Vukcevic: Time for decisions in Yellow House case

“The evidence we have gathered testifies that war crimes were indeed committed, but we have not reached the individuals who executed them. We have established the existence of the criminal act of war crime but we have not managed to establish the particulars concerning the alleged organ trafficking,” Vukcevic told reporters in the Special Court, ahead of his meeting with chief prosecutor Clint Williamson of the special team in charge of the investigation into human organ trafficking during the 1999 clashes in Kosovo.“I see that the investigation has come to an end and now the decision needs to be adopted as to whether to raise the indictment or call off any further proceedings,” Vukcevic said.The Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's Office attempted to realise cooperation with their Albanian colleagues and get access to the sites suspected of containing victims' remains but were denied the right to examine the field, he said.Vukcevic expressed the expectation that Williamson will release the results of the investigation into the case in the days to come.Vukcevic said that the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office has obtained information according to which over 300 people of non-Albanian ethnicity went missing in the area and over 400 witnesses were interrogated during the investigation.Replying to reporters' question as to whether he knows the contents of Williamson's report, Vukcevic said that he does not know what the report states and he also did not wish to mention names of potential suspects which came up during the proceedings conducted by the Serbian Prosecutor's Office.“I will not disclose any names, I will leave it to Williamson to do so instead,” Vukcevic said.Asked by reporters if he has any knowledge about the allegations reported by Pristina media which say that the report lists no tangible evidence of organ trafficking activities, Vukcevic said that it had been agreed at the very first meeting with Williamson in Brussels that no statements should be made about the report until its official presentation.
Vukcevic commended Williamson on the work done in the case in the course of the past three years.The Yellow House case was launched upon publication of the book 'The Hunt' written by former prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia Carla del Ponte which presents an account of the human organ trafficking in KiM, Vukcevic said.After the book publication, the Serbian Prosecutor's Office launched the investigation and submitted its report to Council of Europe special rapporteur for human organ trafficking Dick Marty.
Williamson's investigation followed Marty's report, Vukcevic said and added that he hopes the results of the investigation will be made public in the next few days.