He had been called a close personal friend[2] of Milošević, the main actor thought to be responsible for the assassination and for many of the horrors that occurred during the Yugoslav Wars.

[5] Details from police reports suggest that “Mr Stambolić failed to return from a morning jog a month before a Yugoslavian presidential election, at which some expected him to challenge Milošević.

"He was executed with two shots and buried in a quicklime pit dug out in advance",[4] and under the circumstances that saw Stambolić be sidelined by his former best friend as he "gave warning of the dangers of nationalism".

[5] Milorad Ulemek was among the first convicted in 2000: "a popular ex-communist, whilst also being convicted for the attempted assassination of Draskovic, and for an even earlier attempt on Draskovic....Ulemek is found guilty of creating a criminal enterprise on the orders of Slobodan Milošević... Ulemek's co-accused, five fellow members of the so-called Red Berets secret police unit and another senior secret police officer, were sentenced to between four and 40 years for their roles in the crime.

"[7] Milošević awaited justice concerning the underground violence until his trial for war crimes had finished at the Hague.

Although the comments from Veljko Stambolic were made before 2006 when Milošević died awaiting justice at the Hague, Milošević was eventually convicted for his crimes by the Supreme Court, essentially accepting the ruling that had been previously put forth by the Special Court for Organised Crime in Belgrade.

On many occasions Stambolić was seen to show negative sentiments towards the rising "nationalist" ideology, in many instances warning of the dangers.

He was an extremely strong leader who many thought responsible for holding the ethnically diverse nations of Yugoslavia together for his 27-year term as president.

In his speech at Kosovo Polje, Milošević delivered a much different message than Stambolić's desire to bring the region together.

Milošević's perspective was fiercely nationalist, who ended his speech with: "Rest assured, this is a feeling that is uplifting all of Yugoslavia.

Managing to maintain unity and quell potentially devastating nationalist insurrections helped him to guide Yugoslavia[13] through various tipping points in the regions history such as the Croatian Spring, something Milošević clearly had no interest in.

And Serb nationalism was the first one to arise, to be raised, to be put on the agenda by Mr Milosevic, and that caused a sort of scandal.

In 1995, during his time with the bank he joined the Serbian Civil Council along with together with Miladin Životić, Miša Nikolić, Žarko Korač, Rasim Ljajić, and Nenad Čanak, which attempted to create the Social Democratic Alliance of Serbia prior to the 1996 federal election.

A translation of a quote is detailed here: "his fall will be difficult and dramatic, because the Yugoslav president," big and powerful "only thanks to the available forces of repression.

"[4] During his time with the bank he continued to speak on this former protégé, further antagonising him by travelling to Montenegro on multiple occasions to meet with political rivals of Milošević.