Kurti at the Institute of Forensic Medicine: Remains from Zubin Potok Undergoing Analysis for Identification

Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, visited the Institute of Forensic Medicine, where human remains believed to belong to at least 23 people forcibly disappeared during the last war in Kosovo have been sent.

During the visit, Kurti announced that the remains were discovered at three different sites in the villages of Kalludër and Jabukë, in the municipality of Zubin Potok.

He said that, one month after the excavations began, the work had entered the phase of examination and professional procedures aimed at identifying and documenting the human remains.

According to his statement, four DNA samples taken from the remains discovered in Jabukë have so far been sent to The Hague for analysis.

“Since the end of the war, around 2,700 excavations have been carried out, and this year alone, a total of 30 human remains have been found in 17 of them,” Kurti wrote.

The acting prime minister stressed that determining the fate of people forcibly disappeared not only gives their families answers after a long wait, but also paves the way for justice to be served.

Kurti was at the Institute of Forensic Medicine together with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz, where he also received information about the investments made to modernize the institution.

He said that more than 814,000 euros had been invested in the infrastructure of the Institute of Forensic Medicine. The funds were used to improve the safety and functionality of the facility, as well as to create more suitable conditions for forensic medical services.

Kurti also announced that the autopsy room and the toxicology, histopathology and anthropology laboratories had been reconstructed and equipped to modern standards. As part of the works, a modern archive and suitable space for storing evidence were also established, while the facilities where forensic clinical examinations are conducted were improved as well.