Filipovic: Injured party in the case against Stankovic is an usurper in the civil proceedings in which he was to testify

Attorney Jovana Filipovic stated that a criminal complaint against Zoran Stankovic from Maticane—who has been detained and is charged by the Special Prosecution with a war crime—was filed yesterday, on the very same day he was arrested, noting that no criminal proceedings had ever previously been conducted against him. She further added that the injured party in the criminal proceedings is the same individual who is an usurper in the civil case in which Stankovic was supposed to testify.

Today, a hearing was held before the Special Department of the Basic Court in Pristina to determine further measures against Zoran Stankovic, during which his attorney, Jovana Filipovic, pointed to inconsistencies surrounding his detention.

“He is accused of having committed the criminal offense of ‘war crime,’ and what is significant in this case is that the criminal complaint against him was filed precisely yesterday, on the very day of his arrest. This raises the question of who could have placed him on a ‘stop list,’ given that no investigation had previously been conducted against him. Zoran came to Kosovo in order to testify as a witness in a civil case, while the person appearing as the injured party in the criminal war crimes proceedings is the same individual who is an usurper in that civil procedure,” Filipovic explained.

She further stated that Stankovic had freely entered Kosovo just one week prior to his arrest.

“All these facts indicate that the individual who reported him for a war crime has a motive reflecting purposes other than the uncovering of a criminal offense of war crimes, because, as I have already emphasized, no criminal proceedings had ever been conducted against him previously, and he had freely entered Kosovo just one week prior to his arrest,” she said.

A decision on further measures in the case of Zoran Stankovic is expected later today.

The Kosovo Police announced yesterday that, acting on an order from the Special Prosecution of Kosovo, they had arrested Z.S. on suspicion of having committed the criminal offense of “war crime against the civilian population.”

“The suspect Z.S., as a member of a paramilitary group of Serbian forces, is alleged to have committed war crimes in the village of Maticane, Municipality of Pristina, during the period 1998–1999,” the joint statement of the police and prosecution reads.