In Serbia, there are two types of stories about war crimes: those that have never been illuminated and those that are dangerous to repeat out loud.
"Vreme" on the front page of the new issue (on newsstands from this Thursday) presents the story of Jovana Gligorijević about two crimes that fall into both of these categories - the massacre of Serbian young men in "Panda" cafe in Peć (1998) and over the Bitići brothers (1999).
Those topics were casually brought back into the spotlight by the regime's propaganda film against Veran Matić, once the head of the Commission for Investigating the Murders of Journalists. At one time, Matić had - then lost - the blessing of today's president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, to investigate the cases.
"Some of the evidence that appeared among the information we received indicated the possible use of the same weapon in the case of the Bitići brothers or in the case of the murder in Panda, and then the possibility was opened to investigate those cases as well," Matić remembers.
Whose head is in the bag?
But there were obstructions, information leaked to the public. However, in 2013, the commission made a report intended for Aleksandar Vučić, in which it proposed to form commissions for the cases of the Bitići brothers and the massacre in Panda.
Then, in 2013, Vučić came out with information that there was no evidence that the KLA was to blame for the massacre in Panda, "quite the contrary." But to this day, he has not lifted a finger to shed light on the crime - and he has never received the families of the murdered young men.
To this day, everything points to the fact that both crimes were the work of Serbian services and that they could easily be investigated - if there was a will.
"In the end," writes Jovana Gligorijević, "it turns out that only those who propose a way for the truth to come to light have their heads in the bag."
Read this cover article and other great stories in the new "Vremen", which is on newsstands. Or subscribe now to digital edition.
