Dacic: Arrested former "KLA" member identified by family he tortured

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Monday a former member of the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army" arrested at the Horgos border crossing between Serbia and Hungary at the weekend on suspicion of committing a war crime against civilians in 1999 had been identified by a Serb family he had tortured in Pristina.

"He is suspected of torturing a Serb family together with other 'KLA' members. They took them to a camp and tortured them. They (the family) have identified him," Dacic told Vecernje novosti, adding that the man, identified with the initials M I, had been arrested based on an indictment from 1999.

Asked if there was a possibility of the suspect getting released from detention under pressure, Dacic responded there had been few such cases, for instance, when suspects had been arrested abroad and then released instead of being extradited to Serbia.

"Or when there was a manipulation like the one in North Macedonia, where Blerim Ramadani, a former soldier of the so-called 'KLA', was allegedly released from custody," Dacic added.