An assassination attempt was being prepared on the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic. This was announced in a speech on Serbian television by the head of the criminal police department, Bogdan Pushic, reports TASS.
The murder was supposed to take place on January 27, when Vucic opened a monument to the founder of the Serbian medieval state Stefan Neman in Belgrade. Pushic said that more than 850 special forces soldiers were sent to defend the president that day.
Soon after that, the security forces detained 17 people in the city who were involved in the work of an organized criminal group (OCG). According to intelligence reports, they were disguised as football fans, so authorities also raided two local stadiums.
Two sniper rifles were found in apartments associated with the organized crime group. Members of the group are suspected of murder, kidnapping, human trafficking, extortion and distribution of illegal substances. The fact that the detainees were planning the assassination of the president has not yet been confirmed.
The assassination attempt may be due to the fact that last fall, Vucic declared war on organized crime. After his speech in Belgrade, there were a number of high-profile contract killings.