Thursday, May 6, 2010


EU police arrest Kosovo Albanian commander for war crimes


Sabit Geci, the former commander of the military police of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was arrested in Pristina, Kosovo on Thursday, charged with war crimes committed in 1999, reported the Serbian news agency Tanjug.

Geci was arrested in mid-day raid on his house in Pristina conducted by a police force belonging to the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX). The EU mission works in conjunction with UNMIK, the United Nations mission which officially administers the Serbian province according to UN resolution 1244. Although Kosovo declared independence in 2008, Serbia is challenging the legality of its declaration before the International Court of Justice.

"The executive branch of the EULEX police department, in accordance with an order issued by the Office of the Special Prosecutor of Kosovo (KSTK), today conducted a search of a house and arrested a male suspect in connection with war crimes allegedly committed between April and June 1999," according to a brief official statement released by EULEX.

Geci was one of several high ranking Kosovo Albanian military officials named in the UNMIK report, 2003-00063, who may have direct knowledge of the kidnapping and disappearance of Serbian civilians from Kosovo and of mass graves in northern Albania. According to Radio Television Serbia, Geci who goes by the pseudonym 'Big Boss,' was one of the most influential members of the intelligence unit of the KLA, and is also allegedly connected to "politically motivated murders."

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