Witnessing a Mass Grave – A Citizen’s Legal Duty or Espionage?

News of the arrest of R.T. (1980) from Istok on suspicion of espionage was published by the media on July 30. The arrest, captured by cameras, involved several units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in cooperation with the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Kraljevo and the Security Intelligence Agency (BIA).

“The arrested individual, R.T., is suspected of having been in a collaborative relationship over an extended period with the Albanian Intelligence Service operating in the AP Kosovo and Metohija region. He is also suspected of being engaged in collecting and delivering data and information regarding the activities of former and current members of the Serbian Armed Forces, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia, and other state security structures, which resulted in the arrest of several individuals of Serbian nationality by provisional Pristina institutions and the persecution of a significant number of Serbs from the area of Zubin Potok and northern Kosovo,” Tanjug reported, as carried by numerous media outlets.

The arrest came just one day after excavations began in the village of Kalludra e Vogël (Mali Kaluđer) in Zubin Potok, during which human remains were found – a fact confirmed by the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Prosecution Office of Kosovo, Blerim Isufaj.

In the following days, several different interpretations of this event emerged. Organizations dealing with the culture of remembrance and war crimes pointed out that the suspect is a witness who gave a statement to UNMIK back in 2003 regarding an alleged mass grave in Zubin Potok. Representatives of Kosovo authorities were explicit that this was a continuation of Serbia’s attempts to cover up committed war crimes, reiterating their insistence on opening archives containing crucial information about the perpetrators of crimes related to the 1999 conflict – something Serbia consistently refuses to do.

Serbian state institutions, including representatives of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, as well as representatives of Serb List, a political entity perceived by the public as representing official Belgrade in northern Kosovo, did not address this case at all. Their attention was occupied by another arrest: two individuals in Zubin Potok suspected of committing war crimes, specifically in connection with the potential mass grave, which they assessed as pressure on the Serb population in northern Kosovo.

 

Who is R.T. (1980) from Istok and Who Does He “Work” For?

Among the first to react to the news of the arrest were Nataša Kandić, coordinator of the Regional Network for Reconciliation (RECOM), the Humanitarian Law Center, and the Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo, questioning the validity of the espionage charge:

“Information about a possible mass grave in the village of Kalludra e Vogël in the municipality of Zubin Potok in Kosovo has been publicly available since January 7, 2013, when the Albanian-language daily newspaper Zëri published an article and a statement by Serb R.T. regarding the murder of 23 Albanian civilians and the secret burial of their bodies in the valley of the village of Kalludra e Vogël. He gave the statement to UNMIK investigators and the Kosovo Police on February 7, 2003.”

In an article for Peščanik on July 31, Kandić stated that the Serbian police knew about the crime from the day it was committed. Instead of investigating it and arresting the perpetrators, they ordered the bodies to be buried, reducing the victims to remains that needed to be hidden to conceal the crime. On the other hand, she noted that “UNMIK and the Kosovo Police had information about the crime and the burial site since February 2003, but there is no record of them conducting an effective investigation or checking the location.”

The criminal offense of espionage charged against R.T. is defined under Article 315, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code as follows: “Whoever communicates, delivers, or makes available secret military, economic, or official data or documents to a foreign state, foreign organization, or a person serving them, shall be punished by imprisonment from three to fifteen years.”

It is further clarified that “secret data or documents are considered to be those military, economic, or official data or documents declared secret by law, other regulations, or decisions of a competent authority made pursuant to law, the disclosure of which has caused or could cause harmful consequences for the security, defense, or political, military, or economic interests of the country.”

If it turns out that R.T. is indeed the person who gave a statement to UNMIK investigators and the Kosovo Police regarding the potential mass grave, the question arises whether such information could legally qualify as espionage at all due to its very nature.

Lawyer Sead Spahović explained to Istinomer that information revealing the commission of a crime can under no circumstances be classified as secret data.

“On the contrary, citizens, just like public officials, are required by law to report any knowledge of a criminal offense. Therefore, they are obligated to report a war crime. On the other hand, if we call someone a spy, it implies that the information they provided is accurate – in this case, the information regarding the mass grave. Therefore, in the case of this arrest, it is clearly a matter of retaliation and an attempt to intimidate witnesses. The goal is to ‘break’ him so he eventually pleads guilty to espionage,” Spahović stated.

He highlighted as particularly unusual the fact that the defense attorney of the arrested R.T. has not addressed the public even once:

“If his client was unlawfully arrested, the lawyer is obligated to state so, and there is no question of obstructing the investigation. The public has a legitimate interest in knowing all the details of this case.”

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Kraljevo did not respond to Istinomer’s inquiries regarding the time period to which the alleged criminal offense relates (specifically whether R.T. is suspected of actions during the 1999 armed conflict), nor regarding the current stage of the investigation.

 

Monologue of Belgrade and Pristina

Numerous media outlets in Serbia sensationally reported the arrest of an “(Albanian) spy” in Kraljevo, while institutions remained reserved beyond the press release of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Kraljevo. The Office for Kosovo and Metohija and Serb List did not comment on the arrest of R.T., but instead reacted to news of the arrest of two individuals in Zubin Potok on war crimes charges. Serb List stated that war crimes charges “have become a tool used to intimidate our people, rather than an attempt to deliver justice, representing continued pressure on members of the Serb community by Kosovo authorities led by acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti,” while the Office for Kosovo and Metohija described the detention as “terror, retaliation, and intimidation” of the Serb community.

Such reactions are not new and follow almost every arrest in Kosovo. They consistently depict these actions as political pressure. For instance, following the previous arrest of five people in connection with crimes in Račak, they similarly claimed that “systematic political and institutional violence by Pristina led by Kurti is underway, with the sole aim of expelling and arresting Serbs under the cover of allegations of alleged war crimes.”

However, when asked by Istinomer on what specific data they base claims that arrests of Serbs in Kosovo for war crimes are strictly political pressure, and to comment on public allegations that R.T. was detained for revealing a mass grave location, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija did not respond.

On the other hand, the arrest of R.T. triggered reactions from several Kosovo institutional representatives.

The fact-checking organization Hibrid Info explained to Istinomer how the event was interpreted in Kosovo:

“Based on our monitoring, the arrest of R.T. in Kraljevo was covered by several Albanian-language media outlets in Kosovo. Reports mainly relied on information attributed to Serbian authorities, focusing on espionage charges and the fact that R.T. is from Istok. Conversely, some media also linked the case to claims that he provided information about an alleged mass grave at the exhumation site in Zubin Potok (Kalludra e Vogël). Reporting also included the public reaction of Andin Hoti, acting minister in the Kosovo government, who presented this arrest as part of Serbia’s efforts to obstruct resolving the fate of missing persons. His statement was subsequently picked up by Kosovo media, further shaping the narrative around the case.”

Andin Hoti, acting Minister of Labor, Family, Social Protection, and Values of the Kosovo Liberation War, reacted strongly to the news of the arrest:

“This is a state apparatus that continues to protect criminals, intimidate witnesses, and prevent the resolution of the fate of missing persons. Every such arrest sends a clear message: whoever speaks about mass graves gets punished. This is not a lack of cooperation; it is direct sabotage of the process to resolve the fate of missing persons and a violation of the spirit of the Declaration on Missing Persons agreed upon in Brussels. Even more concerning is the lack of reaction from the European Union. One cannot talk about European values, reconciliation, and dialogue while tolerating actions that intimidate witnesses and protect the concealment of war crimes. If the EU continues to overlook this through silence, it sends a message to Serbia that it can continue behaving the same way without consequences.”

When asked by Istinomer on what specific data he bases allegations that the arrestee is the person who gave a statement regarding the potential mass grave, Minister Hoti did not respond.

Regarding any potential reaction from the international community, particularly the EU, should it turn out that R.T. was indeed arrested for testifying about a mass grave, lawyer Spahović does not expect a firm response, noting that Serbia’s non-compliance with obligations regarding missing persons is nothing new.

“They already know that Serbia does not respect those obligations; they try to compel us to adhere to our own laws, but nothing comes of it. Do not forget that secondary mass graves were used in Bosnia and Herzegovina to cover up traces of crimes,” Spahović explained.

The suspect, R.T., was interrogated on August 3, after which he was remanded in custody, which remains the last publicly available information regarding this case.

This English translation was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed for accuracy.