Serbia arrests 10 for 1999 Kosovo killings
December 27th, 2008 - 2:49 am ICT by IANSBelgrade, Dec 27 (Xinhua) The Serbian police Friday arrested 10 former guerilla fighters of Kosovo Liberation Army suspeced of involvement in crimes against Serb and non-Albanian civilians in the former Serbian province of Kosovo in 1999, the authorities said.Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said the suspects had been arrested in the southern town of Presevo, near the border with Kosovo, the official Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.
Dacic said that the suspects had killed more than 50 Serbs and non-Albanian civilians in Kosovo’s Gnjilane after the end of the Kosovo war in June 1999.
The Serbian war crimes prosecutor’s office said the suspects had sought to get rid of Serbs and other non-Albanians from Gnjilane, 47 km southeast of the Kosovo capital Pristina.
“From June 1999 until October 1999, they were involved in at least 51 murders and 159 abductions in the town,” said Bruno Vekaric, a spokesman for Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic.
He said some of those arrested had entered Presevo, a region of south Serbia with a large ethnic Albanian community, to celebrate the New Year with relatives.
The Serbian prosecutor’s office said the arrests had been made in raids on 17 homes in Presevo after months of preparation because of the “extremely high risk as almost all the suspects were armed”.
Nine suspects were transferred to custody in Belgrade while one remained under further investigation in southern Serbia’s Vranje, according to a statement from the office.
A breakaway province of Serbia, ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in February. However, Serbia has vowed it would never recognize Kosovo’s independence.
Ethnic Albanian militants in Presevo waged an insurgency against Belgrade in 2001 which ended with the help of NATO and EU diplomacy.
Riza Halimi, a parliamentary deputy of Presevo Valley Albanians in the Serbian parliament, said all crime perpetrators must be brought to justice, but accused Serbian police of using excessive force in making the arrests Friday.
“It certainly does not contribute to the stability in the region,” Halimi said.
- Russia calls on EU, NATO over military actions in Kosovo north - Aug 10, 2011
- Serbia finds 250 Albanians in mass grave - May 10, 2010
- Serbian state TV website hacked - Jul 03, 2010
- Serbian folk diva indicted for stealing millions - Mar 30, 2011
- Serbia war crimes suspect Mladic may have been held - May 26, 2011
- Europe's most wanted war crimes fugitive Mladic held (Lead) - May 26, 2011
- Remains of 11 people found near Serbia-Bosnia border - Sep 14, 2010
- Kosovo secession legal, rules International Court of Justice - Jul 23, 2010
- War crimes suspect Hadzic extradited to The Hague - Jul 22, 2011
- Mladic arrives in The Hague to face war crimes charges - Jun 01, 2011
- Kosovans' mass grave found in Macedonia - Jun 16, 2010
- Clashes erupt in Serbia protest against Mladic arrest - May 30, 2011
- Tony Blair meets Kosovo's Tony Blairs! - Jul 10, 2010
- Angelina Jolie movie criticised in Serbia - Jan 22, 2012
- Kosovo President Sejdiu resigns after violating constitution - Sep 28, 2010
Tags: albanian civilians, albanian community, kosovo capital pristina, kosovo liberation army, presevo valley, serbian parliament, serbian police, serbian province, serbian war crimes, war crimes prosecutor