The American Congress made a resolution against the murderers of the Bytyqi brothers: Serbia not tired

“I am not concerned”, Goran Radosavlevkiq Stone told Radio Europe Free Europe about the resolution adopted by the House of Representatives, which is required to solve the case of the murder of three Bytyci brothers, Ilir, Agron and Mehmet, of three American citizens.

“Even in the past have adopted resolutions. I'm tired of commenting”, Radosavlevq Stone said February.

Yll, Agron and Mehmet Bytyci were members of the former Atlantic Battalion -- composed of Albanians living in the United States, respectively -- and joined the war in Kosovo.

In July 1999 they were arrested under circumstances unknown to Serb forces near the border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia in Merdara.

A court in the town of Prokuples in Serbia had sentenced them to 15 days' removal on charges of, as it has been said, the illegal crossing of the former Yugoslavia border.

The resolution suggests that their troops were found in a mass cemetery in Petrovo Selo in eastern Serbia, on a base controlled by units commanded by former Serbian police general Goran Radosavljevic, known as Guri. They were handcuffed and shot in the head.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has welcomed the adoption of the resolution for the brothers “Bytici” by the US Senate, which, as he wrote on Facebook, expresses disappointment with the delays Serbia is making in condemning the culprits for killing Bytyci brothers from the Serbian state machine in 1999.

“This enables the issue to be put off in the highest instance of the US, but also shows that when Kosovo is questioned, the US is one, without party differences. For us it is encouraging to continue to seek justice for all victims of the Serbian regime in Kosovo, and that justice for the Bytyci brothers will finally be put in place”, Thaci wrote.

While outgoing Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has also written on Facebook that the unanimous adoption of the resolution for the Bytyci brothers is good news, not only for this family, but also for the testimony of Serbian government crimes committed in Kosovo.

The looks and denial of Star's murder, Mehmet's Agron, is a double crime committed to the Bytyci family, the people of Kosovo, but also the entire history of Albanians, the struggle for liberation and freedom sacrifice. This resolution, adopted by the US as a guardian of human values and democracy, is a clear message to the Serbian state, that admitting guilt and putting the acts of massacres and killing Albanians in justice is the only way to peace and stability in the region”, Haradinaj has written.

The chairman of the House of Representatives' Foreign Relations Commission, Eliot Engel, broadcasts the Voice of America, has said the issue was important to him, given ties with the Albanian community and that he personally knows the family of brothers, Star, Agron and Mehmet Bytyci.

Engel said he knows Serbian authorities know who the responsible are.

“If Serbia wants to join the West, it must face the past and accept responsibility”, he said.

New York lawmaker Lee Zeldin said this issue has been repeatedly raised with Serbian authorities.

“We will insist that justice be established”.

Shortly after the approval, Star's brother Agron and Mehmet Bytyci, Ilir Bytyci, reacted, expressing his family's appreciation for the resolution:

We hope that Special Envoy Matt Palmer and Special Envoy Rich Green hear these voices and make the case of the Bytyci brothers and justice for war crimes in their work. Today Congress indicated that victims cannot be ignored”.

The resolution adopted Tuesday reportedly has to pay attention to the efforts of the Government of Serbia and its relevant ministers, as well as to other officials, who are taking steps to investigate and prosecute those believed to be responsible for killing the Bytyci brothers. Progress in resolving this case, or lack of will, should be an important factor in determining the future development of relations between the United States and Serbia”, said among other things in the document.

The resolution refers to facts about the murder, along with the involvement of Serbia's former Deputy Interior Minister Vlastimir Djordjevic and Goran Radossavevic. It included the Serbian President Alexander Vuciq's unfulfilled promises.

Since 2006, two court processes have been held in connection with the Bytyci brothers' case against the two former Serbian police officers, who were later released.

The development of processes coincided with many reactions from humanitarian activists who have expressed disappointment with the way they handle the case.