"Time for decisions in organ trafficking case"

"Time for decisions in organ trafficking case"

“The evidence we have gathered testifies that war crimes were indeed committed, but we have not reached the individuals who executed them. We have established the existence of the criminal act of war crime but we have not managed to establish the particulars concerning the alleged organ trafficking,” Vukčević told reporters in the Special Court, ahead of his meeting with U.S. prosecutor Clint Williamson of the special EU team in charge of the investigation into human organ trafficking during the war in Kosovo.

“I see that the investigation has come to an end and now the decision needs to be adopted as to whether to raise the indictment or call off any further proceedings,” Vukčević said.

The Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's Office attempted to establish cooperation with their Albanian colleagues and get access to the sites suspected of containing victims' remains but were denied the right to examine the field, he said.

Vukčević expressed the expectation that Williamson will release the results of the investigation into the case in the days to come.

Vukčević said that the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office has obtained information according to which over 300 people of non-Albanian ethnicity went missing in the area and over 400 witnesses were interrogated during the investigation.

Replying to reporters' question as to whether he knows the contents of Williamson's report, Vukčević said that he does not know what the report states and he also did not wish to mention names of potential suspects which came up during the proceedings conducted by the Serbian Prosecutor's Office.

“I will not disclose any names, I will leave it to Williamson to do so instead,” Vukčević said.

Asked by reporters if he has any knowledge about the allegations reported by Priština media which say that the report lists no tangible evidence of organ trafficking activities, Vukčević said that it had been agreed at the very first meeting with Williamson in Brussels that no statements should be made about the report until its official presentation.

Vukčević commended Williamson on the work done in the case in the course of the past three years.

The case, referred to as "Yellow House case" in Serbia after one suspected location in Albania where prisoners were held, concerns allegations that members of ethnic Albanian KLA kidnapped Serb and other civilians in Kosovo and illegally imprisoned them in Albania before extracting their vital organs for sale in the international black market.

The U.S. prosecutor was in Belgrade on Tuesday where he met with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić.