Kosovo court charges Serb who paid Albanians to kill Serb couple

Excerpt from report by Nexhat Buzuku entitled "Serb pays two Albanians to kill two Serbs in Mogille" published by the Kosovo Albanian newspaper Koha Ditore on 13 April

Gjilan [Gnjilane], 12 April: The public prosecution office in Gjilan [Gnjilane] has initiated investigations into Sinisa M. [Serb first names], Xhafer A. of Mogille, Heset A. (Viti [Vitina]) [Albanian first names], Dragoljub Dj. and Sasa M. [Serb first names] (Mogille), who are suspected of committing a criminal offence - aggravated attempted murder of Serb couple Nebojsa and Dusanka Przic from Mogille, Viti.

The entire plot was prepared in such a way that the two Albanians would commit the killing, while they were given the weapons and promised an amount of money after they committed the crime.

The case was initiated on 29 December 2004, when the Kosova [Kosovo] Police Service [KPS - ShPK in Albanian] presented to the public prosecution office in Gjilan the criminal charges against the persons suspected of committing the attempted murder. The incident took place on 6 October 2004 in Mogille village, Viti. On 30 December 2004, the public prosecution office filed a request to discover the suspected perpetrators and to gather the required information by the ShPK's Regional Investigation Unit.

On 8 April 2005, the Regional Investigation Unit in Gjilan presented charges to the Public Prosecution against five suspects: Sinisa M., Xhafer A., Heset A., Dragoljub Dj. and Sasa M. The public prosecution office in Gjilan initiated investigations into the first four people and on the judge's instructions, Sinisa M. was detained because of a well-founded suspicion that he committed three crimes: encouraging commission of attempted murder; providing assistance in committing the crime; and possession of an illegal [fire]arm.

A well-founded suspicion exists that Xhafer A. and Heset A. received a hand grenade and an AK-47 from Sinisa M. and they were also promised 10,000 euros after killing the Serb Przic couple.

After being armed by the Serb, the two Albanian suspects started the action, by throwing a hand grenade towards the Przic couple, but at that moment they lay on the ground and escaped the grenade. The two suspects returned the AK-47 to Sinisa, but they never received the money, because, when they asked for the money, Sinisa told them they did not finish the job. [Passage omitted - elaboration]

It has not been clarified yet whether the motive for ordering the murder of the Przic couple has been discovered, although it is suspected that the motive was personal benefits.

The office of the prosecution said that this case shows that there are murders being committed with this scenario - paid murder for certain reasons - but the public could reflect with various colourings and connotations [sentence as published].