Charge of Dubrava Massacre to Rise Soon

Soon an indictment will be filed against suspects in the Dubrava massacre, which has been carried out over Albanian prisoners of 19 May to 24 May 1999.

Special Prosecutor Ilir Morina said the investigation into this massacre has already ended.

“We have arrested a suspect in the Dubrava massacre, investigations have been under way for a long time. We, we've already completed the investigation in this case and are in the testing phase for the possibility that within weeks, if not months, we will file an indictment in this case”, Morina told RTK.

The next case for the indictment, according to him, is Staradran's, where 16 civilians were killed.

The “also in that case have concluded the investigation, we are in processing the file with the possibility that within weeks we will file the indictment”, he added.

According to him, political problems, such as co-operation with Serbia, are the main factor hindering the investigation of these cases.

We unfortunately only have the first opportunity to collect evidence on Kosovo territory. With Serbia there is lack of co-operation that unfortunately is a major obstacle to our work. All the defendants are fugitives and we presuppose, and for some we know they live in the Republic of Serbia”, Morina underlined.

The Special Prosecutor said that with the increase in the number of investigators, a fact-finding has been enabled and that more work is being done to white-light and punish war crimes perpetrators.

The Dubrava Prison massacre has been carried out over Albanian prisoners from 19 May to 24 May 1999.

Of this massacre, 160 Albanians were killed and more than 300 others injured.

Within Dubrava Prison is a memorial plaque with the names of all those killed in the massacre, considered one of the largest massacres of the Serbian regime committed against Albanians.