Serbia’s Security Information Agency (BIA) has not responded to a request from the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (TOK) seeking interviews with former State Security officials and President Aleksandar Vučić as part of the ongoing investigation into the 1998 killings at the Panda café in Pejë/Peć, according to information published by Radio Free Europe.

The development comes after attorney Ivan Ninić, who represents the families of the victims, asked Serbia’s Supreme Public Prosecutor on July 27 to intervene, arguing that the Prosecutor’s Office had failed for more than three years to act on his proposal to question several individuals as witnesses in the case.

According to TOK, prosecutors have repeatedly requested that the BIA conduct interviews with former State Security chiefs Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović, as well as Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, to determine whether they possess information relevant to the investigation.

“However, no response to those requests has yet been received,” the Prosecutor’s Office said, adding that further investigative steps will depend on the information requested from the intelligence agency.

Ninić argued that Stanišić and Simatović should be questioned because of indirect information provided by a witness suggesting that Simatović may have had knowledge of the killings.

He also requested that President Vučić be interviewed, citing his previous public statements indicating that authorities possessed information about the crime.

In 2013, while serving as Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Vučić stated that there was no evidence the killings had been carried out by Albanians and said the Serbian public would one day face “terrible revelations” regarding the case.

According to Ninić, Vučić’s subsequent role as head of Serbia’s Bureau for the Coordination of Security Services, a position he held from 2013, gave him access to highly sensitive intelligence that could be relevant to the investigation.

The lawyer has also urged prosecutors to examine recent allegations made by Montenegrin fugitive Miloš Medenica, who claimed in a Telegram video published on July 18 that Radomir Boban Baćović was directly responsible for the Panda café massacre.

Ninić noted that Baćović had long been associated with Serbia’s former State Security service.

The Prosecutor’s Office, however, said Baćović has not been questioned in any capacity because no credible witness has identified him during the investigation.

At the same time, prosecutors said they do not oppose Ninić’s request for extraordinary oversight of the investigation, which has been ongoing since 2016.

Officials acknowledged that the investigation remains open because investigators have not yet gathered sufficient evidence to establish well-founded suspicion regarding the perpetrators.

The Prosecutor’s Office added that it is prepared to provide Serbia’s Supreme Public Prosecutor with a full report detailing all investigative actions undertaken so far.

Six young Serbs—high school students Ivan Obradović, Zoran Stanojević, Svetislav Ristić, Dragan Trifović, Vukosav Gvozdenović, and university student Ivana Radović—were killed on December 14, 1998, when two masked gunmen entered the Panda café in Pejë/Peć and opened fire. The case remains one of the most controversial unsolved crimes linked to the Kosovo war.

Serbia’s Intelligence Agency Remains Silent

Serbia’s Security Information Agency (BIA) has not responded to a request from the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (TOK) seeking interviews with former State Security officials and President Aleksandar Vučić as part of the ongoing investigation into the 1998 killings at the Panda café in Pejë/Peć, according to information published by Radio Free Europe.

The development comes after attorney Ivan Ninić, who represents the families of the victims, asked Serbia’s Supreme Public Prosecutor on July 27 to intervene, arguing that the Prosecutor’s Office had failed for more than three years to act on his proposal to question several individuals as witnesses in the case.

According to TOK, prosecutors have repeatedly requested that the BIA conduct interviews with former State Security chiefs Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović, as well as Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, to determine whether they possess information relevant to the investigation.

“However, no response to those requests has yet been received,” the Prosecutor’s Office said, adding that further investigative steps will depend on the information requested from the intelligence agency.

Ninić argued that Stanišić and Simatović should be questioned because of indirect information provided by a witness suggesting that Simatović may have had knowledge of the killings.

He also requested that President Vučić be interviewed, citing his previous public statements indicating that authorities possessed information about the crime.

In 2013, while serving as Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Vučić stated that there was no evidence the killings had been carried out by Albanians and said the Serbian public would one day face “terrible revelations” regarding the case.

According to Ninić, Vučić’s subsequent role as head of Serbia’s Bureau for the Coordination of Security Services, a position he held from 2013, gave him access to highly sensitive intelligence that could be relevant to the investigation.

The lawyer has also urged prosecutors to examine recent allegations made by Montenegrin fugitive Miloš Medenica, who claimed in a Telegram video published on July 18 that Radomir Boban Baćović was directly responsible for the Panda café massacre.

Ninić noted that Baćović had long been associated with Serbia’s former State Security service.

The Prosecutor’s Office, however, said Baćović has not been questioned in any capacity because no credible witness has identified him during the investigation.

At the same time, prosecutors said they do not oppose Ninić’s request for extraordinary oversight of the investigation, which has been ongoing since 2016.

Officials acknowledged that the investigation remains open because investigators have not yet gathered sufficient evidence to establish well-founded suspicion regarding the perpetrators.

The Prosecutor’s Office added that it is prepared to provide Serbia’s Supreme Public Prosecutor with a full report detailing all investigative actions undertaken so far.

Six young Serbs—high school students Ivan Obradović, Zoran Stanojević, Svetislav Ristić, Dragan Trifović, Vukosav Gvozdenović, and university student Ivana Radović—were killed on December 14, 1998, when two masked gunmen entered the Panda café in Pejë/Peć and opened fire. The case remains one of the most controversial unsolved crimes linked to the Kosovo war.