BELGRADE - Interpol has issued a red international warrant for the arrest of Momir Stojanovic, aged 57, MP of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and chair of the Serbian parliament Security Service Control Committee.

On its website, Interpol posted a warrant for Stojanovic's arrest because of crimes committed against civilian (Albanian) population in the territory of Djakovica/Gjakova, south-west Kosovo.

Stojanovic told Tanjug that a red Interpol warrant was issued for his arrest and expressed the hope that the Serbian government would react adequately.

The aim of such a warrant is to intimidate Serbs and prevent their return to Kosovo so that their property could be robbed, said Stojanovic who was born in Gjakova/Djakovica.

He noted that the warrant issued by Interpol is connected to the UN decision to set up a court in charge of crimes committed by (former ethnic Albanian paramilitary unit) Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

He noted that the Gjakova/Djakovica Basic Court filed criminal charges against him and 16 more individuals, and expressed the belief that new indictments would be filed against Serbs in Kosovo, all with a view to alleviating the effects of the court constitution.

Stojanovic explained that he held office as the deputy head of security in the Pristina corpus in the period from 1993 to 1996, and he also acted as its head until 1999.

The retired general of the Serbian Armed Forces underscored that he is proud of everything he has done and added that he has no intention of putting himself in the position where he would be obliged to defend himself.

According to the report published by the Serbian language daily paper Frankfurtske Vesti, Interpol issued red warrants for 16 Serbs and Montenegrins and one Albanian from Gjakova/Djakovica.

The indictment was raised before the Gjakova/Djakovica Basic Court and all individuals are charged with crimes committed in the territory of Reka Kec near Gjakova/Djakovica in April 1999. The international warrant was issued for the arrest of the suspects via Interpol Office of the UN Administration in Kosovo.

The daily recalls that Serb refugee from Gjakova/Djakovica Miras Gegovic, aged 68, was arrested on the warrant in Podgorica several days ago and was placed in extradition detention for the duration of six months by the decision of High Court investigative judge Miroslav Basovic.

Milovan Drecun, chairman of the Serbian parliament's Committee for Kosovo-Metohija, pointed out on Wednesday that it is not by chance that the Interpol arrest warrant was issued for Serbian MP Momir Stojanovic and a group of Serbs and Montenegrins at the time when a special court for crimes committed by (ethnic Albanian paramilitary formation) the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) is being established.

An indictment has been raised before the basic court in Gjakova/Djakovica against 16 Serbs and Montenegrins and one Albanian, and they are all charged with crimes committed against (Albanian) civilians in the territory of Reka Kec, near Gjakova/Djakovica in April 1999.

A red international arrest warrant was issued for them via Interpol Office of the UN Administration in Kosovo.
On the occasion, Drecun noted that the issuance of the Interpol warrant coincides with intensified pressure by the West on Pristina to adopt a law on the establishment of a special court, which should try KLA members for war crimes committed against Serbs and other non-Albanians.

Raising an indictments against Serbs, minimizes and plays down the formation of a special court and it is aimed at converting the trial of KLA (into the trial of Serbs), Drecun underlined.

In this sense, he pointed to the issue of alleged accountability of Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces Ljubisa Dikovic for the crimes committed in the territory of Reka Kec near Gjakova/Djakovica.

Furthermore, the Basic Court in Gjakova/Djakovica, which deemed it unnecessary to investigate a mass grave of Serb victims in the territory of Gjakova/Djakovica and remained silent on the issue, is now raising an indictment against MP Stojanovic and a group of Serbs for alleged crimes committed against Albanians, said Drecun.

He pointed out that "this recipe has been used all these years" in order to marginalize the crimes against Serbs, and now to undermine the importance of the moves that are to be taken by the special court with regards of the crimes committed by the KLA.

As for the accusations against MP Stojanovic, Drecun said that everything he has done in Kosovo in the capacity of the chief of the security service and the Pristina Corps is available to the public eye.

"He (Stojanovic) has given testimonies before the ICTY on several occasions and I cannot see what the court in Djakovica is now trying to do," said Drecun.
He said that Serbs have a negative experience with courts in Kosovo and noted that former KLA commander Ramus Haradinaj is now at large though he commited dreadful war crimes in the territory of Gjakova/Djakovica and Decani.

"Serbia advocates that all war crimes committed during the conflict in Kosovo-Metohija should be discovered and prosecuted," said Drecun and pointed out that in this respect Serbia has made much more progress than Kosovo.