KOSOVO: SEVEN OF KOSOVO'S MOST DANGEROUS PRISONERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000640 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR, EUR/SCE, DRL, INL, AND S/WCI, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER, OPDAT FOR ACKER E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2017 TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM PINR EAID KDEM UNMIK KV SUBJECT: KOSOVO: SEVEN OF KOSOVO'S MOST DANGEROUS PRISONERS BREAK FREE Classified By: CDA ALEX LASKARIS FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Seven of Kosovo's most notorious and dangerous criminals escaped from the Kosovo Corrections Service (KCS)-run Dubrava Prison at approximately 4:15 p.m. on August 18. The prisoners, convicted of crimes ranging from murdering an international police officer to committing terrorist acts, were reportedly in a "walking pavilion" of the maximum security prison when one pulled a gun on a corrections officer and demanded his prison keys. When the corrections officer refused to hand them over, the seven climbed over the prison wall. The ringleader fired back into the pavilion as he made his way over the wall, covering himself and the others. Moments later, they scaled an outer wall about 400 meters away, as supporters on the outside fired AK-47s into the prison compound to cover their escape. Police believe a getaway vehicle whisked away three prisoners with possible Albanian National Army (AKSH) ties, while the other four escaped on foot. Despite a massive police search with KFOR helicopter support, all seven remain at large. Police sources say intelligence indicates that the escapees are well-armed and bound for, if not already in, Macedonia. END SUMMARY. Seven convicts break free of Dubrava ¶2. (C) According to UNMIK Police and Kosovo Police Service (KPS) reports, seven inmates escaped from the Kosovo Corrections Service (KCS)-run Dubrava Prison at about 4:15 p.m. on August 18. The escapees -- Burim Basha, Faton Hajrizi, Lirim Jakupi, Xhavit Morina, Astrit Shabani, Ramadan Shyti and Amir Sopa -- are among Kosovo's most dangerous criminals and were serving sentences for crimes including robbery, murder of an international police officer and terrorism. Police sources tell USOP that at least three are believed to be members of the Albanian National Army (AKSH), which UNMIK has designated a terrorist organization. ¶3. (C) A KPS press release says that the seven convicts were in a "walking pavilion" when one of them pulled a gun on a corrections officer and demanded his prison keys. When the corrections officer refused to hand them over, the seven climbed over the prison wall. The ringleader fired back into the pavilion as he made his way over the wall, covering himself and the others. Moments later, they allegedly scaled an outer wall approximately 400 meters away. UNMIK Police Special Advisor for Operations Larry Wilson (protect) told USOP that supporters on the outside fired AK-47s into the prison compound to cover the prisoners' escape. He said police believe that a getaway vehicle whisked away three prisoners with possible AKSH ties, while the other four escaped on foot. According to Wilson, ten rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) were found where the getaway vehicle was believed to have been parked. Convicts still at large despite massive search operation ¶4. (C) Wilson said Polish Formed Police Units (FPUs),who guard the outer perimeter of the prison, followed standard operating procedures and focused on ensuring that other prisoners did not escape rather than chasing after the escapees. According to police reports, KPS and UNMIK Police immediately launched a large-scale search operation involving nearly 200 officers within a 10-kilometer radius of Dubrava with KFOR helicopter support. While the first phase of the search ended unsuccessfully the afternoon of August 19 and the seven convicts are still at large, the police did arrest five corrections officers who may have assisted in the prison break, as well as four outside accomplices. (Note: According to KPS Spokesperson Veton Elshani, three corrections officers and three outside accomplices received 30 days detention, and two corrections officers and one outside accomplice were released on normal procedure. End Note) The Peja Regional Investigative Unit and Serious Crime Division in Pristina are continuing search efforts and have publicly urged citizens to come forward with any relevant information. UNMIK Police PRISTINA 00000640 002 OF 003 Commissioner Richard Monk has also announced a 5,000 euro reward for information leading to the apprehension of one or more of the fugitives. ¶5. (C) Wilson told USOP that one of the outside accomplices claims the prisoners were instructed to go to Malisevo to meet a contact in a cafe and then move on to the Tetovo area of Macedonia. Wilson said investigators believe the three suspected AKSH fugitives are still together and very well-armed; the accomplice said they have access to six AK-47s and three RPGs. Wilson stressed that police are very worried about what the seven may do next and what motive their accomplices may have had for helping them escape. He did not comment as to whether the accomplice in custody may have shed any light on this, but he did point out that Hajrizi is good with explosives and all of the fugitives have impressive criminal pedigrees. Who's Who Among Kosovo Criminals ¶6. (SBU) The list of escapees reads like a veritable Who's Who among Kosovo criminals, and three of them even boast prior prison break experience. Xhavit Morina tops the list as, perhaps, the most dangerous. Also known as Commander Shkelqim Drenica, Morina is a Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) veteran and is designated as an extremist under President Bush's Executive Order of May 2003. He was serving a 12-year sentence for charges of terrorism stemming from his involvement in AKSH and participation in a March 2002 battle between AKSH and the rival National Liberation Army (NLA) near Tetovo, in which two civilians were killed. During part of his prison stay, Morina's associates maintained a now-defunct website at www.xhavitmorina.com in which Morina denied his AKSH links and accused Macedonian Albanian leader Ali Ahmeti and his associates of orchestrating all of his troubles. In a couple of 2002 media interviews, Morina professed to belong to the "real AKSH" and provided elaborate accounts of the March 2002 incident, thus contradicting the website. ¶7. (SBU) Lirim Jakupi, also known as Commander Nazi, is a Liberation Army for Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac (UCPMB) veteran and was serving a six-year sentence for kidnapping stemming from his involvement in a criminal enterprise in Gjilan led by former UCPMB Chief Commander Shefket Musliu. Jakupi is believed to have been engaged in illegal activities on behalf of AKSH in the Presevo Valley, Kosovo and Macedonia, including a March 2003 administrative boundary line (ABL) clash near Presevo in which two AKSH members were killed in an exchange of fire with Serbian police. Jakupi was also among a group that seized the village of Kondovo, near Skopje, Macedonia, in June 2004, ostensibly to protest the Macedonian government's treatment of ex-Albanian fighters. Macedonian authorities tried to arrest him in an apartment in Tetovo in December 2004, but he escaped, badly wounded, and managed to cross the border into Kosovo. He sought medical assistance at the Pristina University Clinical Center, where he was arrested thanks to a tip from his doctors. A Serbian court convicted Jakupi in absentia to 15 years in prison in 2005 for his role in the assassination of an ethnic Albanian Serbian Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA) officer. ¶8. (SBU) Faton Hajrizi made headlines at the age of 15 for murdering a Russian KFOR soldier in Skenderaj. A notorious delinquent in the Drenica area, Hajrizi was tried as a juvenile and received a five-year sentence. He later grew even more infamous thanks to numerous prison breaks (between five and six depending on the source) and his continuing criminal escapades between prison stays. He was serving time in Dubrava for robbery and is rumored to have claimed to be a member of AKSH. During a stint in Mitrovica prison, Hajrizi shared a cell with the notorious Sabit Geci, a former chief of the KLA secret police who was convicted of racketeering. Hajrizi was most recently arrested at the Pristina Airport in 2006 when he arrived on a flight from Germany and attempted PRISTINA 00000640 003 OF 003 to enter Kosovo with false identity documents. ¶9. (SBU) Amir Sopa was serving time for terrorism thanks to a June 20, 2003 RPG attack on the Pristina District Court and threatening letters he sent to three individuals, including Pristina Mayor Ismet Beqiri, on behalf of AKSH in May 2003. AKSH denied through a spokesperson that it was behind the threatening letter to Beqiri, and the letter's content differed from AKSH's usual rhetoric and style. A former member of the KLA who served under current Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Vice President Rrustem Remi Mustafa, Sopa is rumored to have been involved in the racketeering business in the post-war period. ¶10. (SBU) Unlike the others, Ramadan Shyti, Burim Basha and Astrit Shabani did not have much of a public profile prior to the prison break. Like Jakupi, Shyti is believed to have been a member of the armed group that seized the village of Kondovo in June 2004. He was serving time for a possible murder and illegal border crossing. KFOR picked him up in the Kacanik area in 2005 based on an international arrest warrant for a possible murder and illegal border crossing. Shyti had escaped from a Macedonian prison where he was awaiting trial for the murder of a Skopje taxi driver. Some media have claimed he was born in Saudi Arabia, but KPS Spokesperson Veton Elshani told USOP he was born in a village near Kacanik, Kosovo. Prizren native Burim Basha was serving a 10-year sentence for robbery. He first made headlines in May 2002 when, together with his brother and several others, he escaped from Dubrava Prison. He was re-arrested near Kukes, Albania in February 2003. According to Albanian media, Basha was involved in stealing vehicles on both sides of the border during his stay in Albania. Astrit Shabani is virtually unknown. A Pristina resident until the time of his incarceration, he was serving time for murder. ¶11. (C) COMMENT: The Dubrava Prison break is disturbing for two reasons. First, seven extremely dangerous men are on the loose in Kosovo or Macedonia. Second, it illustrates how vulnerable Dubrava Prison is to escapes or even possible rebellions. The European Union Planning Team (EUPT) is aware of the Kosovo Corrections Service (KCS)'s shortcomings and already has plans in place to provide more capacity-building support and, if necessary, intervene in emergency situations at Dubrava Prison. USOP will urge EUPT to review these plans in light of the prisoner escape to see if they can take stronger measures to shore up the KCS and fortify Dubrava. USOP will also continue to monitor closely developments in the search for the seven fugitives. END COMMENT. LASKARIS