Vasic: The judicial panels dealing with war crimes in Kosovo are politically instructed

Lawyer Dejan Vasic stated that the judicial panels that dealt with war crimes in Kosovo were politically instructed, as well as that there was a matrix according to which the Serbs who had property in Kosovo were accused and reported by those who had usurped their property, Radio KIM reports.

Vasic, the defense lawyer of several Serbs accused of war crimes committed in Kosovo, said in the show "Dogovor" on RTV KIM that it was concerning that the arrests of the Serbs who had been members of the Kosovo Police until November had become more frequent.

"I don't want to believe that there is a manhunt for policemen. I won't believe it. I can't think about it. However, everyone believes it, including those policemen. It's normal for those policemen to believe it too. Why was Miljan taken into custody? There is no reason. Why was Sladjan Trajkovic arrested? Sladjan lived most peacefully with his Albanian neighbors in Bosniak Mahala. He lived as if brotherhood and unity had never stopped," Vasic says.

In the case of Sladjan Trajkovic, Vasic complained to the Prime Minister of Kosovo and the Prosecutor's Office about the work of the prosecutor due to "incorrectness and secrecy in the conduct of the investigation".

"That case is still in the investigation phase of the evidence. I don't know what the evidence is that accuses Sladjan because I was completely excluded from that investigation. I turned to the special prosecutor, and she referred to the article of the law that allows me to be present during the investigation, I expressed the strong will of Sladjan himself to look those witnesses in the eye, to ask the questions - he has the right to ask. Simply to participate in the investigation that is being conducted against him, but it was as if I were talking to a brick wall as if my words were going in one ear and out the other," Vasic says, stating that there was no effect.

He says that although the prosecutor claims that she questioned more than 30 witnesses in the investigation, she does not state in the records what those witnesses said about Sladjan Trajkovic. Vasic claims that his client also has good relations with members of the family for which he is accused of committing a war crime.

When asked how it was possible that people like Sladjan Trajkovic had worked for years in the Kosovo Police, and were suspected of war crimes, Vasic says that he first heard such constructions from the current representatives of the authorities in Kosovo.

"They said that it was good that those police officers left, that it was not good for them to return. If they were involved in anything illegal, why they were not prosecuted when suspicions arose, why no criminal charges were filed," Vasic asked.

He added that in Kosovo "there is a matrix, that is, a means for the Serbs who have a property in Kosovo to be accused and reported by those who usurped their property".

"Such are the cases of Dusko Arsic from Matiqan, Milorad Djokovic from Vitomirica, but also Gavrilo Milosavljevic from Istog, and Caslav Jolic from Gjurakoc. It is a property problem and those who have usurped real estate or who plan to buy at a price of their own report those people for war crimes. They started dealing with the returning Serbs by reporting them for war crimes and people are convicted. Zlatan Krstic was also convicted for the same thing, Nenad Arsic was convicted that way," Vasic said.

As he says, the judicial panels that deal with war crimes in Kosovo are politically instructed, or the people who work there fear for their position, but some are also motivated.

"I don't know, but I can't stop believing that these people are professionals. However, it turned out differently and I have to fight against that, but on realistic grounds, on evidence".

Vasic does not deny that there were war crimes on both sides.

"I am the kind of advocate who believes that everyone who participated in those atrocities in the cases in which I defended, should be held accountable and that the punishment for someone who committed what happened in Mala Krusa is small. He should really be held accountable and be severely punished by prison, but if someone is innocent and convicted then it is not justice, neither the law, nor the court, nor the state, nothing. Maybe that term is harsh, but we Serbs who live here are experiencing something that may not have elements of fascism, there are no elements of apartheid, but there are elements of severe violation of people's rights in respecting the law," Vasic says.

As he said, there had been a war and there had been war crimes committed by war criminals, and they, he said, had no nation.

"Did some Serbs commit war crimes? Well, they did. Did some Albanians commit war crimes, and they did. All of them should be held accountable, and if they are innocent they should be freed, if they are guilty they should be convicted. Everyone should be held accountable for whom there is a well-founded suspicion that he did it. But now to accuse - 'These committed war crimes, they committed'... Well, both of them are war criminals, it's just that war criminals are individuals. It's not Serbia as a state war criminal or Kosovo, but an individual with a first and last name on both sides," Vasic said.

He added that there was no verdict that there had been genocide in Kosovo, but that the statements of politicians, on both sides, influenced the past not to be forgotten and the war to continue.

On the statement that representatives of the Kosovo authorities often mentioned genocide and accused Serbia of this serious crime, Vasic says that he believes in the "intelligence and education of both the Prime Minister and the President of Kosovo."

"But the fact that Serbia will be sued for genocide, they should consult with someone from a narrow profession, let's say someone who deals with criminal law, to first see what genocide is, whether anyone in Kosovo was responsible for genocide. We could only talk about it if there was such a verdict, and it doesn't exist," Vasic reminds.

Vasic says that the statements of the current leadership of Kosovo reflect badly on the Serbian population.

"Wait, are we all war criminals? Tomorrow they can arrest me or you for a war crime. The question is also how much is allowed for the executive branch to interfere and comment on the judicial branch. The judicial branch is independent, the prime minister must not say anything about the judiciary, he can say as a citizen whether he is satisfied with it or not, but no one can interfere in the work of the judiciary. The judiciary is independent. It never was, but formally we must keep up with that assumption," Vasic says.