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It is “difficult for the United States to understand why justice has not yet been served” in the case of the burning of the US embassy during the riots in Belgrade in February 2008, announced the US embassy in Belgrade, reports Radio Free Europe (RFE).
In a statement to RFE / RL, the embassy stated that it is difficult to understand “why so little progress has been made in relation to the 12-year case since the attack in which diplomatic assets were damaged and a Serbian citizen lost his life.”
“It is important to acknowledge the fact that some people did not fulfill their legal duties, including the Serbian police who withdrew from their posts near the embassy building just before the attack. It is also vital to find out which authorities may have been involved in. this illegal act with such tragic consequences, “the US embassy said in a statement.
The trial of five police leaders, accused of not securing the US embassy, was canceled today September 17 before the Belgrade Superior Court due to the official obligations of the interim judge, and will continue on Friday September 18, reports RFE .
The RFE report claims that it had an insight into the prosecution in which five high-ranking police officers were charged with a serious act against public security, but that the prosecution does not examine possible political responsibility for the riots in the night of the demonstration after Kosovo’s declaration of independence.
The policemen’s trial was marked by several postponements of hearings and changes in the accusation, and the trial began in June this year after the preparatory hearings.
“Now that the arson trial at the US embassy was reactivated in 2008, after so many years of incomprehensible delays, the United States is emphasizing the importance of bringing to justice those whose actions or omissions had such dire consequences, including the tragic death of a Serbian citizen, like and the great damage that the fire caused in our embassy ”, the United States embassy in Belgrade told RFE / RL.
The statement added that the U.S. Embassy supports the rule of law and encourages the judiciary to judge according to justice.
The case of the embassy fire, together with the still unsolved case of the murder of American citizens of Albanian origin by the Bytyci brothers in July 1999, is seen as a serious obstacle to the improvement and complete normalization of relations between Serbia and the States. United.
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