Eurasia Press & News
The war crimes chamber of the High Court in Belgrade has remanded in custody for 30 days 9 persons suspected of crimes committed in area of Pec, Kosovo in 1999.
The suspects were arrested on Friday, March 12. According to Bruno Vekaric from the prosecution, two others are at large.
According to a March 13 press release, 26 members of the paramilitary formation The Jackals (Sakali), the territorial defence and reserve police are under investigation.
The Prosecution contends that the suspects were involved in crimes committed on May 14, 1999 in the village of Cuska near Peja/Pec, Kosovo, in which 41 persons were killed.
The investigation is part of a broader probe into the killings of 200 persons in Kosovo.
Thousands were killed during the war in Kosovo from 1998 to 1999. The war ended following NATO air strikes.
Vekaric told media in Belgrade that the prosecution intends to use new legal provisions that allow the confiscation of property illegally obtained by convicted war criminals in the indictments for the Cuska killings.
“This was not only a vicious and cowardly slaughter of unarmed people but also an outright robbery. We want to seize every last bit they took,” he said.
“Horrific crimes were committed there,” Vekaric said. “The only motive was looting.”
Vekaric added that many of the suspects live outside Serbia but have been located and will be arrested.
The leader of The Jackals was Nebojsa Minis, known as the Commandant of Death. He was arrested in 2005 in Argentina, and died soon after.
“During our investigation we discovered that he took a lot of money with him to Argentina where he lived a comfortable life, while he was also involved in trafficking in human begins as well as drugs,” Vekaric said.
