sure someone will come forward and say. We will find out, one way or another, but the silence that has lasted all these years is sad," Andrija Jarak, the author of the true crime series "The Jarak Dossier", says at the end.
So far, nothing from the FBI
Former Prime Minister Dritan Abazović announced in mid-July this year that he would ask Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, for the FBI's help in solving the murder of journalist Duško Jovanović.
When asked by Vijesti how far the implementation of this initiative has come, Abazović replied that the Embassy of Montenegro in America is on the move.
"In New York, we discussed it in detail with people from the administration. "Our embassy has undertaken to continue communication with the State Department in order to see concreteness," Abazović said.
After almost a month without any response, the US Embassy in New York referred us to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which until the moment of writing this text did not answer the question of how far the implementation of Abazović's initiative has come.
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