Zoran ini, the sixth Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, was assassinated on Wednesday 12 March 2003, in Belgrade, Serbia. ini was fatally shot by a sniper while exiting his vehicle outside of the back entrance of the Serbian government headquarters.
Zoran Đinđić (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Ђинђић, pronounced [zǒran dʑîːndʑitɕ] (listen); 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until his assassination in 2003. He was the mayor of Belgrade in 1997, and long-time opposition politician and a doctor in philosophy.
Đinđić was one of the original thirteen restorers of the modern day Democratic Party, becoming its president in 1994. During the 1990s, he was one of the co-leaders of the opposition to the administration of Slobodan Milošević, and became the Prime Minister of Serbia in 2001 after the overthrow of Milošević.
As Prime Minister, he advocated pro-democratic reforms and the integration of Serbia into European structures. His government ratified the European Convention on Human Rights and implemented innovations in line with the Council of Europe recommendations, which led to the introduction of institutions for the protection of human rights and freedoms and becoming Serbia and Montenegro a member state of the Council of Europe. His government strongly advocated cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Following the arrest of Special Operations Unit (JSO) members and extradition to the ICTY, the JSO organized an armed mutiny in November 2001 in Belgrade. Đinđić was assassinated in 2003 by Zvezdan Jovanović, a former JSO member operative with ties to the Zemun Clan.
2003Mar, 12
Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade.
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Events on 2003
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2003 invasion of Iraq
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. - 7Apr
Saddam Hussein
U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's regime falls two days later. - 27Aug
North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, convene to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns of the North Korean nuclear weapons program. - 12Sep
Pan Am Flight 103
The United Nations lifts sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. - 12Nov
2003 invasion of Iraq
Iraq War: In Nasiriyah, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.