War crimes prosecution has launched a preliminary investigation against unknown persons with regards to crimes connected with bodily remains of Kosovo Albanians found in a mass grave at location Rudnica, Serbia proper. Prosecution communicated, following the exhumation and identification of bodies, that it is about Kosovo Albanian civilians who were most probably killed in the area of villages Rezale and Ćirez.
EULEX and Kosovo Police have started a massive action today at 05:00 a.m. throughout the entire Kosovo, and they are raiding 28 private properties.
Reliable sources within security institutions told this new agency that these private properties belong to judges, lawyers, attorneys, as well as people who do not carry public positions.
These individuals are suspected to have committed illegal activities, expropriation of different properties, mainly public.
The Appellate Court has rejected the complaint of the EULEX prosecutor requesting that Olvier Ivanović is placed back to detention, and ruled that he remains in the house arrest under same conditions.
“Practically, Oliver will still remain in the house arrest under same condition and it will remain so until the beginning of the main hearing on 6 October. He is not allowed to leave his apartment, contact witnesses and he can be visited only by the close family members,” explained Ivanović’s lawyer Ljubomir Pantović.
A convoy of EULEX vehicles arrived in Belgrade to deliver humanitarian aid to transiting refugees and migrants in Serbia. As part of the aid, EULEX has donated household items such as cooking equipment and appliances, microwave ovens, hot water machines, beds, mattresses, cupboards, hygienic and safety items, as well as generators, space heaters, and a container fully equipped with shower cabins, washing rooms, and a toilet. The donation was delivered to the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees.
Basic Court in Mitrovica has decided to transfer former KLA commander Sami Lushtaku to the high-security prison in Gerdofc, Podujeva, said EULEX spokesperson Besa Domi. The decision was taken after a hearing session that ended just before midnight. Lushtaku is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for war crimes. Yesterday, he disappeared from the Prishtina hospital after being taken there for treatment. He was arrested shortly after by EULEX.
Axel Jaenicke, chief of the EULEX mission's regional office in Belgrade, handed over on Tuesday on behalf of the EULEX mission humanitarian aid to the refugee interim centre in Sid, north-western Serbia.
Five trucks with trailers delivered one big tent, two generators, 170 beds, mattresses, sleeping bags, portable shower cabins, toilets and cooking and heating equipment.
Ramush Haradinaj, ,leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) said in an interview for Radio Dukagjini that the worst thing about the special court is that according to him, it is selective and it affects only Albanians. He further added that he is not surprised by the fact that the special court could seek evidence and investigate Dukagjini zone, because it is well known that the war happened there. “The fighting happened in Dukagjin, and the war did not end earlier as in other zones. The war took place there all the time.
According to the writer of this opinion piece, Faik Krasniqi, the international community is in a way testing the justice in Kosovo to understand if they are ready and brave to face crimes of different natures committed political and parapolitical “big fish” after the war in Kosovo. However, it is difficult to believe that Kosovo judges and prosecutors would be courageous to face the big fishes of political and business mafia.
The witness whose testimony could be valuable in solving war crimes from the 90s lives in Djakovica / Gjakove. He decided to entrust the secret to his former Serbian neighbors because he is very old and wants to tell the truth. The witness is willing to cooperate, but insisted on anonymity. He also refused to have contact with Kosovo authorities, because he fears for the safety of his family.
Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) has written an open letter to head of EULEX Gabriele Meucci expressing deep concern over, as it said, the mistreatment of the citizens of Krusha e Vogel, primarily women, by EULEX in exhuming several bodies from the village cemetery. KWN reminded EULEX that the women of Krusha e Vogel have been deeply affected by the war as on 26 March 1999, 113 men and boys disappeared or were killed by Serbian forces. To date, only 45 have been found and buried and the village still awaits learning about the fate of 68 others.