Working group to look into embassy attacks

Working group to look into embassy attacks

According to a release issued by Stefanović's cabinet, the interior minister said that he adopted the decision to constitute the working group which will "thoroughly look into the circumstances of the incident and identify the organizers and perpetrators who set on fire the Embassies of the U.S. and the Federal Republic of Germany."

The aim of the working group is to identify all individuals involved in the incident and clarify the circumstances of the violent act so that the organizers and attackers responsible for the fire in the two embassies could be legally prosecuted.

The trial against 12 suspects for the burning of the embassies is underway before the Belgrade High Court. The High Prosecutor's Office raised the indictment on July 10, 2012, and all defendants were released pending trial. They were charged with the criminal act of causing general danger.

The indictment states that student Zoran Vujović, a Serb whose family was driven out of Kosovo, died on the U.S. embassy premises during the incident, adding that the indictees were aware of the possible danger but they were easily led to believe that no major harm would occur and that they would be able to prevent any serious damage.

The defendants are also charged with throwing stones and torches at the embassies of Croatia and Germany where they also caused minor fires prior to the incident at the U.S. embassy.

Prior to raising the indictment, the Prosecutor's Office spent more than a year gathering evidence including the videos from the foreign embassies in Belgrade on grounds of which the perpetrators were identified.

The identification of perpetrators and instructors of the burning of the German embassy is one of the seven conditions put forth by Berlin in connection to Serbia's progress on its EU path.

Washington said on several occasions that the U.S. expects the Serbian government to identify and punish the perpetrators of the incident in which the U.S. embassy in Belgrade was set on fire.