“UN should show good will in organ probe”

Serbian Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor Bruno Vekaric has stated that the UN should show more good will in the investigation into the human organ trade in Kosovo. He added that it would not be reasonable to leave the proceedings solely in the hands of EULEX and Serbian and Albanian judiciary. “UN should show good will in organ probe” Vekaric told French television FRANCE 24 that the UN seemed to have partially masked the truth they had learnt in the investigation into the involvement of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the illegal trade of organs extracted from persons kidnapped in Kosovo in 1999. “during the course of six months in 2008, the UN mission in Kosovo concealed the existence of documents from Serbian investigators, but they managed to obtain the information unofficially, from a reporter,” the deputy war crimes prosecutor pointed out and added that when Serbian investigators requested the documents officially, the UN tried to lead them to believe that they knew nothing about the alleged organ trafficking. “After that, Serbian authorities sent a second letter to the UN mission, with a copy of the documents they obtained was included in the attachment. The UN office in Pristina did not respond and we eventually received the documents directly from the UN Headquarters in New York,” Vekaric stated. “Although we cannot point out the persons responsible for the crimes, we can prove that the crimes were committed in the Albanian territory,” he explained. He noted that the Serbian War Crimes Prosecution faced obstacles posed by the Albanian government and added that there were certain elements that showed that Albanian authorities were not telling the full truth regarding the nature of the clues discovered in the Yellow House in Albania. Vekaric assessed that there was a “real political conflict over the crimes” and expressed concern that pressures coming from the Kosovo government could compromise EULEX's work on the case. Bruno Vekaric (FoNet)

“UN should show good will in organ probe”

Vekarić told French television FRANCE 24 that the UN seemed to have partially masked the truth they had learnt in the investigation into the involvement of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the illegal trade of organs extracted from persons kidnapped in Kosovo in 1999.

“during the course of six months in 2008, the UN mission in Kosovo concealed the existence of documents from Serbian investigators, but they managed to obtain the information unofficially, from a reporter,” the deputy war crimes prosecutor pointed out and added that when Serbian investigators requested the documents officially, the UN tried to lead them to believe that they knew nothing about the alleged organ trafficking.

“After that, Serbian authorities sent a second letter to the UN mission, with a copy of the documents they obtained was included in the attachment. The UN office in Priština did not respond and we eventually received the documents directly from the UN Headquarters in New York,” Vekarić stated.

“Although we cannot point out the persons responsible for the crimes, we can prove that the crimes were committed in the Albanian territory,” he explained.

He noted that the Serbian War Crimes Prosecution faced obstacles posed by the Albanian government and added that there were certain elements that showed that Albanian authorities were not telling the full truth regarding the nature of the clues discovered in the Yellow House in Albania.

Vekarić assessed that there was a “real political conflict over the crimes” and expressed concern that pressures coming from the Kosovo government could compromise EULEX's work on the case.