Lawyer of arrested Kosovo-Metohija Serb wants Kurti as defence witness

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - The lawyer of a Kosovo-Metohija Serb arrested by the Pristina authorities wants Pristina's PM Albin Kurti to appear in court as a defence witness in his client's trial.

In a statement to Tanjug, lawyer Dejan Vasic said Dragisa Milenkovic was suspected of war crimes allegedly committed in Kosovo-Metohija in 1998 and 1999.

Vasic's request for Kurti to be named a defence witness was filed during Wednesday's hearing of Milenkovic before a Pristina court.

Vasic said he believed Kurti would accept the request.

"For his part, Kurti should say a few words about the suspect's credibility and his treatment of the current PM and former detainee Albin Kurti, whom he kept company while he was in a cell and brought him books to read, and with whom he spent a lot of time in conversations," Vasic said.

Milenkovic was arrested by the so-called Kosovo's special police in his home near Gracanica on June 21 for allegedly physically abusing ethnic Albanians during the time he was working as a prison guard in Lipljan.

"Dragisa is practically blind but two bullets that are still in his body near the spine are causing the biggest problems to him. They are greetings from the man who has done all this to him and who has reported him to the police, falsely and without any grounds," Vasic said.