BELGRADE: The brother of a high-ranking Bosnian official died in the Serbian capital Belgrade over the weekend after being violently assaulted, Serbia’s minister of interior said on Monday.

Djordje Mijatovic — the brother of Vojin Mijatovic, a deputy premier and minister in neighbouring Bosnia — died on Sunday evening after being attacked in a residential park in Belgrade.

“At around 6-7 pm last night the police received a call about a fight. They went to the address in the Vozdovac municipality and found the injured person and his wife. He was taken to the emergency room where he died,” said interior minister Ivica Dacic.

Police said authorities were actively searching for at least two unnamed suspects linked to the incident, according to a statement. Belgrade’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has also ordered an autopsy in the case to identify the exact cause of death.

“Yesterday, my younger brother was killed in Belgrade. Anything I say now doesn’t make sense because what happened definitely doesn’t make sense,” Mijatovic’s brother Vojin wrote in a post on Facebook.

Authorities have given no indication that there were political connections linked to the assault, with Dacic saying the incident might have been tied to an altercation involving Mijatovic’s son at the park.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2024