SERBIA: CONVICTIONS IN SUVA REKA WAR CRIMES TRIAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000421

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O.12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KWAC SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA: CONVICTIONS IN SUVA REKA WAR CRIMES TRIAL

Summary
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1. (SBU) The Belgrade District Court's War Crimes Trial Chamber on
April 23 convicted four former policemen and sentenced them to a
total of 68 years in prison, and acquitted three others, in the
trial for war crimes against civilians in Suva Reka, Kosovo, in
March 1999. The trial of seven Serbian police officers for ordering
the murders of 50 Albanians civilians, including 48 members of the
Berisha family, began on October 3, 2006. Over 120 witnesses
testified, including surviving members of the Berisha family. The
Humanitarian Law Center and the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office
expressed dissatisfaction with the acquittals and announced plans to
appeal. End Summary.

The Verdict
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2. (U) Ten years after the murder of 50 Albanians civilians in Suva
Reka, the War Crimes Trial Chamber of the Belgrade District Court
reached a verdict on April 23 and convicted Chief of Suva Reka
Police Radojko Repanovic and police officer Sladjan Cukaric,
sentencing them each to the maximum sentence of 20 years. Police
officer Miroslav Petkovic and state security officer Milorad Nisavic
received sentences of 15 and 13 years, respectively. The defendants
were found guilty of violating international law of armed conflict
by ordering and taking part in an attack on the civilian population.
Special Police Unit commander Radoslav Mitrovic was acquitted of
ordering the murders, as were Suva Reka police deputy commander
Nenad Jovanovic and territorial defense officer Zoran Petkovic.


The Trial
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3. (U) Based on evidence mostly collected by Natasa Kandic's
Humanitarian Law Center, War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic
assembled the case and arrested seven indicted police officers in
October 2005. In April 2006, the War Crimes Prosecutor issued a
formal indictment and the trial started on October 3, 2006.


4. (U) The defendants included the former commander of the 37th
special police unit from Nis (PJP) Radoslav Mitrovic, Suva Reka
Police Chief Radojko Repanovic, and his deputy Nenad Jovanovic, who
were all accused of ordering the killings. Suva Reka Police
officers Sladjan Cukaric and Miroslav Petkovic, state security
official Milorad Nisavic, and territorial defense officer Zoran
Petkovic were accused either as direct perpetrators or logistical
supporters of the crime.


5. (U) During the two and a half year-long process, over 120
witnesses testified at the War Crimes Court, including five
surviving members of the Berisha family who came from Kosovo to
Belgrade under occasionally dramatic circumstances to testify. The
family members testified under the Victim/Witness Protection program
supported by the Embassy's Resident Legal Advisor Office.

Suva Reka War Crimes Background
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6. (U) During the 1999 NATO intervention, the Serbian police forces
in Kosovo, composed of local police units and special police squads
from Serbia, committed a number of war crimes against civilians,
predominantly ethnic Albanians and other non-Serb citizens. One of
the most horrible documented war crimes occurred on March 26, 1999
in the small town of Suva Reka, 35 miles south-west of Pristina.
According to the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's indictment, on that
date seven police officers from the Suva Reka police unit and the
Special police unit (PJP) ordered and executed attacks on civilians
at a suburb close to Suva Reka's Restan road, inhabited by the
Berisha and other Albanian families.


7. (U) The attacks involved murders of 50 civilians, including 48
members of the Berisha family, mostly women, children, and elderly,
ages from 1 to 100 years old, as well as large-scale destruction of
their property, and subsequent relocation of the survivors. The
victims were locked in a local pizzeria and then ruthlessly executed
by hand grenades and machine guns. The corpses were initially
buried in Kosovo and later, in order to conceal the crime, excavated
and re-buried in a mass grave on the Batajnica base of the
anti-terrorist police near Belgrade.

Reactions to the Verdict
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8. (U) The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC),which represented the
victims during the trial, expressed dissatisfaction with the
verdict. HLC head Natasa Kandic claimed that the decision reached
by the War Crimes Trial Chamber, especially the acquittals, was
unjust for both victims and the accused. The HLC claimed that when
acquitting Radoslav Mitrovic, the highest ranking official among the
accused, the presiding judge failed to take into consideration the
ICTY's conviction of Mitrovic's direct superior, General Sreten
Lukic (Police Chief of Staff for Kosovo),who was sentenced for
murder, deportation and persecution of the Albanian population in
Kosovo. The War Crimes Prosecutor's Office announced that it will
appeal the acquittals.

Comment
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9. (SBU) The trial for the Suva Reka war crimes drew a lot of
attention in Serbia, underscoring to the public that war crimes are
treated seriously and the domestic judiciary is capable of
prosecuting complicated and sensitive cases. Most importantly, the
verdict established that a crime had taken place and that the
perpetrators would be punished for their actions. End Comment.

MUNTER