Andrija Draskovic released from Italian jail

News

Controversial Serbian businessman Andrija Drašković, a suspect in cigarette smuggling and drug trafficking investigations, was released from Italian prison on August 13th due to a lack of evidence, his attorney Veljko Delibašić stated.

Italian prosecution suspected that Drašković was aiding an Italian mafia organization in Montenegro by arranging for their accommodation, providing protection from local criminal groups and cooperating with them in drug trafficking and cigarette smuggling.

Drašković was arrested in March 2007 in Frankfurt, Germany based on an Interpol warrant, and was later extradited to Italy where he was interviewed by prosecutors in Bari.

The release due “to a lack of evidence” came suddenly.  So far neither the Italian Prosecution nor Drašković had any comment on media reports that he had agreed to testify on behalf of the prosecution.

Andrija Drašković was a chief suspect in 2000 assassination of Željko Ražnjatović Arkan in the Intercontinental Hotel in Belgrade and has been indirectly tied to many other crimes.