Photo: FoNetThe Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime has confirmed that it has received a request for the hearing of the President of Serbia, but that decision - when it is made - will first be notified to the attorney of the injured parties and the injured parties.
Ten years have already passed since the statements of the current president of Serbia, and the then first deputy prime minister and head of the Security Services Coordination Bureau, Aleksandar Vučić, that the crime in Pec's "Panda" cafe in 1998 was not the work of Albanians.
The parents of the six murdered young men, that is, the three who were wounded, requested the testimony of Vučić because of his statements, the public prosecutor's office for organized crime confirmed to the newspaper "Danas" that it had received a request for the hearing of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić.
Whether Vučić will be heard, as the newspaper reports, about that decision - when it is made - the injured party's attorney and the injured party will be notified first.
"The Prosecutor's Office will decide on the request submitted by lawyer Ivan Ninić on behalf of the parents of the murdered young men on August 10, but the attorney of the injured parties and the injured party will be notified of the decision first," the response states.
Ninić explained to the newspaper "Danas" that the families have repeatedly submitted a request for Vučić to be heard as a witness, but so far they have not received any response from the Prosecutor's Office.
What did Vučić say?
The request states that the parents demand that Vučić be heard regarding the statements about the massacre in "Panda", which he made to the media on several occasions from 2013 to 2018, claiming that the crime was not committed by Albanians and that he "almost knows" what happened. happened that fateful night in that cafe.
It is reported that as the first vice-president of the Government of Serbia and head of the Bureau for the Coordination of Security Services, Aleksandar Vučić said on December 26, 2013, in the program "Teška reč" on TV Pink: "The crime in 'Panda' was not committed by Albanians, as we believed until now . The public will be appalled when the truth is revealed."
Two years later, at a press conference in the Government of Serbia, on December 11, 2015, Vučić said that he was almost certain what happened in the "Panda" cafe.
"We are groping in the dark." I'm almost sure what happened in the 'Panda' cafe, but I have no proof. I'm not sure that our authorities could be proud of what they did then," said Vučić, according to the request for his hearing.
The parents also remind that on September 12, 2017, Vučić publicly stated that he had "certain information" about what happened in the "Panda" cafe in Peja when six Serbian youths were killed.
"Vučić said at the press conference that 'certain information' talks about, as he stated, the possible perpetrators of the crime, and that it 'does not agree with what was communicated.'
"I'm not a prosecutor and I can't talk about that," Vucic said, adding that he knows "what might have happened."
He then said that the competent authorities also have "certain information" about that crime, according to the explanation of the request for Vučić's hearing.
The parents also cited Vučić's statement from November 1, 2018 for TV Prva: "We have information, and our authorities are looking for complete information. We are doing everything and they can be sure that we will not hide the truth. "Whether it's Albanians or Serbs," he said.
Mystery without mystery
As "Vreme" wrote, "On December 14, 1998, six young men of Serbian nationality were killed in the city of Peć, in the west of the then AP Kosovo, in the Panda cafe.
Someone unknown swooped in and mowed them down in two bursts. Even though the city was under the full control of the security authorities of Serbia, Milosevic's propaganda machinery at the time immediately attributed the act to "Albanian terrorists", but this story was very creaky from the very beginning, in fact, it leaked everywhere. Many indications indicate that this is a crime that was planned and carried out by the state of Serbia, through the appropriate authorities and services, which even the current president of Serbia alluded to some time ago.
But what could have been the motive and goal of the monstrous, seemingly unmotivated and "illogical" crime? Note the timing: it was about creating an atmosphere in which normal life would become impossible, everyday life unbearable, and war conflict inevitable.
The biggest problem with this mystery is that there is no particular mystery: everything points to the fact that it is a particularly cynical and nasty state crime."
Waiting for the truth for 25 years
25 years ago, on December 14, 1998, around 20:XNUMX p.m., two masked assailants opened fire with automatic rifles on the guests of the "Panda" cafe, most of whom were high school students from Pec.
Ivan Obradović (15), Zoran Stanojević (18), Vukota Gvozdenović (16), Svetislav Ristić (18), Ivan Radević (24) and Dragan Trifović (18) were killed.
Vladimir Lončarević (18) and Mirsad Šabović (34) were seriously wounded, while Nikola Rajović (18) was slightly wounded.
A few days after the crime, State Security arrested and suspected a group of local Albanians, but they were released from custody due to lack of evidence.
The Vice President of the Federal Government of the FRY in charge of Kosovo and Metohija, Nikola Šainović, then announced that the "Panda" case had been resolved.
The parents of the murdered young men have asked President Aleksandar Vučić more than ten times to receive them for an interview, but despite several public promises that he would do so, he has not spoken to the families until now.
The investigation into the massacre in the "Panda" cafe was only launched in November 2015 at the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime in Belgrade.
BG/Danas/FoNet/N1
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