Serbian 'Spy' Suspect Arrest Leaves Family Mystified

The sister of 57-year-old Cedo Colovic, who was arrested in Serbia on Friday on suspicion of espionage, told BIRN that no official has informed the family about his situation and said that she was only getting information about him through the media.

"We haven't officially received anything nor has anyone called us, we only know what we see on TV," said Colovic's sister Anka Borkovic.

"I was hoping that at least Cedo [Colovic] or his lawyer would maybe call us but no one is calling," she continued.

She said she had heard in the media that he had reached a settlement with the prosecutor's office in Serbia - which has not been confirmed.

Borkovic denied that her brother was a spy

She said Colovic had once held some rank in a breakaway wartime rebel Serb statelet in Croatia, the Republic of Serbian Krajina, although she said was "not sure which one exactly".

He was wounded in the shoulder in 1993 and transferred to hospital in Belgrade for treatment then was granted disability status and given a state pension.

Borkovic said that in 1999 he moved back to their native village of Tepljuh, near the town of Drnis in southern Croatia, to take care of their parents who lived there. After both parents died, he returned to Belgrade in 2004, after which he returned every year for around a month, to take care of the house and their vineyard.

"He was planning to go there on Friday [when he was arrested] … I am in shock, I don't know what to think anymore," she said.

Both the Serbian prosecutor's office and the Higher Court in Belgrade declined to comment on the case to BIRN.

Quoting anonymous sources, Serbian newspaper Blic claimed that Croatia had threatened to prosecute Colovic for war crimes allegedly...