| The alleged mastermind of the assassination of Serbia's prime minister may appear in court and testify as early as next week, a judge said Monday after the suspect's surprise surrender. After eluding arrest since the March 2003 assassination of Zoran Djindjic, Milorad Lukovic surrendered to police late Sunday night and was taken to Belgrade's Central Prison to await charges that the notorious paramilitary fighter organized the plot. Lukovic may testify on May 10, the next hearing in the Djindjic assassination trial, said Judge Maja Kovacevic of the special court handling the high-profile case. The sudden surrender triggered speculation about what induced Lukovic, who was also sought in connection with several other high-profile murders and abductions, to turn himself in. He has been on trial in absentia since December, along with five other suspects, in the slaying of Serbia's first democratic prime minister since World War II. "I don't believe that he surrendered spontaneously," said Rajko Danilovic, a lawyer for Djindjic's family. "I am afraid that his surrender is part of a deal, that somebody promised him something," Danilovic said. He accused Serbia's current, nationalist government, led by Djindjic's former foes, of waging an "orchestrated media campaign aimed at portraying victims as villains and villains as heroes." |