Starovic: After six years, many more open questions about the murder of Oliver Ivanovic

State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Serbia, Nemanja Starovic, on the occasion of the six years since the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, stated that there were now many more questions, related to this crime, that were still open, and, as he emphasized, he was confident that the full truth would be revealed sooner or later.

"I am sure that sooner or later we will find out who is responsible, who committed this criminal act, this heinous murder, who organized it, who assisted, and who inspired it. The truth always comes to light sooner or later", Starovic said for RTS.

Noting that six years later, many more questions remain open after this tragic murder, Starovic pointed out that the reason for this was the fact that Serbian investigative authorities were not allowed access to the crime scene to conduct investigative actions.

"But also, the lack of goodwill for exchanging necessary information to establish all the facts. On the other hand, we have again a terrible and ugly political abuse primarily carried out in Pristina, but unfortunately involving individuals here in Belgrade as well", Starovic pointed out.

As he says, a campaign has been going on for years, aiming to accuse the state leadership of Serbia and President Aleksandar Vucic of some responsibility for participation or complicity in this crime. He emphasizes that this is inherently absurd.

"What is particularly ugly in this is that we now have attempts at political abuse in Belgrade by those who today talk a lot about justice for Oliver Ivanovic but did nothing, did not raise their voices when in 2015 Oliver Ivanovic went on a hunger strike in the Pristina detention unit, demanding normal detention conditions and, if nothing else, transfer to the detention unit in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica", Starovic said.

According to him, in 2015, as an individual and citizen, he, along with a friend, organized protests via social media in support of Oliver Ivanovic both in Belgrade and Novi Sad.

"Unfortunately, I didn't see any of today's opposition leaders at any of those protests when support was needed for the living Oliver Ivanovic, and now this kind of political manipulation and abuse is taking place", Starovic said.

Regarding the 25 years since, as he stated, the anti-terrorist action in Racak, Starovic pointed out that Serbia could not expect major powers to admit the terrible mistake they had made, or their involvement in a great deception that had tragic consequences. As he stated, major powers had used that action as a pretext, or a constructed narrative about it, to carry out aggression against the then-Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia.

"The narrative created about the alleged massacre in Racak served to accuse the Republic of Serbia and the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of excessive use of force in the fight against terrorists. However, if we look at what happened in the following years, and what is happening these days right before our eyes in some other parts of the world, we can see that these standards have significantly changed. Different criteria were applied to the behavior and actions of our country at that time, and a completely different approach was taken to how some other countries conduct operations of a similar nature", Starovic said.

He recalled that in the village of Racak, the headquarters of the so-called 161st KLA brigade had been located, which had carried out several terrorist attacks - the killing of police officers, soldiers, and civilians, both Serbian and Albanian. He emphasizes that it was necessary to eliminate that terrorist nest.

"At the same time, special police units professionally carried out that anti-terrorist action. The OSCE mission was informed in advance, and even three verification teams were present on the morning of January 15, 1999, in the Racak area", Starovic states.

As he says, there is an abundance of evidence that unequivocally indicates that members of the KLA were eliminated.

"I am talking about the findings of our investigators, as well as the testimonies of Helena Ranta, the head of the Finnish pathology team, who was under incredible pressure, not only from William Walker but also from her Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the aim of modifying her preliminary report to such an extent that it becomes sufficiently unclear for William Walker to then propagate the narrative of the alleged massacre of civilians", Starovic said.

He states that today there is a possibility of reaching what represents indisputable and incontrovertible facts but points out that this does not mean that we can count on major powers admitting a terrible mistake they made, or their participation in a great deception that had very tragic consequences.

"We are talking about thousands of lost lives during the NATO alliance's aggression against Serbia and material damage, which is certainly measured in tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars", Starovic said.

Speaking about returnees to Kosovo and Metohija, including Dragica Gasic, who broke the Christmas bread in Gjakova, Starovic states that Dragica Gasic is a kind of hero of our time because she is the only returnee to Gjakova, where around 4,000 Serbs lived before the war.

"She is living proof that we have an incredible situation, that the sustainable return rate of Serbs to Kosovo and Metohija is less than two percent, which is the lowest rate if we look at all post-conflict areas worldwide", he noted.

As he adds, the few Serbs who managed to exercise the right to return have come back to small, rural, isolated communities, so-called enclaves, and there are entire cities that are forbidden zones for the Serbs.

He points out that Gjakova is not the only case but also Pristina, Peja, and other cities, emphasizing that it is a civilizational defeat, a black mark not only on the face of the Pristina authorities but also on the international community that has not enabled the sustainable return of the Serbs to Kosovo.