Canada condemns assassination of
Serbian prime minister
Foreign
Affairs Minister Bill Graham today condemned the assassination of Serbian
Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.
"Mr. Djindjic was an important reformer and a champion of democracy in Serbia," said Minister Graham. "Canada expresses its sympathy and condolences to Mr. Djindjic's family, his colleagues in government, and to the people of Serbia. We hope the perpetrators of this crime will quickly be brought to justice. Canada continues to stand ready to work with Serbia to advance the rule of law."
Zoran
Djindjic was the leader of the reform-oriented Democratic Party and Prime
Minister of the Republic of Serbia, in Serbia and Montenegro (formerly,
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). He was a key figure in the opposition
movement that toppled Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000 and
that led to Mr. Milosevic's extradition to the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague in 2001. Mr. Djindjic was
known to be a strong advocate of economic and political reforms as well as
anti-crime and anti-corruption initiatives.