Story highlights
Vladimir Milisavljevic was convicted for his role in the killing of a Serbian prime minister
Two men arrested with him are wanted on international warrants, authorities say
One man faces charges in connection with Djindjic's killing, authorities say
Spanish authorities have captured a man wanted in connection with the 2003 assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, the interior ministry said.
Police detained Vladimir Milisavljevic and two men at a restaurant in the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia, the Spanish Ministry of Interior said Friday.
Milisavljevic was sentenced in absentia to more than 30 years in prison for his role in the killing of the prime minister, who was shot by a sniper outside his Democratic Party headquarters in Belgrade on March 12, 2003.
Authorities arrested Milisavljevic following a nearly two-year investigation that culminated Thursday when he made a shopping trip from Las Palmas in the Canaries – where he had been in hiding – to Madrid and later Valencia, the ministry said.
The two men arrested with him are believed to be members of the Serbian paramilitary group known as Arkan’s Tigers widely credited with running a terror campaign after the Yugoslav war broke out in 1991.
After the war, some members of Arkan’s Tigers became part of the Zemun Clan, a Serbian mafia group.
One of the two men, Luka Bojovic, is accused of leading the Zemun Clan and is wanted in Holland for suspicion of murder and money laundering, according to Interpol. He also faces charges in Serbia for an alleged connection to the killing of Djindjic, the ministry said.
A third man, Sinisa Petric , was arrested on Serbian warrants charging him with murder and prison escape, authorities said.
CNN’s Sarah Jones and Esprit Smith contributed to this report.