Bytyci case: Witnesses “feared” to present evidence against former commander of Serbian Gendarmerie

“Witnesses who had knowledge of the murder of the Bytyci brothers have been too afraid to offer evidence against Goran Radosavlevq Guri, former commander of the Serbian gendarmerie”, Jennifer Brass, former director of the Office for the Balkans at the US State Department, said.

She made comments in an interview for the Voice of America in the Serbian language.

Brass, a former deputy of the US ambassador to Belgrade, said he has co-operated closely with the US Federal Investigation Office (FBI) in search of witnesses, but added they may not be in Serbia anymore.

While I worked at the American Embassy in Belgrade, we had FBI representatives who have been cooperating with people who have been dealing with war crimes, as well as with Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs... Even then we knew that the commander of the camp where the Bytyci Brothers were killed was Goran Radosavlevq Stone. We believe he's given orders for the murders. The stone was later, as I have heard, founded a security company, which also worked for the Democratic Party (of Serbia) when it was ruling”, Brass said.

The Agron brothers, Mehmet and Yll Bytyci American nationals of Kosovo descent have been arrested in 1999 in Serbia, because Serbian officials have said, illegal border crossing.

Their lifeless bodies were found in a mass grave near Petrovo Selos in eastern Serbia in 2001, and Washington has repeatedly sought justice for them.

Brass said the US is disappointed that despite the security provided by Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, that it will work in this case, Goran Radosavlevq Guri has become a member of the Serbian Progressive Party, which is in power in Serbia and is led by Vuciqi.