Who Was Dragoslav Ognjanović

Dragoslav Ognjanović, known as Miša Ognjanović, was a Serbian criminal lawyer born in Belgrade on 21 December 1961. He practiced law for nearly three decades and took part in many of the most closely followed court cases in Serbia. For that reason, the media often called him the “devil’s advocate.”

Before becoming a lawyer, he worked as an inspector in the Belgrade police. He later joined the team of legal advisers to Slobodan Milošević before the Hague Tribunal. He also represented Mirjana Marković and defended Luka Bojović and Đorđe Prelić.

He was killed on 28 July 2018 outside the building in New Belgrade where he lived. The murder prompted strong reactions from bar associations and the public, and according to available sources, neither the perpetrators nor those who ordered the killing have been identified to this day.

Early Life and Education

Miša Ognjanović was born in Belgrade on 21 December 1961, when Serbia was part of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia. Details of his childhood, parents and family background are not publicly available, so this article does not state them.

According to media reports, he trained as a jurist and then as a lawyer. The name of the faculty and the year of graduation are not reliably confirmed in the sources, so they remain unknown here.

Police Career: Homicide Inspector

Before passing the bar exam and opening a practice, Ognjanović chose a different path. During the 1990s he worked in the Belgrade police as an inspector, and according to media reports he investigated murders. Wikipedia and Belgrade media state that he worked in the Third Department of the Belgrade Police, which specialized in murder investigations.

This experience later proved useful in his work on criminal cases. Colleagues described him as an excellent expert in criminal law who quickly made a name for himself as a good lawyer.

Start of His Legal Career

After his police service, Ognjanović moved into legal practice and specialized in criminal law. He was a member of the Belgrade Bar Association. He shared an office with his colleague Goran Pejić, who was also one of his closest friends.

According to media reports, he practiced law for almost 30 years. During that time he represented clients in cases that regularly made front-page news.

Rise to Prominence: The Hague and the Defense of Slobodan Milošević

The best-known period of Ognjanović’s career is linked to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Slobodan Milošević was arrested in 2001 and tried before this court. He conducted his own defense, and Ognjanović was a member of his team of legal advisers. According to several sources, he spent about six years on the team.

In The Hague he worked with fellow team members, including the lawyer Momčilo Bulatović. Sources indicate that much of the preparation of the defense and the contact with Milošević’s family fell to the lawyers who accompanied him. On one occasion Ognjanović told reporters about arranging a family visit to Milošević, saying that the family members were glad to be together without glass and without microphones.

Slobodan Milošević died in the tribunal’s detention unit in 2006, before a verdict was delivered. Ognjanović also represented his wife, Mirjana Marković.

Best-Known Cases and Clients

Besides The Hague, Ognjanović was involved in several cases that the media followed closely. Based on reliable sources, the following stand out:

• The “Suitcase” case – in 2006 he was one of the participants in this proceeding before the then District Court, now the Higher Court in Belgrade.
• The murder of Brice Taton – he was one of the defense lawyers of Đorđe Prelić, a leader of the Grobari supporters’ group, who was convicted by a final verdict in this case.
• The murder of Velibor Dunjić – he defended one of the accused in the killing of a Red Star supporters’ leader.
• The “Havana” and “Durmitor” cases – he defended defendants whom the media described as close to the so-called Škaljari clan.
• Luka Bojović – for years he represented Luka Bojović and members of his family in proceedings before courts in Belgrade and Spain.

In Serbia, Luka Bojović was charged with taking control of the so-called Zemun Clan after the murders of Dušan Spasojević and Milo Luković in 2003. The media reported that he was later convicted in Spain for possession of weapons. Ognjanović also represented Bojović’s mother, Anđelka, as well as his close associates, including Filip Korać and Jovan Vukotić.

His last major case was the proceeding before the Special Court for the murder of Nikola Bojović, Luka’s brother. Ognjanović represented the Bojović family as injured parties. In April 2018, Saša Cvetanović was sentenced to 35 years in prison as the direct perpetrator, and Slaviša Novaković, Ratko Koljenšić and Miloš Vojinović also received sentences.

Colleagues stressed that a defense lawyer is not the keeper of criminal secrets but the representative of his client in the courtroom. Borivoje Borović, who defended Luka Bojović together with Ognjanović, also defended Ognjanović’s professional integrity.

Political Candidacy

Besides practicing law, Ognjanović was also a candidate of the Socialist Party of Serbia for a member of parliament. This information comes from Wikipedia, and publicly available sources do not describe the details of his political involvement.

Private Life

Ognjanović was married three times. With his first wife, Ninoslava, he had a son, Petar. He then married the model Natalija Mihić, at the time known as one of Serbia’s “Playboy bunnies,” and they have a son, Mihajlo. Sources differ on the year the second marriage ended in divorce.

He married for the third time in August 2017, in Paris, to the former beauty queen Sanja Papić, who was 23 years younger than he was. Their daughter Lara was born on 30 October 2017.

Tragic Death

Dragoslav Ognjanović was killed on Saturday, 28 July 2018, at around 7:30 p.m., on Antifašističke borbe Street in New Belgrade, outside the building where he lived. His son Petar was also wounded, hit in the right arm, but his life was not in danger. According to the sources, the number of shots fired varies, ranging from six to ten.

The head of the Criminal Police Directorate, Dejan Kovačević, said that the police were intensively searching for the perpetrator. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said the next day that the police had some leads. Justice Minister Nela Kuburović stated that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that an organized criminal group had committed the murder.

Ognjanović was buried on 1 August 2018 at the New Cemetery in Belgrade. Family, colleagues, friends and students of the Faculty of Law came to say goodbye. After the funeral service, a speech was given by the lawyer Branislav Tapušković.

Reaction of the Legal Profession and the Investigation

The Bar Association of Serbia and the Belgrade Bar Association suspended work for a week, starting on 30 July 2018. The associations’ message was that a shot fired at Miša Ognjanović was a shot fired at all lawyers. They called for a special investigative team to be formed and announced a cash reward for anyone who provided prosecutors with credible information about the perpetrators. Representatives of the legal profession said that three lawyers had been killed in the previous ten years and that most attacks remained unsolved. One of them was the lawyer Vladimir Zrelec, killed in Belgrade in December 2015.

According to available sources, the murder has not been solved. Media reported various possible motives, but none has been confirmed. The Belgrade Bar Association asked the Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office whether Ognjanović had been subject to secret surveillance, but, as the association’s president Momčilo Bulatović said, an official answer never arrived.

During the trial of Dijana Hrkalović before the Special Court, a recording of a conversation between Ognjanović and Dragoslav Miloradović from the “Mangusta” operation was played. The indictment charges Hrkalović with ordering that part of that recording be cut, which is the subject of court proceedings.

Interesting Facts

• The media nickname “devil’s advocate” is tied to his involvement in the most controversial cases.
• Before practicing law, he worked as a police inspector in charge of murder investigations.
• He was a candidate of the Socialist Party of Serbia for a member of parliament.
• He married in Paris in 2017, when his wife was in the seventh month of pregnancy.
• His murder prompted a week-long work stoppage by the Serbian legal profession.

Legacy and Influence

Dragoslav Ognjanović is remembered as one of the most prominent Serbian criminal lawyers of his generation. His career also prompted a broad debate about the role of the defense counsel in criminal proceedings and about the principle that everyone has the right to a defense, regardless of whom the lawyer represents.

His murder became a symbol of the risks that lawyers face in Serbia. The Belgrade Bar Association continues to call for the crime to be solved, and his colleagues remember him as an excellent lawyer and a friend.

Biography – Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Dragoslav Ognjanović?

Dragoslav Miša Ognjanović was a Serbian criminal lawyer from Belgrade, a former police inspector and a member of Slobodan Milošević’s team of legal advisers in The Hague.

When and where was Dragoslav Ognjanović born?

He was born on 21 December 1961 in Belgrade.

Whom did Dragoslav Ognjanović defend?

He was part of Slobodan Milošević’s team of legal advisers, represented Mirjana Marković, and defended Luka Bojović, Đorđe Prelić and others accused in well-known proceedings.

Why was he called the “devil’s advocate”?

The media called him that because of his involvement in the most controversial and closely followed criminal cases in Serbia.

When was Dragoslav Ognjanović killed?

He was killed on 28 July 2018, at around 7:30 p.m., outside the building where he lived on Antifašističke borbe Street in New Belgrade.

Has the murder of Dragoslav Ognjanović been solved?

According to available sources, the murder has not been solved, and the perpetrators and those who ordered it have not been publicly identified.

Where is Dragoslav Ognjanović buried?

He was buried on 1 August 2018 at the New Cemetery in Belgrade.

Who was Dragoslav Ognjanović married to?

He was married three times: to Ninoslava, Natalija Mihić and Sanja Papić. He has sons Petar and Mihajlo and a daughter, Lara.

How did the legal profession react to his murder?

The Bar Association of Serbia and the Belgrade Bar Association suspended work for a week and called for a special investigative team to be formed.

Conclusion

Dragoslav Ognjanović was a Belgrade criminal lawyer who went from police inspector to one of the best-known defense counsel in Serbia. He worked on cases in The Hague and before domestic courts, and his name remains tied to the Milošević, Bojović and Prelić cases. His murder in 2018 became a symbol of the threats facing the legal profession, and according to available sources the crime remains unsolved.