Law enforcement agencies in Herceg Novi, Montenegro, announced that they have arrested a 48-year-old man from Kosovo with the initials I.B., who is accused of war crimes against the civilian population.

Supreme Court of Podgorica announced that it has ordered the measure of detention with the aim of extraditing the individual in question.

"This person is wanted by Interpol and UNMIK on the basis of a criminal procedure filed against him under suspicion of war crimes against the civilian population," the Montenegrin police said in a statement.

Few days ago, in the city of Bjelo Pole in the north of Montenegro, another suspect was arrested for war crimes against the civilian population in the territory of the municipality of Peja in 1999.

The measure of detention with the purpose of extradition has been set for him.

Montenegro says that it will notify the relevant bodies of Kosovo about the case in question and they are waiting for the relevant documentation for the suspect's extradition.

Montenegrin analysts say that the Kosovo police has further deepened international cooperation with the law enforcement institutions of the states of the region, and with international security organizations, with the aim of arresting wanted persons and bringing them to justice.

Meanwhile, representatives of the pro-Serbian and pro-Russian party in Montenegro, the former Democratic Front, called on the technical government of Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic not to participate in the arrest of Serbs and Montenegrins displaced from Kosovo, because as they said , "this will further destabilize the political situation in the country".

This party said that, "during the last seven days, at the request of Pristina, two Serbs displaced to Montenegro, Živko Vuksanovi? and Momcilo Bulatovi?, were arrested on suspicion of war crimes after two and a half decades".

In December 2019, the Podgorica court sentenced the Montenegrin citizen, Vlado Zmajevic, to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of war crimes against civilians.

Zmajevic, a former volunteer and member of the Yugoslav army, was convicted for the murder of four Albanian civilians in the village of Zhegër near Gjilan in 1999.

About 13,500 people were killed during the Serbian massacre in Kosovo during the years 1998-1999, while more than 1,600 people are still missing.

(Source: VOA)