Serbia charges police officers with 1999 Kosovo murders
In what prosecutors describe as a sign that Serbia is facing up to the bloody legacy of the Milosevic years, eight former police officers have been indicted for the 1999 slayings of 48 people -- all but one from the same family -- in Kosovo.
By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 28/04/06
The Serbian War Crimes Prosecution on Tuesday (25 April) brought an indictment against a group of police officers for war crimes against Albanian civilians in the Kosovo village of Suva Reka in 1999. Gendarmerie Assistant Commander Radoslav Mitrovic, who commanded a special unit during the Kosovo conflict, is among those charged.
Also indicted were Radojko Repanovic and Nenad Jovanovic, the former chiefs of the Suva Reka precinct, and Sladjan Cukaric, a policeman at the precinct. In addition, charges were brought against former Serbian secret police member Milorad Nisavic, Suva Reka policemen Miroslav Petkovic and Zoran Petkovic, and police patrol chief Ramiz Popovic.
The group has been in custody since October 2005, and some were on active duty when arrested.
Yugoslav Army Chief of staff General Nebojsa Pavkovic (right) and former Commander of Yugoslav Third Army General Vladimir Lazarevic were among four ex-generals indicted in 2003 for war crimes in Kosovo. [Getty Images]
Prosecutors say the indictees were responsible for the killing of 48 people -- including at least 13 children and a pregnant woman -- in Suva Reka on 26 March 1999. All but one of the victims belonged to the local Berisha family. Their bodies were later found in mass graves in Serbia.
One of those graves, discovered in 2001, is located at the special police units' training field at Batajnica, on the outskirts of Belgrade. Some 800 bodies are believed to have been transported there from Kosovo in an effort to cover up atrocities.
A news release from the prosecution says the indictment is the first to be filed in the Batajnica case and that the prosecutor has proposed that the District Court's War Crimes Council extend the indictees' detention.
The indictments are a "sign that Serbia is ready to face its negative past" and to "sanction crimes, regardless of who committed them", the AKI news agency quoted prosecution spokesman Bruno Vekaric as saying.
In 2003, the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague indicted four former Serbian police and army generals -- Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic, Vlastimir Djordjevic and Sreten Lukic -- for crimes in Kosovo. Indictments were also raised against former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic and Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic.
Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was indicted for Kosovo war crimes as well, but he died on 11 March before a verdict was reached.
By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 28/04/06
The Serbian War Crimes Prosecution on Tuesday (25 April) brought an indictment against a group of police officers for war crimes against Albanian civilians in the Kosovo village of Suva Reka in 1999. Gendarmerie Assistant Commander Radoslav Mitrovic, who commanded a special unit during the Kosovo conflict, is among those charged.
Also indicted were Radojko Repanovic and Nenad Jovanovic, the former chiefs of the Suva Reka precinct, and Sladjan Cukaric, a policeman at the precinct. In addition, charges were brought against former Serbian secret police member Milorad Nisavic, Suva Reka policemen Miroslav Petkovic and Zoran Petkovic, and police patrol chief Ramiz Popovic.
The group has been in custody since October 2005, and some were on active duty when arrested.
Yugoslav Army Chief of staff General Nebojsa Pavkovic (right) and former Commander of Yugoslav Third Army General Vladimir Lazarevic were among four ex-generals indicted in 2003 for war crimes in Kosovo. [Getty Images]
Prosecutors say the indictees were responsible for the killing of 48 people -- including at least 13 children and a pregnant woman -- in Suva Reka on 26 March 1999. All but one of the victims belonged to the local Berisha family. Their bodies were later found in mass graves in Serbia.
One of those graves, discovered in 2001, is located at the special police units' training field at Batajnica, on the outskirts of Belgrade. Some 800 bodies are believed to have been transported there from Kosovo in an effort to cover up atrocities.
A news release from the prosecution says the indictment is the first to be filed in the Batajnica case and that the prosecutor has proposed that the District Court's War Crimes Council extend the indictees' detention.
The indictments are a "sign that Serbia is ready to face its negative past" and to "sanction crimes, regardless of who committed them", the AKI news agency quoted prosecution spokesman Bruno Vekaric as saying.
In 2003, the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague indicted four former Serbian police and army generals -- Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic, Vlastimir Djordjevic and Sreten Lukic -- for crimes in Kosovo. Indictments were also raised against former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic and Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic.
Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was indicted for Kosovo war crimes as well, but he died on 11 March before a verdict was reached.
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