Petkovic receives former judge who investigated Racak case

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic on Monday received former investigative judge Danica Marinkovic, who carried out a crime scene investigation following the January 15, 1999, armed clashes in Racak, Kosovo-Metohija.

Serbian police clashed with ethnic Albanian extremists, members of the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army", in the Racak village, Stimlje municipality, 25 years ago today.

After the clashes, Serbia was accused of having committed a "massacre of innocent civilians."

US diplomat William Walker, who led the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission at the time, especially insisted on the accusations.

Even though it was never established for a fact that Serbian police were responsible for any civilian deaths, the incident served as the excuse and the pretext for the NATO aggression on Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which began on March 24, 1999.

In spite of great pressure, Marinkovic courageously presented to the entire world the truth based on scientific expertise and evidence gathered, the Office for Kosovo-Metohija said in a statement.

Petkovic thanked Marinkovic for her unwavering perseverance in the fight for the truth, justice and freedom, and noted that her professional and methodical investigation had helped to establish undeniable facts about the events in Racak.

The evidence will remain as a legacy to future generations, he said.

"The facts preserved for history by Danica Marinkovic quash any attempt of fabrication regarding the events in Racak, which served as an absurd excuse and a pretext for the unlawful aggression by a part of the international community on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," Petkovic said.

Marinkovic's courage and professionalism teach us that the truth must be defended firmly, unwaveringly and in a well-argumented manner because today, too, Serbia is often the victim of propaganda activities and special warfare that is being conducted against it, and the only possible answer to that is the truth, he said.

Marinkovic noted it was never too late to fight for the truth.

"The fact that my colleagues and I have gathered evidence and established the truth, which no one can take away from us, is the biggest source of satisfaction to me," she said.