Pantovic: Bosniak arrested at Brnjak given one-month detention

Lawyer Ljubomir Pantovic, representing Bosniak Jusuf Shujak, who was arrested yesterday at the Brnjak crossing on suspicion of committing alleged war crimes, told Kosovo Online that the Basic Court in Pristina ordered one-month detention for Shujak.

"He is a Bosniak from Novi Pazar, Jusuf Shujak. He was arrested yesterday at the Brnjak crossing on suspicion of committing the criminal offense of 'War Crimes against Civilian Population' during 1999 in Djakovica," said Pantovic.

He stated that Shujak lived in Djakovica during 1999 and claims he did not commit the alleged crime he is accused of.

"Today, a session was held at the Special Department of the Basic Court in Pristina regarding the prosecutor's request to detain Shujak. The session lasted for an hour and a half, and he was ordered one-month detention, as expected, because the procedure for war crimes is well known. Detention was ordered for two reasons: there is reasonable suspicion that he committed the crime and there is a risk of flight, as he resides in Novi Pazar, where he lives, while during the war, he lived in Djakovica. He claims he was not in the army, police, or paramilitary units, he was a civilian and had good relations with his neighbors, whom the prosecutor accuses him of harming. He is already in detention," added Pantovic.

Pantovic emphasized that the deadline to file an appeal with the Appeals Court against the detention measure is two days and added that they will do so, but not much is expected from it.

Pantovic stated that they currently do not have information on which detention unit Shujak is located in, but he assumes it is the high-security detention unit in Grdovac near Podujevo.

"I still do not have confirmation that Jusuf is there, but since without exception, all those accused of war crimes are in that detention unit, I believe he is also there," Pantovic noted.