Goran “Guri” Radosavljevic has told Radio Free Europe (RFE) that he is “neither interested in nor affected by the decision of the US State Department.”
The decision in question banns the former commander of the Serbian Gendarmerie from entering the United States.
It was previously announced that the decision was made because of Radosavljevic’s (alleged) involvement in the case of the Bytyqi brothers. The same decision applies to his wife and daughter.
“I do not want to react to such news, I am not interested in nor affected by such a decision,” Radosavljevic told RFE after it was reported that the US State Department designated him “a participant in serious human rights violations.”
In his statement to RSE, Radosavljevic denied any responsibility for the death of the brothers Bytyqi. “I gave statements to the investigating authorities, I’ve talked about it a thousand times, so it’s nonsense to talk about it at all,” he said.
Radosavljevic, a member of the ruling SNS and former commander of the Gendarmerie police unit, has been accused by the Albanian Bytyqi family of being responsible for the killing of three of its members – brothers Ily, Agron and Mehmet, in July 1999 in Petrovo Selo, near Kladovo, in eastern Serbia.
For several years now, doubts have been raised in the Serbian public about the responsibility Radosavljevic in this case that is burdening bilateral relations between Serbia and the United States.
Vladimir Vukcevic, the former war crimes prosecutor, confirmed in February 2018 that Goran Radosavljevic had been under observation.
“Had there been any evidence against Goran Radosavljevic Guri, he would not be walked along in the streets,” Vukcevic said in January 2016. His successor to the war crimes prosecutor, Snezana Stanojkovic, said in March 2018 that the Prosecution continues to work on resolving this case.
In 2012, the War Crimes Chamber of the Higher Court in Belgrade acquitted Sreten Popovic and Milos Stojanovic, accused of aiding in the murder of the Bytyqi brothers, as the two had not been proven guilty of committing the crimes they had been charged with.
In June 2018, the US Congress foreign affairs committee adopted a resolution on the murder of the three US citizens in Serbia in July 1999.
The resolution, expressing the position of the House of Representatives, among other things stated that the individuals responsible for the murder should be brought to justice and condemned that “nobody has been found guilty of executing the brothers Bytyqi or any other crimes related to their deaths, and no single person has even been charged with these terrible crimes.”
“For the government of Serbia and relevant ministries and offices, including the Special War Crimes Prosecutor, it should be one of the priorities to investigate and prosecute as soon as possible the current and former officials believed to be directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths,” the adopted resolution stated, RFE is reporting.
See at: https://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2018&mm=12&dd=19&nav_id=105794
