EULEX Arrest in Connection With Kosovo Police Murder

Over six months after the murder of Enver Zymberi, EULEX police in northern Kosovo on Thursday apprehended a man believed to the brother of one of the suspects in the killing.

Kosovo Police spokesperson Besim Hoti told Balkan Insight that Radisa Vucinic was detained in the village of Cabra, in northern Kosovo, while he was visiting a registration centre there.

“He is in detention, and will be sent to court,” Hoti explained.

According to sources from EULEX, Vucinic is the brother of one of the six main suspects, all of whom remain at large.

The Mitrovica district prosecutor has issued arrest warrants against Ratomir Bozovic, Radovan Radic, Milovan Vlaskovic, Slobodan Vucinic and Dusan Jovanovic (all Kosovo Serbs), suspected of murdering Zymeri during the clashes between Kosovo police and Kosovo Serbs in July last year.

The Mitrovica prosecutor has hinted on several occasions that the suspects may be hiding in neighbouring Serbia.

Enver Zymberi was killed a day after the government of Kosovo imposed trade sanctions on products made in Serbia, as a measure of reciprocity.

Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia mounted in late July when Kosovo police tried to seize control of the two border crossings at Jarinje and Brnjak, which NATO troops have controlled since Kosovo declared independence in 2008.

Ever since, the situation in the north has remained tense, and local Serbs continue to block major roads in the region. In January, activists from the nationalist Vetevendosje movement held two protests in an attempt to block borders between Serbia and Kosovo and prevent Serbian goods from entering the territory.