Ex KLA Member Arrested on the Serbian Border

Serbian police arrested on Saturday a Kosovo Albanian war crimes suspect at the border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia.

Marija Ristic

BIRN

Belgrade

Kasnjeti and other KLA members during conflicts in the 90s | Photo courtesy of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs

Marko Kasnjeti, a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, has been arrested at Merdare border crossing, in south Serbia, said the Serbian Minister for Internal Affairs, Ivica Dacic.
The Deputy Prosecutor for War Crimes, Bruno Vekaric, said that the Serbian prosecution suspects that Kasnjeti committed war crimes against Serb civilians in the town of Prizren, in Kosovo in 1999.
“We formed a case against Kasnjeti on the basis of a photo given to us by the victims. That is how we determined his responsibility for the crimes,” said Vekaric to the Belgrade based news agency Tanjug.
The photo shows Kasnjeti and three other KLA members beating two people, who had their hands tied behind their backs, with the end of their rifles.
Kasnjeti has been brought before Belgrade's Special Court for an initial hearing and the investigation judge has determined a custody period of 48 hours, BIRN has learned from the prosecution.  The hearing will continue on Monday.
Previously, on March 21, the Serbian police had arrested in the town of Merdere another former member of the KLA, Buri Taljata.
Taljata is suspected of war crimes against Serb civilians committed in June 1999 in the town of Prizren in Kosovo and is currently held in custody in the Serbian town of Pozarevac.