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PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
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DE RUEHBW #0421/01 1341737
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141737Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1292
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNS/NSC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000421 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KWAC SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA: CONVICTIONS IN SUVA REKA WAR CRIMES TRIAL 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The Belgrade District Court's War Crimes Trial Chamber on 
April 23 convicted four former policemen and sentenced them to a 
total of 68 years in prison, and acquitted three others, in the 
trial for war crimes against civilians in Suva Reka, Kosovo, in 
March 1999.  The trial of seven Serbian police officers for ordering 
the murders of 50 Albanians civilians, including 48 members of the 
Berisha family, began on October 3, 2006.  Over 120 witnesses 
testified, including surviving members of the Berisha family.  The 
Humanitarian Law Center and the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office 
expressed dissatisfaction with the acquittals and announced plans to 
appeal.  End Summary. 
 
The Verdict 
----------- 
 
¶2. (U) Ten years after the murder of 50 Albanians civilians in Suva 
Reka, the War Crimes Trial Chamber of the Belgrade District Court 
reached a verdict on April 23 and convicted Chief of Suva Reka 
Police Radojko Repanovic and police officer Sladjan Cukaric, 
sentencing them each to the maximum sentence of 20 years.  Police 
officer Miroslav Petkovic and state security officer Milorad Nisavic 
received sentences of 15 and 13 years, respectively.  The defendants 
were found guilty of violating international law of armed conflict 
by ordering and taking part in an attack on the civilian population. 
 Special Police Unit commander Radoslav Mitrovic was acquitted of 
ordering the murders, as were Suva Reka police deputy commander 
Nenad Jovanovic and territorial defense officer Zoran Petkovic. 
 
 
The Trial 
--------- 
 
¶3. (U) Based on evidence mostly collected by Natasa Kandic's 
Humanitarian Law Center, War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic 
assembled the case and arrested seven indicted police officers in 
October 2005. In April 2006, the War Crimes Prosecutor issued a 
formal indictment and the trial started on October 3, 2006. 
 
¶4. (U) The defendants included the former commander of the 37th 
special police unit from Nis (PJP) Radoslav Mitrovic, Suva Reka 
Police Chief Radojko Repanovic, and his deputy Nenad Jovanovic, who 
were all accused of ordering the killings.  Suva Reka Police 
officers Sladjan Cukaric and Miroslav Petkovic, state security 
official Milorad Nisavic, and territorial defense officer Zoran 
Petkovic were accused either as direct perpetrators or logistical 
supporters of the crime. 
 
¶5. (U) During the two and a half year-long process, over 120 
witnesses testified at the War Crimes Court, including five 
surviving members of the Berisha family who came from Kosovo to 
Belgrade under occasionally dramatic circumstances to testify.  The 
family members testified under the Victim/Witness Protection program 
supported by the Embassy's Resident Legal Advisor Office. 
 
Suva Reka War Crimes Background 
------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) During the 1999 NATO intervention, the Serbian police forces 
in Kosovo, composed of local police units and special police squads 
from Serbia, committed a number of war crimes against civilians, 
predominantly ethnic Albanians and other non-Serb citizens.  One of 
the most horrible documented war crimes occurred on March 26, 1999 
in the small town of Suva Reka, 35 miles south-west of Pristina. 
According to the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's indictment, on that 
date seven police officers from the Suva Reka police unit and the 
Special police unit (PJP) ordered and executed attacks on civilians 
at a suburb close to Suva Reka's Restan road, inhabited by the 
Berisha and other Albanian families. 
 
¶7. (U) The attacks involved murders of 50 civilians, including 48 
members of the Berisha family, mostly women, children, and elderly, 
ages from 1 to 100 years old, as well as large-scale destruction of 
their property, and subsequent relocation of the survivors.  The 
victims were locked in a local pizzeria and then ruthlessly executed 
by hand grenades and machine guns.  The corpses were initially 
buried in Kosovo and later, in order to conceal the crime, excavated 
and re-buried in a mass grave on the Batajnica base of the 
anti-terrorist police near Belgrade. 
 
Reactions to the Verdict 
------------------------ 
 
 
BELGRADE 00000421  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶8. (U) The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), which represented the 
victims during the trial, expressed dissatisfaction with the 
verdict.  HLC head Natasa Kandic claimed that the decision reached 
by the War Crimes Trial Chamber, especially the acquittals, was 
unjust for both victims and the accused.  The HLC claimed that when 
acquitting Radoslav Mitrovic, the highest ranking official among the 
accused, the presiding judge failed to take into consideration the 
ICTY's conviction of Mitrovic's direct superior, General Sreten 
Lukic (Police Chief of Staff for Kosovo), who was sentenced for 
murder, deportation and persecution of the Albanian population in 
Kosovo.  The War Crimes Prosecutor's Office announced that it will 
appeal the acquittals. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) The trial for the Suva Reka war crimes drew a lot of 
attention in Serbia, underscoring to the public that war crimes are 
treated seriously and the domestic judiciary is capable of 
prosecuting complicated and sensitive cases.  Most importantly, the 
verdict established that a crime had taken place and that the 
perpetrators would be punished for their actions.  End Comment. 
 
MUNTER