Zubin Potok: Pristina court extends detention of nine Serbs

A pretrial judge of the Basic Court in Pristina on Monday, September 28, extended the detention of nine Serbs from Zubin Potok by another 48 hours. The hearing on the custody measure ended at around 7 p.m., which is when the clock started on a decision about further detention, so a ruling is expected by Wednesday evening.

The nine Serbs were taken from their homes early Sunday morning, and Kosovo prosecutors suspect them of a war crime against the civilian population. As we reported earlier, they were first held for 48 hours. The court has now ruled on neither release nor custody. It extended the police detention, before deciding whether they stay behind bars or are freed under a milder measure.

What do prosecutors allege in the Dossier 23 case?

The case is called Dossier 23 and concerns April 19, 1999, and a place known as Mala Kaludra in Zubin Potok. According to the prosecution, whose motion for detention has been relayed by Albanian media, a group of 23 Albanian civilians was detained, robbed, abused and executed. RTS reports that prosecutors also claim the suspects then tried to burn the bodies with gasoline.

The prosecution’s document names 12 suspects, whom it describes as members of the Territorial Defense, mobilized and armed with various weapons. Nine have been arrested, and police released only their initials, so the sources do not make clear which nine of the twelve named suspects are in custody.

RTS writes that this is the largest group of Serbs arrested in a single day in Kosovo and Metohija over alleged war crimes. Together with earlier arrests in Zubin Potok, there are now 13 Serbs whom Pristina links to human bone remains found in a mass grave in the village of Kaludra.

What did the defense ask for?

The defense lawyers asked that the arrested men be allowed to defend themselves while free, and, if the court refuses, that a milder measure be imposed, such as house arrest or regular reporting to the police. Attorney Budimir Mijacic, who represents Radisav Raskovic of Dren, said after the hearing that the detention motion was thin and unsupported, and that the defense unanimously asked for it to be rejected as unfounded.

“Some witnesses have been proposed who figure only by first and last name, there is not a single word that could tell us what they say and what they will use to back up the indictment,” Mijacic told RTS. The portal 24sedam relays his statement more loosely, as a claim that the motion contains not a single word indicating what the detention is based on.

Attorney Jelena Krivokapic, who represents Miroslav Radojevic, spoke about what the prosecution, in her view, failed to do:

“I will dwell only on what the prosecution was obliged to do and did not. Everything is general, as it has always been so far, they did this, they did that, so all of us defense lawyers raised those objections. We all opposed the motion for detention and asked that they defend themselves while free, and if the court does not accept that, in that case to order some milder measure, such as house arrest, someone asked for bail, someone did not because people do not even have the money.”

Krivokapic said this after the hearing, and her words were relayed by the portal 24sedam. She added for RTS: “The law clearly says that it must be spelled out in detail what the suspect did.” In her view, the defense was in a stronger position than the prosecutor at the hearing.

Breathalyzer at five, arrest at six, ruling at 11

Krivokapic pointed to a discrepancy in the time of the arrests. She relayed that the prosecutor explained that the breathalyzer test was carried out at around five in the morning, and that at six officers entered the apartment and arrested them. The ruling, however, gives 11 a.m. as the time of arrest.

“Please, I think that is beyond logic. And the ruling says they were arrested at 11:00. So, they were arrested at 5 and 6 in the morning, and there it says they were arrested at 11,” Krivokapic said.

The same attorney said the arrested men were held in different detention centers:

“But what is characteristic here is that we defense lawyers had no information whatsoever about where our clients were. So, simply, this is the first time this has happened to me, that we absolutely cannot get any information about where they are, what they are, how they are.”

Petkovic discusses the arrests with the German ambassador

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, met on Monday with Germany’s new ambassador, Anke Holstein. In a statement, the Office says he briefed her on the moves by Pristina under Albin Kurti, and in particular pointed to “increasingly frequent, unfounded and politically motivated arrests of Serbs”. As an example, he cited the detention of nine Serbs from Zubin Potok, who were taken from their homes early on Sunday morning.

According to the statement, Petkovic also mentioned the demolition of Serb property and the physical assault on Nenad Raskovic of Zubin Potok.

What comes next

The court has 48 hours from the end of the hearing, meaning until Wednesday evening, to decide whether the nine arrested men will stay in detention. Mijacic expects the motion to be rejected and house arrest or police supervision to be ordered for his client. Krivokapic was more cautious: “It seems to me that we were in a much stronger position than the prosecutor was, but you know how it is, we will see, we cannot say anything in advance.”