FHP calls on authorities to solve murders of Bytyqi brothers

The brothers Bytyqi traveled to Serbia to fight in the ranks of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the 1999 war in Kosovo. They were captured by Serbian authorities shortly after the war and sentenced to 15 days in prison for having illegally crossed the state border between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Albania.

The three were released early from a prison in Prokuplje, from where they were collected by unknown persons. The brothers were eventually executed with bullets fired to the back of their heads. The bodies were discovered in 2001 in a mass grave in a police training ground in Petrovo Selo.

The FHP NGO's press release on Monday, entitled, "The government of Serbia must determine criminal responsibility for the insensitive murder of the brothers Bytyqi," reads as follows:

"July 9, 2018, marks 29 years passing since the killing of the brothers Mehmet (21), Agron (23) and Ylli (25) Bytyqi, committed by members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia (MUP). Almost two decades of continuous failure of investigative actions undertaken by the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office and the Interior Ministry in sheddling light on the killings of Mehmet, Ylli and Agron, points out that the perpetrators of the 1990s crimes are still stronger than the institutions and the rule of law, that justice in Serbia remains selective, and that those responsible for the execution of the Bytyqi brothers are above the law.

The Bytyqi brothers were arrested at the entrance to Serbia for illegally crossing the border, to be released from prison after serving their sentence, and then killed. Their bodies were found in the spring of 2001 in a mass grave in Petrovo Selo. On 23 August 2006, the War Crimes Prosecution...