SERBIA - SUSTAINING PRESSURE ON SERBIA

UNCLAS BELGRADE 001153

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR S/WCI AMBASSADOR WILLIAMSON
DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/SCE
DOJ FOR CARL ALEXANDRE
FBI FOR JOHN PATERINI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM PINR PGOV KJUS PREL SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA - SUSTAINING PRESSURE ON SERBIA
ON THE BYTYQI MURDER CASE

REFS: 2005 BELGRADE 3239 and previous


1. (SBU) Summary: The highest levels of the GOS
continue to assure us that solving the 1999
murders of the three Amcit Bytyqi brothers
remains one of their foremost law enforcement
priorities. Nonetheless, five years after the
discovery of the bodies, no indictments have been
handed down. Intensive USG pressure has produced
results over the last year -- including the first
arrests in the case, sustained high-level GOS
attention, the appointment of a more activist war
crimes police chief, and the discovery of
substantial new information. While the murderers
have not yet been identified, investigators are
optimistic they will solve the case. We strongly
recommend continued USG pressure on the
authorities to produce results, including: a)
formal USG (FBI is pursuing a parallel U.S.
investigation) requests for access to case files
and witnesses, and b) a substantial private and
public focus on the Bytyqi case by S/WCI
Ambassador Williamson during his visit to Serbia
next week. End Summary.

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Background
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2. (SBU) This cable is intended to add to
information reported previously (reftels)
regarding developments in the Bytyqi case. Much
of the information reported here derives from a
meeting DCM hosted on 6/9 with local police
investigators, prosecutors and the investigative
judge working on the Bytyqi case. Embassy
officials used that event to push for accelerated
action, to urge greater cooperation among the
various institutions working on it, and to learn
of the most recent developments in the case.

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DEVELOPMENTS
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3. (SBU) There have been numerous developments
in recent months:

-- The investigators have divided the case into 3 phases:
1) The brothers' illegal crossing of the ABL with Kosovo
and their detention for several days in the Prokuplje
prison; 2) their transfer from Prokuplje prison to the
Petrovo Selo training camp; and 3) their illegal detention
and murder at the Petrovo Selo camp.

-- The investigators already have a fairly detailed picture
of what had happened in phase 1 and 2, but key events
(including who pulled the trigger) in phase 3 still remain
undiscovered. The investigators' strategy is to obtain
information about phase 3 by interrogating the participants
of phase 2 and those individuals known to be present during
phase 3.

-- On March 1, 2006, Serbian police arrested two suspects -
Sreten Popovic, former deputy commander of Petrovo Selo and
Milos Stojanovic, Popovic's subordinate. At the same time,
the War Crimes prosecutor requested a formal investigation
into the case. According to Serbian Law, the suspects need
to either be indicted or released from detention within six
months of their initial arrest (in this case, by September
1, 2006). Both are still in detention, and neither is
cooperating with investigators. Popovic and Stojanovic are
brothers-in-law of each other.

-- Police officials have learned new information
from the driver (FNU Nikolic) who transported the
Bytyqi brothers from the Prokuplje prison (where
they were incarcerated for illegally crossing the
border) to Petrovo Selo. Nikolic indicated that
a group of approximately nine JSO (Unit for
Special Operations, or "Red Berets") instructors
were in the camp around the time of the killings
to conduct training for 63 trainees from the
Special Police Units (PJP) of the regular police.

The presence of such a significant number of JSO
and PJP personnel at Petrovo Selo was not
previously known to investigators. Investigators
believe they have information confirming that the
trainees arrived at Petrovo Selo on July 7, 1999,
i.e., the day before the Bytyqi brothers were
brought there and approximately three days before
they were killed. The investigating judge
assured us he would question all JSO and PJP
persons known to have been present on the site at
the time.

-- Nikolic further told police that the
murderers of the Bytyqi brothers were from the
JSO contingent present at the camp. He also
reportedly asserted that Sreten Popovic knows the
identity of the killers. (Popovic is apparently
standing by his story that he handed the Bytyqi
brothers over to three unknown persons.) Police
have told us that ballistics analysis of a bullet
found in one of the brother's bodies confirmed
that it was from the same type of weapon commonly
used by the JSO instructors. (Note: The JSO is
the disbanded unit that was earlier headed by
Milorad Ulemek "Legija," the suspected ringleader
in the assassination of PM Djindjic. Legija has
also been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the
assassination of President Stambolic in 2000.)

-- (SBU) Police have also told us that they have found
inconsistencies in "Guri" Radosavljevic's claim that he had
been absent from Petrovo Selo during the period of the
detention and murder of the Bytyqi brothers. Police have
told us that there exists at least one document signed by
Radosavljevic during the period of detention of the Bytyqi
brothers, which might indicate his presence at the camp.
Moreover, police officials told us that Legija and
Radosavljevic were on close terms during the period of the
Bytyqi brothers' murder, alleging that Legija even came
with a helicopter to pick up Radosavljevic's daughter from
the camp at roughly the time the Bytyqi brothers were at
Petrovo Selo. (The daughter was reportedly visiting her
father, Radosavljevic, for several days in Petrovo Selo.)
Numerous sources have confirmed to us that Radosavljevic
fled Serbia earlier this year, probably in late March or
early April. Investigators have told us that Radosavljevic
is paying legal fees for Sreten Popovic and Milos
Stojanovic's (well-known local attorney Bozo Prelevic). A
senior GOS official also told us that Popovic and
Stojanovic were very close to Radosavljevic, a relationship
stemming from their service in Kosovo together.

-- Vlastimir "Rodja" Djordjevic, also possibly implicated
in the Bytyqi murders, remains a fugitive. Authorities
believe that Djordjevic, who is also being sought by the
ICTY, is in hiding in Russia.

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COMMENT
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4. (SBU) Substantial USG pressure on Serbian
authorities has been crucial to ensuring high-
level GOS attention to this case. In addition to
the Embassy's full-court press, interventions by
U/S Burns, A/S Harty and other senior Washington-
based officials have been tremendously useful in
reinforcing the message. There is no question
that the high-level attention from the USG and
GOS has ensured that the frequently-feuding
police and investigative judge continue to treat
this case as a top priority. It is critical to
sustain this pressure, since the upcoming
September 1 deadline for a decision on whether to
indict or release Popovic and Stojanovic will
mark an important decision point. We strongly
urge Ambassador Williamson to make the Bytyqi
case a prominent theme of his discussions in
Belgrade next week. We would also urge the FBI
and DOJ to move forward with formal requests to
Serbian judicial authorities for access to the
entire case file and to witnesses/suspects.

POLT