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. -------------- Background -------------- ¶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. -------------- DEVELOPMENTS -------------- ¶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. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶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