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The adoption of the Bytyqi resolution in Washington. Photo: Praveen Madhiraju.

On 19th anniversary of the murder of the three Bytyqi brothers on Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington adopted a resolution on the case, which remains a major bilateral problem between Serbia and the US, clearing its way for passage by the full Congress.

The resolution says that Serbia must “make it a priority to investigate and prosecute as soon as possible those current or former officials believed to be responsible for [the brothers’] deaths, directly or indirectly”.

“Progress in resolving this case, or the lack thereof, should remain a significant factor determining the further development of relations between the United States and the Republic of Serbia,” it adds.

Ilir Bytyqi, the brother of murdered Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi, US citizens of Albanian origin who were killed after being detained by Serbian police, said that the family was grateful for the resolution.

“They have lifted our spirits and sent a strong message to the Serbian government that the Congress will never let the Serbian government off the hook for protecting the war criminals that killed my brothers,” Ilir Bytyqi said in a press release.

Praveen Madhiraju, executive director of Pretrial Rights International and the Bytyqi family’s pro bono attorney, said that “[Serbian] President Aleksandar Vucic can no longer bluff his way into becoming a trusted partner of the United States”.

Serbian Justice Minister Nela Kuburovic said on Friday that Belgrade is committed to resolving the case, and that the Serbian authorities are working to prosecute those responsible.

“Solving the Bytyqi brothers murder case is one of the open issues that Serbia has with the United States, and that is one of the issues that always arises when you talk to US officials,” Kuburovic told TV Prva.

She added that the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office has done some investigatory work on the case, and insisted that Serbia is not hiding anything.

Ylli, Agron, and Mehmet Bytyqi went to fight for the Kosovo Liberation Army against Belgrade’s forces and were arrested by Serbian police after the war ended when they strayed over an unmarked boundary line between Serbia and Kosovo.

After serving their sentences for illegal border crossing, they were re-arrested as they were leaving the district prison in the town of Prokuplje in southern Serbia, taken to the police training centre in Petrovo Selo, and detained in a warehouse there.

They were then tied up with wire by unknown persons and driven to a garbage disposal pit, where they were executed with shots to the back of the neck on July 9, 1999.

The Bytyqi family has accused President Vucic of repeatedly breaking promises to resolve the case and of refusing to keep the family up to date with the investigation.

The family believe that Goran Radosavljevic ‘Guri’, the former commander of a special police unit and of the Petrovo Selo training centre, is the main suspect in the case.

“Until Goran Radosavljevic and others responsible for my brothers’ murders are brought to justice, we will not stop, we will not rest, and we will not be ignored,” Ilir Bytyqi said on Thursday.

Radosavljavic maintains that he was on vacation at the time of the killings and denies any wrongdoing.

He is now senior official of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling Progressive Party.

Vucic himself admitted that Radosavljevic was responsible for the killings of the Bytyqi brothers, according to three sources who spoke to BIRN in 2016.

BIRN reported in 2015 that evidence gathered by Serbian investigators, the FBI and the Bytyqi family’s lawyers suggested that the suspected perpetrators have been known to the Belgrade authorities for years.

Ahead of his visit to Washington in July 2017, Vucic said that he wants the crime to be investigated and that the perpetrators caused “great shame to Serbia”.

Read more:

US Urged to Pressure Vucic Over Bytyqi Murders

Murdered US Albanians’ Family Appeals to UN

Killed US Albanians’ Brother: Murders a ‘Stain on Serbia’

Vucic Named Bytyqi Murder Suspect, Alleges Family

Serbia Under Pressure Over US Albanians’ Murders