A court in Prishtina has ordered one month of pre-trial detention for a Kosovo Serb from Zubin Potok identified as J.R., who is suspected of committing war crimes against the civilian population during the 1998–1999 Kosovo conflict.
The decision was issued by the Basic Court in Prishtina following a request from the Special Prosecutor’s Office. According to the court, there is a risk that the suspect could flee because he is a Serbian citizen and may become unavailable to Kosovo’s judicial authorities. Judges also cited the possibility that he could influence witnesses or interfere with evidence, concluding that detention is necessary to ensure the integrity of the investigation.
J.R. has the right to appeal the detention order before the Kosovo Court of Appeals.
He is the third Kosovo Serb from Zubin Potok to be placed in one-month detention in recent days as part of the same war crimes investigation. Two other suspects, identified as M.J. and M.B., were previously ordered into pre-trial detention on similar allegations involving war crimes against civilians.
The arrests come as Kosovo authorities intensify investigations in northern Kosovo. Last week, forensic teams began exhumation work in the village of Mala Kaludra, near Zubin Potok, following suspicions that the site contains the remains of Albanians who disappeared during the 1998–1999 war.
The investigation has since expanded to the nearby village of Jabuka, where the Special Prosecutor’s Office has sought judicial approval for additional excavations at another suspected mass grave site.
According to local media reports citing multiple sources, at least two other Kosovo Serbs from the north were also detained or questioned in separate cases during the past day, although Kosovo authorities have not officially confirmed those reports.
Senior Kosovo officials have continued visiting the excavation sites while renewing calls for Serbia to open its military, police, and state archives to help clarify the fate of missing persons from the war.
Acting Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla announced on Monday that investigators had already recovered the remains of at least four individuals at the Jabuka site. He said forensic experts from Kosovo, supported by specialists from the EU Rule of Law Mission (EULEX), are continuing exhumation and identification efforts as the investigation progresses.
