‘Political Hit-Man’ Attacked in Kosovo

Police have launched an investigation into an attack on a man who testified about the killings of Albanians suspected of collaborating with the Serbian authorities during the Kosovo war.

Edona Peci BIRN Pristina

Police said that they were investigating the assault on Saturday on Nazim Bllaca, a self-confessed ‘political hit-man’ who has testified twice in trials arising from the killing of suspected wartime collaborators and is soon expected to be prosecuted for murder himself.

However a police spokesperson said he could not provide any information about the reasons for the attack.

“We’re not able to talk about the motives yet; they will be made public by the court,” spokesperson Baki Kelani told BIRN.

No arrests have yet been made.

Bllaca was the key witness in two trials over wartime revenge killings which have seen seven people sent to prison.

The second verdict in December last year saw five people sentenced to a total of 54 years in jail.

Two of the defendants were convicted of involvement in the 1999 murder of Ibush Kllokoqi, a former member of the Kosovo Democratic League who was suspected of working with the Serb authorities.

Bllaca, who claims to have been part of an unofficial security service that grew out of the Kosovo Liberation Army, has admitted that he was also involved in the killing of Kllokoqi.

He is expected to stand trial for the murder soon.

“Nazim Bllaca killed Ibush Kllokoqi by shooting him six times. This happened in Pristina on August 6, 1999,” the indictment against him said.