Ilir Bytyqi, brother of three American citizens killed in 1999: Serbia honours war criminals

These comments by Ilir Bytyqi come after Serbia honoured with a medal of gratitude former Serbian Gendarmerie Commander Goran Radosavlevq-Guri.

American citizens of Albanian origin, Star, Agron and Mehmet Bytyqi were killed in Serbia in 1999, after the war in Kosovo. Their murder has not yet become white, and Radosavlevki led the camp, where morto remains of the Bytyqi brothers were found in 2001.

Through a written response, Ilir Bytyqi told Radio Free Europe that “apty between Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq and his government with war criminals is shame” and that this “prevents justice and deprives victims to reach peace”.

In 2016, President Vuciq promised then Vice President Beden (current president of the United States) that he would personally engage in solving the murder of my brothers. Vuciqi later told my family and American officials that Goran Radosavlevki was responsible for their murder. For a long time there is long and sufficient evidence (for this)”, Bytyqi said.

The Serbian presidency has not answered REL's question whether Vuciqi has spoken to US officials about Radosavlevki's responsibility for killing the Bytyqi brothers and what information Vuciqi has about the case. Serbian officials, led by President Vuciq, have not confirmed these claims by Ilir Bytyqi, which he has made public in front of the media.

The Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor has also not responded to Radio Free Europe as to what phase the case of killing the Bytyqi brothers is, and whether any results have been achieved in whitening this crime, which has been committed more than 20 years ago.

American Embassy's response to Radosavlevqi honour

Following Radio Free Europe report on June 30th, that the gendarmerie, in recognition of successful co-operation, shared a medal with Radosavlevki, who was the first commander of the special unit of gendarmerie, the American Embassy in Belgrade reacted.

Recalling that Radosavlevqi was at the helm of the camp where the remains of three American citizens, Star, Agron and Mehmet Bytyqi were found, the embassy said on July 3rd that Radosavljevic “should face justice and should not take medals”.

In a Twitter post, the American Embassy also recalled that the United States had sanctioned Radosavlevcin for its involvement in the murder of the Bytyqi brothers.

In December 2018, the U.S. State Department banned Radosavlevki from entering the US because of his involvement in serious human rights violations.

A world, The UN declared there was reliable evidence that Radosavlevic was involved in the murder of the Bytyqi brothers.

Bytyqi brothers found in a mass grave

Star, Agron and Mehmet Bytyqi, American nationals who fought alongside the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK), within the framework of the Euro-Atlantic Battalion “, following NATO's shellings, were arrested in 1999 at the border between Kosovo and Serbia for illegal border crossings.

After staying in prison for 15 days, they were released, but Serbian police sent them to the Serbian Interior Ministry's special anti-terror base in Petrovo Selo, which was under the command of Goran Radosavljevic.

Their bodies, which were found with hands tied and wounds caused by bullets to the back of the head, were discovered in 2001 in a mass cemetery in Petrovo Selo, in eastern Serbia, along with the lifeless bodies of other Kosovo Albanians.

Radosavlevic denied allegations

Radosavlevic has denied any responsibility for killing the Bytyqi brothers.

I have issued a statement on the investigative organs, I've spoken about this case a thousand times, so it's pointless to talk about this case again”, Radosavlevic had declared REL in December 2018.

He had later stated that as far as the UN decision was concerned, which prevented him from entering the US, “as I don't care, nor does it touch me”.

A year later, in 2019, Radosavlevic told REL that he was always “always ready to respond to the appeal of judicial authorities” in Serbia. He added that he was a “just a member” The Serbian Progressive Party of Vucinqi and did not intend to leave this party.

Serbia offered information on possible Radosavlevqi involvement

The Fund for Humanitarian Rights has repeatedly stressed that Goran Radosavlevlevic was camp manager at Petrovo Selo, where the Bytyqi brothers were killed and that nothing could have happened there without his knowledge.

In February 2019, Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, had declared that killing the Bytyqi brothers was a serious crime and that Serbia is doing everything to investigate the case and had added that Serbia would certainly not protect anyone who committed this crime.

On that occasion, Vuciq had also confirmed for the media a meeting with American congressers in Munich, held in February 2019, in which the former police chief Goran Radosavlevq Guri was named twice.

They mentioned it twice. I asked if you had any proof, but they didn't prove me”, had declared that world Vucinciqi.

In June 2016, Fatos Bytyqi, star's brother, Agron and Mehmet Bytyqi, had declared that he had met with VEL several times in Washington with Vuciqi and Ivica Dacic, the current speaker of the Serbian Parliament, whose party is part of the ruling coalition.

Fatos Bytyqi has claimed to have handed evidence to Vuciqi and Dacic, where he claimed Goran Radosavlevic had given the order to kill his brothers.

When I gave them my papers, they were shocked. I told you: Here you go, let's have the Ministry of Interior of Serbia and these documents”, had been declared Bytyqi.

Through a letter to Serbian officials in August 2020, even the UN special rapporteur for arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, said Serbia was under international law in order to investigate the responsibility of commanders and other superiors for killing the Bytyqi brothers in 1999.

In this letter, the UN rapporteur rejected authorities' claims in Serbia that in the case of Star's murder, Agron and Mehmet Bytyqi, the principle of command responsibility cannot be applied.

Callamard stressed that command responsibility, as the main principle of international humanitarian and customary law, applies to Serbia as well.

That was the second letter the UN rapporteur had sent to Serbian authorities regarding the murder of the Bytyqi brothers. The first letter she sent to them on July 23rd 201 was required, among other things, detailed information on the investigations conducted, providing evidence and protection of witnesses, and more efforts were required to reveal other mass graves in Serbia.

In response to the first letter, Serbian authorities had said a request had been issued to launch investigations against nine suspects in the Bytyqi case and that all suspects “atworlds had been senior officers of the Interior Ministry”.

Bytyqi case, an obstacle to Serbia- United States

To date, the dawning of the murder of the Bytyqi brothers remains an important topic in reports between Serbia and the United States.

In October 2019, the US House of Representatives adopted a resolution demanding that Serbia whitewash the murder of the Bytyqi brothers.

The document said that developing relations between the US and Serbia is dependent on progress made in selecting the Bytyqi case.

It is unacceptable that no person has ever been convicted of killing the Bytyqi brothers or any other crime related to their deaths and that no one is facing charges for these crimes”, the resolution said among other things.

The US State Department also mentioned the Bytyqi brothers' case in the 2020 report.

In this report it was said that the Serbian government had made no significant progress in ensuring justice for the victims and that it was unclear to what extent Serbian authorities have investigated the issue.

An Investigation and an Innocent in Serbia

Former special war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukchev had declared in 2013 that the order to murder the Bytyqi brothers had come from then Interior Minister Vlajko Stolkovic, who committed suicide in 2002.

According to Vukchev, it was suspected that the order was passed through then General of Public Security Service Vlastimir Djordjevic a Hague convict currently serving a war crimes sentence Deputy Commander for training special police units Goran Radosavlevic Guri.

Prosecutor Snezana Stanojkovic was the successor of Vukchevic. In March 2018, she announced that she was continuing to work on making the case white.

In 2019, the War Crimes Prosecutor in Serbia told Free Europe Radio that this institution was investigating unknown authors for killing the Bytyqi brothers.

The only trial in Serbia in connection with the murder of the Bytyqi brothers was conducted against two police officers. In 2012, the War Crimes Chamber at the Supreme Court in Belgrade released Sreten Popovic and Milos Stojanovich, who were charged with helping kill the Bytyqi brothers. Authorities released them, saying they had no evidence to testify that the two defendants had committed the crimes they were charged with. /rel/