Kosovo police seize documents in Zubin Potok house search
Kosovo Police say papers taken from a house used by suspect M. J. show he was mobilized into the Yugoslav Army. Investigators were back in the village of Kaludra on August 1.
Kosovo Police searched a house in Zubin Potok on July 31 used by M. J., one of two men arrested three days earlier over a war crime allegedly committed in April 1999. Officers removed documents that investigators in Pristina say prove the suspect was mobilized into the Yugoslav Army during the war. The search was carried out by Kosovo Police in coordination with the Kosovo Special Prosecution.
M. J. and M. B. were arrested in Zubin Potok on July 28. Both are accused of a war crime against the civilian population under Article 142 of the criminal code of the former Yugoslavia, over the killing of 23 Albanian civilians in the municipality in April 1999. The Basic Court in Pristina ordered one month of detention for both men, who are identified only by initials at this stage of the case.
What was taken from the house
Kosovo Police said the seized paperwork indicates the suspect was “mobilized and active during the war period in the former Yugoslav army”. The Kosovo Special Prosecution used almost identical wording, describing the material as evidence that M. J. was an “active member of the Yugoslav Army during the war period”.
Neither institution said what kind of documents these are, how many were taken, or what weight they carry in the investigation. Both statements say only that the papers were seized as physical evidence, that details are being withheld, and that the case remains open. The two bodies added that they stay committed to “prosecuting all criminal offences, including cases related to war crimes”.
A mobilization record on its own says nothing about a specific killing. It places a man in a unit at a given time, which is the first step prosecutors have to clear in Article 142 cases.
The dig at Mala Kaludra
Excavation work has been under way at Mala Kaludra since late July, running alongside the arrests, at a site Kosovo investigators suspect holds a mass grave. The work was ordered by the Special Prosecution. Human remains have been recovered, and both the identities and the time of death will only be established after forensic analysis.
Prosecutors say the victims include intellectuals from Mitrovica who went missing in April 1999. That claim has not yet been backed by any published finding, and tying the remains to specific names depends on the identification process.
The daily report shows the work is not finished
The police daily bulletin published on August 1 states that further investigative actions were carried out in the village of Kaludra near Zubin Potok, in a case opened over suspicion of a war crime against the civilian population, and that physical evidence was seized during the house search.
The same bulletin sets out how July 31 looked across Kosovo:
- 30 people arrested
- 12 people detained
- 31 traffic accidents with injuries
- 49 accidents with material damage
In the north, alongside the Kaludra operation, police logged two arrests in Leposavic, one for psychological abuse of a wife and one for threats against a woman and her underage brother. A traffic accident in the village of Josanica near Zubin Potok left a woman injured.
Why has the defense not been heard?
We covered this case when lawyers could not reach the men detained in Zubin Potok. Since then the public has heard from the institutions running the investigation and from no defense counsel on what exactly was removed from the house or on what legal basis. Until that changes, the prosecution’s account is the only one on the record.
The month of detention ordered on July 28 runs to the end of August. By then it will be clear whether the documents from the Zubin Potok house end up in an indictment or stay where they are now, in a press statement.
