War Crimes Suspect in the Face of Neighbor's Evidence

His lawyer, Dejan Vasic, has told Radio Free Europe that his client is completely innocent. While one of his neighbours claims to be witnessing Mitrovici's criminal acts, which link to war miles during 1999.

Mitrovich had been arrested on August 28th, while with a group of Serbs visiting their homes in the Museum of the Suhareka municipality.

Prizren's foundation court had approved the Kosovo Special Prosecutor's request, assigning the detention measure for a month.

The defendant Mitrovic, according to the Constitutional Court in Prizren, allegedly committed criminal acts, war crimes against the civilian population, because, on April 02th 1999, in the village of Sopi, 32 unarmed civilians had been killed by Serb armed forces.

Bekim Blakaj from the Fund for Humanitarian Law in Kosovo, a fund that has been dealt with in the investigation of war crimes, has told Free Europe Radio that they have no information about the person named Mitrovic and his implications for war crimes in Kosovo.

The moment the news was made public that it was arrested, we looked at the database if we had anything, but it didn't figure out any of our documentation, nor in the statements. Even in other records of any kind, there is no mention of his name. We don't have any leads on him, but it doesn't mean he's not involved, because we're not the prosecutor or police to have all the precise data”, Blakaj said.

Xhedin Sadij from the village of Sopi, claims he is one of the witnesses to criminal war crimes that Bogdan Mitrovic is suspected of.

In a conversation for Radio Free Europe, he said Mitrovic should respond to works he has performed during the war against the civilian population, against the vulnerable population of Sopi village.

Sadij said Bogdan Mitrovich has been one of the organisers of the Sopi village massacre.

Not just me, but there are a lot of other witnesses who prove his guilt. This is the person who's been identified. He can interact with our security institutions, with courts and prosecutors and expose all those other people, since a single person has been unable to commit 32 murders”.

“There are eyewitnesses, there are witnesses who have seen it, there are documents that have been found near archives that have been released from responsible sites with the operatives they have had, and with candidates to be eliminated”, Sadiki says.

Meanwhile, Mitrovici's lawyer, Dejan Vasic, has told Radio Free Europe that Mitrovici's property is still in the early phase of the investigation, and that, according to him, its eventual participation as a participant has yet to be determined.

He said his client is completely innocent.

“It, a neighbour of his, has named him a person who participated in an event that took place in 1999”, Vasic said.

But according to him, this witness could not confirm that he saw for himself what was done; but he testified more according to those who heard.

This for me can't have any important weight”, attorney Vasic said.

However, he has underlined, even this evidence has been deemed sufficient to establish investigative procedures at this stage.

However, he has expressed his surprise that as a witness, Xhedin Sadiku has been silent all these years, even though he has met Mitrovica and has decided to testify in court after 18 years.

According to him, this could also be linked to property problems, since Mitrovic, he said, was close to the procedure for Sadik's departure from the club, which he says had been usurped.

However, Xhedin Sadij says Bogdan Mitrovic's property is free and is not usurped.

The test is open, let it come back whenever it wants, no one can say it's not his property. No one has the right to return. Kosovo is open to all those interested in returning, who have not committed crimes, even those facing justice”, Sadiki points out.

Bogdan Mitrovich, is being held under detention. The justice organs are expected to decide about further measures.