"FBI confirms soldiers were murdered"

A former head of a state commission set up to investigate the so-called Topcider deaths says an FBI report has confirmed his findings. Attorney Bozo Prelevic and his commission concluded at the time that two Yugoslav Army, VJ, Guard Unit soldiers Dragan Jakovljevic and Drazen Milanovic were killed in 2004. "FBI confirms soldiers were murdered" Now an additional report from FBI's ballistic expert Steve Casper has ruled out the possibility that one of the soldiers committed murder and then suicide at the Topcider barracks in Belgrade, as was initially announced. The FBI claims remain unofficial, since neither the District Court in Belgrade nor the State Prosecution received official additional analysis; however, Prelevic says he has no doubt as to the accuracy of his commission's findings three and a half years ago, namely, that only a third person or persons could have shot and killed the guardsmen. "The FBI conducted only one analysis, which was quite sufficient, and which leads to the conclusion that the soldiers were murdered. What is completely incredible is that three and a half years later, nobody is looking for the killer," he added. The latest report was presented Friday by the soldiers' families' legal representative Vladan Batic. He told B92 that the analysis stated that "all the bullets, except for one, were fired at the soldiers from the distance of 3.35 meters", which makes the military investigation's conclusion that a murder-suicide took place impossible. Prelevic says the most important, and the most difficult question now is to find out who killed the guardsmen. He said the commission he headed in 2004 did not have a mandate to look into this issue, but reminds that the speculation at the time was that Jakovljevic and Milovanovic were killed by someone from Hague fugitive Ratko Mladic's entourage. "We have looked for the DNA traces of Mladic, and were told that they did not exist, since a trace cannot be found without a referent sample. In that sense, there was no evidence that it could have been Mladic, other than that it is a convenient place to hide, that there was a control of some sort there, and that Carla Del Ponte said so," Prelevic concluded. The head of the second commission set up to investigate the case, Army Judge Vuk Tufegdzic, who concluded one of the soldiers first killed his fellow guardsman and then committed suicide, was unavailable for comment today.

"FBI confirms soldiers were murdered"

Now an additional report from FBI's ballistic expert Steve Casper has ruled out the possibility that one of the soldiers committed murder and then suicide at the Topčider barracks in Belgrade, as was initially announced.

The FBI claims remain unofficial, since neither the District Court in Belgrade nor the State Prosecution received official additional analysis; however, Prelević says he has no doubt as to the accuracy of his commission's findings three and a half years ago, namely, that only a third person or persons could have shot and killed the guardsmen.

"The FBI conducted only one analysis, which was quite sufficient, and which leads to the conclusion that the soldiers were murdered. What is completely incredible is that three and a half years later, nobody is looking for the killer," he added.

The latest report was presented Friday by the soldiers' families' legal representative Vladan Batić.

He told B92 that the analysis stated that "all the bullets, except for one, were fired at the soldiers from the distance of 3.35 meters", which makes the military investigation's conclusion that a murder-suicide took place impossible.

Prelević says the most important, and the most difficult question now is to find out who killed the guardsmen.

He said the commission he headed in 2004 did not have a mandate to look into this issue, but reminds that the speculation at the time was that Jakovljević and Milovanović were killed by someone from Hague fugitive Ratko Mladić's entourage.

"We have looked for the DNA traces of Mladić, and were told that they did not exist, since a trace cannot be found without a referent sample. In that sense, there was no evidence that it could have been Mladić, other than that it is a convenient place to hide, that there was a control of some sort there, and that Carla Del Ponte said so," Prelević concluded.

The head of the second commission set up to investigate the case, Army Judge Vuk Tufegdžić, who concluded one of the soldiers first killed his fellow guardsman and then committed suicide, was unavailable for comment today.