From 1998 to 2000, in a series of mafia wars during the last years of Milošević’s rule, most of the prominent members of the Serbian underground, some of whom took part in the paramilitary units, and security officers were murdered under mysterious circumstances. These murders might have been sanctioned by the regime so that they do not eventually testify against Milošević and his accomplices in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, The Hague). However, Stanišić and his close associate Franko Simatović avoided a similar fate. Finally, Milošević was overthrown on 5 October 2000, after 14 years in power.