Mud on the boots and DNA on the detonating fuse, Kodraliu presents FBI and Rome Scientific Police evidence in the “Ibër-Lepenc” attack case

Expert assessments by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Scientific Police of Rome are being presented as evidence which, according to the prosecution, links the three defendants to the terrorist attack on the Ibër-Lepenc canal.

This was stated on Thursday during the court hearing held at the Basic Court of Prishtina.

According to prosecutor Bekim Kodraliu, U.S. federal laboratories analyzed mud and soil samples taken from the boots of the accused Jovan Vićentijević, comparing them with soil collected at the crime scene, as well as with samples taken from three other locations, with the aim of confirming the match of the mud.

Prosecutor Kodraliu: FBI experts took mud samples from the crime scene and compared them with three other locations

“Among the evidence that will be presented before you, which we consider to be of particular reliability and importance, is the expert report on soil samples produced by the federal laboratories of the United States of America. FBI experts analyzed the mud and soil samples taken from the boots of the defendant Jovan Vićentijević and compared those samples with soil samples secured at the crime scene, as well as at three other different locations, in order to verify the accuracy of the mud found on the defendant’s boots. The conclusion of the FBI experts established that the samples from the defendant’s boots, unlike those from the three other locations, show no differences in color, structure, mineral composition and other physical characteristics when compared with the soil taken from the crime scene and the soil and mud found on the defendant’s boots. And it will be proven before you that the defendants were direct participants in the terrorist attack,” he said, KosovaPress reports.

He stressed that the FBI experts’ conclusion shows that, unlike the three other locations used for comparison, the samples taken from the defendant’s boots have no differences in color, structure, mineral composition and other physical features compared with the soil taken from the crime scene.

Kodraliu also said this would be supported by reports from examinations of electronic devices, communications between the accused and various individuals, photographs and recordings of KFOR facilities from the inside, as well as materials related to Kosovo’s Special Unit and footage of Vićentijević in Serbian military uniforms.

Kodraliu: Material was found showing Vićentijević photographing the Special Unit, KFOR and training at a range in Serbia

“This situation will also be proven by the reports from the examination of electronic devices, communications between various persons and the defendants, the photographing and filming of KFOR facilities from inside, the photographing of the base of the Kosovo Police Special Unit in Jasenovik, the photographing and video recording of members of the American KFOR, as well as video recordings and photographs of the defendant Vićentijević in Serbian military uniforms and combat equipment and his participation in their exercises at the training ground we mentioned earlier. All of this documents that the defendants undertook incriminating actions. During the examination of the defendant’s electronic devices, confidential KFOR documents of around 66 pages with the classification level ‘Confidential’ were found. His identification card was also found, confirming that he was a member of the Serbian military intelligence service,” he said, KosovaPress reports.

According to the prosecutor, Vićentijević is specifically responsible for the terrorist attack on the Ibër-Lepenc canal, based on the report of the scientific police service in Rome, which, he said, established that traces of the Serb’s DNA were identified on the detonating fuse of the explosive device found at the crime scene.

Kodraliu: Vićentijević’s DNA was found on the explosive fuse at “Ibër-Lepenc”

“The report of the scientific police service in Rome, specifically the biological examination of DNA samples, will prove without any doubt that the defendant Jovan Vićentijević carried out the terrorist attack, because on the detonating fuse of the explosive found and collected at the crime scene, it has been scientifically confirmed that traces of the DNA of the defendant Jovan Vićentijević were found on that fuse.”