Gazmend Hoxha: Investigation into the Killing of Mitrovica Intellectuals in April 1999 Given Priority

The Director General of the Kosovo Police, Gazmend Hoxha, said that investigations into war crimes committed against civilians in Kosovo are one of the areas that the Kosovo Police has addressed as a particularly high priority.

In his speech, Hoxha also discussed the case of the killing of a group of intellectuals from Mitrovica during the war, an investigation that the Kosovo Police took over from EULEX in 2018.

“The case of the killing of the group of Mitrovica intellectuals in April 1999 has been one of the cases of interest. The Kosovo Police took over this investigation from the EULEX Police during 2018. Over the course of three years, the case was handled as a matter requiring special treatment and priority, due to its complexity and with the aim of achieving concrete results. During this period, two exhumation, autopsy and identification orders issued by the Basic Court in Pristina, Special Department, were carried out. Subsequently, following the collection of information by the team, two other exhumation, autopsy and identification orders were also executed at the location of the village of Qabër… However, all of this activity did not produce positive results at that time,” Hoxha said.

He explained that the investigations also concern two groups of civilians who went missing during April 1999.

“This concerns the discovery of the skeletal remains of persons missing from two groups of civilians during April 1999: the group known as the ‘Group of Intellectuals’ and members of the Feka and Isufi families from Koshtova, Mitrovica. In connection with the disappearance of the Feka and Isufi families, investigators filed a criminal report against the suspects, under case number 2024-7,” he said.

According to the Director of the Kosovo Police, six people were brought in for questioning. Four of them were questioned as witnesses, while the other two were questioned as suspects and were subsequently arrested.

Hoxha announced that, as part of these investigations, three suspected burial sites had also been identified, where a total of 23 skeletal remains were uncovered.

“The first location, in the village of Kalludër e Vogël, was located on September 27. During the exhumation at this site, 13 skeletal remains were found, indicating 13 bodies. The second location was in Jabuqë e Vogël and was located on October 2. Four bodies, or four skeletal remains, were recovered during the exhumation. The third location, also in Kalludër e Vogël, was located on October 3, while the exhumation resulted in six bodies, or six skeletal remains. A total of evidence and material exhibits were secured from the three locations, including 66 shell casings of various calibers,” Hoxha said.