What's going on with the identification of Faton Hayriz' body? Speaking from MPJD

More than two weeks have passed since Faton Hajrizi was reported dead, and his body has not yet returned to his homeland. Last week, he was sent to his mother's mouth, but there's still no information on how long the outcome of her analysis will take. Security recognitions say that by the end of this week there will be concrete developments in the identification and clarification of Faton Hajriz's identity. The same say local institutions should have applied to send a local expert to Serbia. However, the state has yet to accept official answers regarding the case.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspore has told KosovaPress that they are in communication with the QUINT states, the EU mission in Serbia, the family of the deceased and the family lawyer authorised.

Kosovo's Interconnection Office in Serbia has three times filed a formal request to the Government of Serbia, through Serbia's Interconnection Office in Kosovo, to confirm the identity of the person killed on July 19, 2024 in Loznica and the circumstances of the event. Also, we have requested the possibility of his body being returned to Kosovo, but we have not yet accepted official answers. On July 30th, 2024, through lawyer Arian Koci and the assisting of the Kosovo Liaison Office in Serbia, DNA testing has been conducted by forensic experts from Belgrade to citizen Faton Hajrizi's mother at the Andu White Landpass, at the Serbian section. Serbian authorities have declared it will take several days to conduct DNA tests. So far, the Kosovo Liaison Office in Serbia has not been announced for completion of tests, and neither has lawyer Koci received a” notice, said the MPJD's response.

Lawyer Ardian Bajraktari considers it binding on institutions to submit requests for the involvement of a local expert.

It is the duty of state institutions to look after citizens no matter what and where they happened. Under such circumstances it would require strong state commitment, even in terms of security, representatives of the Institute of Legal Medicine in case of expertise and forensic examination conducted by Serbia's institutions. Despite the fact that I consider such a requirement could not be realised for the fact that our northern neighbour continues to hesitate to co-operate with our institutions as a result of old thinking, yet a demand that has not been made public that has been done at least so far to address the institutions that these take part in this. And as a result of not participating in our legal medicine experts, in my conviction an additional expertise for the return event, whenever the return of the deceased's body, Faton Hajrizi, to Kosovo”, he claims.

Serbia will put off drafting the forensic report, Bajraktari adds, even though it stresses that in similar cases there has been no delay more than two weeks.

As a rule when similar cases have occurred, approximately two weeks has occurred the process of returning the lifeless bodies of our citizens where they have lost their lives under similar circumstances in other countries, and this, of course, when we are in Serbia, I have the impression that I could last a few more days precisely because of these reasons. They will try to justify themselves in the design of the forensic and similar report. But that essence will try as long as they can use this case for victimisation”, he added.

Meanwhile, security expert Bedri Elez expects the report to be finalised by the end of this week to identify the body.

By the end of this week, there will be concrete developments for identifying and clarifying his identity and then bringing him to Kosovo. As far as technical capacities for calculating his profile or identity are not a problem, the Kosovo experts who deal with the issue have found that it is not difficult to identify whether we are dealing with Faton Hajrizi, but that the circumstances of death may be difficult if we have a” term, he adds.

He adds that the family is making constant efforts to restore the lifeless body to its homeland, even though it considers it difficult.

“There is an attempt by Faton Hajriz's family to bring his corpse to Kosovo, but that their attempt to succeed because the same have authorized a lawyer who is not part of the Serbian Lawyers' House and has no right to operate as a lawyer in Serbia but has made efforts, even trying to bring in family DNA samples to Serbia. In the concrete case, we are aware that there must be institutions of the Republic of Kosovo which should co-operate with Serbia using the office I LEK, which is within the framework of EULEX and the Kosovo Police and acts for such cases, as has been done with fingerprints and that a confirmation has been made. There is no information so far whether the Foreign Ministry in co-operation with the liaison office in Belgrade has engaged an independent expert to ascertain Faton Hajriz' identity, because his brother's documents have been found at the scene and the work allegedly accomplished by Faton Hajrizi”, he claims.

Faton Hajrizi had escaped from the Smrekonica prison and was on the run by Kosovo Police. After several days, it was also declared by Serbian authorities, since it was suspected of killing one police officer and wounding another in Loznica, Serbia. Hajrizi was reportedly killed at the site called Banja Kovilaca.