An investigation conducted by Kosovo authorities for around two years began with the detention of two people suspected of war crimes and continued with excavations in Zubin Potok, where a mass grave was believed to be located. Within days, human remains were found at the site, another person suspected of war crimes was arrested, and a second location where human remains may be present was identified. Meanwhile, in Serbia, a Kosovo citizen suspected of espionage was arrested.
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Excavations in Kalludër e Vogël, a mountainous village in the northern municipality of Zubin Potok, began on July 28 following suspicions that a mass grave existed there.
According to the authorities, the operation in the area was the result of a roughly two-year investigation by Kosovo’s Special Prosecution Office.
A few days before the work began, two people suspected of war crimes against the civilian population were arrested. The prosecution said their case was linked to the excavations carried out in Kalludër e Vogël.
Details about the acts of which the detainees are suspected have not been made public. However, the police said they had secured evidence that one of them was “mobilized and an active member during the war period in the former Yugoslav army.”
M.J. and M.B. are currently in pretrial detention.
On August 2, the Kosovo Police also arrested J.R. as part of the same investigation.
The Special Prosecution Office explained that his detention followed further investigative actions, but provided no information about the role he is suspected of having played.
Dejan Vasiq, M.B.’s lawyer, told Radio Free Europe that in the request for his client’s detention, he was accused of being among the people who buried the victims linked to the events in question.
“He is convinced that he has no connection to this event, because he was not at all at the location mentioned by the prosecution,” Vasiq said.
Millosh Deleviq, M.J.’s defense lawyer, declined to provide details about the specific suspicions against his client. He said only that the criminal offense had been classified as a war crime against the civilian population.
As the search continued, the authorities confirmed that the remains discovered in Kalludër e Vogël were of human origin.
From the first days of the excavations, suspicions arose that they could belong to a group of Albanians who were forcibly disappeared during the last war. Excavations at the site are continuing.
The civilian group, known as the “group of intellectuals,” has been missing since April 19, 1999. It included doctors, professors, lawyers and people in other professions.
On July 29, Kosovo’s acting prime minister, Albin Kurti, told reporters that the initial suspicion was that the remains could belong to this group.
“We cannot confirm that they are them, but that was our immediate suspicion. Nevertheless, we must wait for our authorities to tell us what this is about,” Kurti said.
The Institute of Forensic Medicine is handling the identification process. The authorities have stressed that only forensic examinations and DNA analyses can determine the identities of the victims.
The Special Prosecution Office has called on the media, citizens and officials to avoid any speculation regarding the identity of the remains.
“…Everything is still at an early stage, and public statements could harm the investigation process and, naturally, could also divert the final result,” the prosecution said in a statement.
On August 2, the prosecution and police announced that another location had been found in the village of Jabukë in Zubin Potok, where human remains are suspected to be present.
The institutions said they would apply to the Basic Court in Pristina for the necessary authorization to conduct excavations in this area as well.
One day before the announcement about the second location, Kurti visited the site where searches were being conducted in Kalludër e Vogël.
According to him, the fieldwork could continue for “many weeks, perhaps even many months,” as the human remains were found scattered along a stream.
Kurti also repeated his call for Serbia to open its state and military archives, arguing that they could help shed light on the fate of missing persons.
Following the announcement about the second location, acting President Albulena Haxhiu also reacted, describing it as “a grim reminder of the crimes committed during the war.”
While investigations into the suspected mass grave continued in Zubin Potok, Serbian authorities arrested a Kosovo citizen on suspicion of “espionage.”
Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said that R.T., from Istog, was arrested on July 30 in Kraljevo. The High Court in that city ordered 30 days of detention for him.
Serbian authorities did not publish information about the actions attributed to R.T., apart from the fact that he is suspected of the criminal offense of espionage.
However, several sources in Kosovo told Radio Free Europe that the arrest could be linked to suspicions that R.T. had provided information that led to the location where excavations for human remains were being conducted in Zubin Potok.
Andin Hoti, Kosovo’s acting minister of Labor, Family, Social Welfare and the Values of the Liberation War, described the arrest of the person who, according to him, had helped uncover a suspected mass grave in Kosovo as “an attempted murder of the truth.”
“This is not a state seeking justice. This is a state apparatus that continues to protect criminals, intimidate witnesses and obstruct efforts to shed light on the fate of missing persons. Every such arrest sends a clear message: anyone who speaks about mass graves is punished,” Hoti wrote on Facebook.
Hoti has not explained what information supports his claim that the arrest was linked to the alleged assistance in uncovering the mass grave. He was not available for further comment.
According to official data, 1,579 people continue to be registered as missing from the 1998-99 war.
