The NLA cannot be brought in relation to the murder of five men near Smilkovci village because it had been disarmed in 2011 and the motives for its activities back then have nothing to do with radical Islam, BDI says. This political party, which is the direct successor of the National Liberation Army (NLA), has thus acquitted of any guilt its former fellow fighters and called on the relevant authorities to determine whether any of the suspects for the mass murder at Smilkovci were members of the NLA.

In the video footage of the Interior Ministry of the arrest in the operation Monster, photographs and emblems of former UCK fighters including Kosovar Fadil Limani, also known as commander Tigri, who fought in Kosovo and Macedonia and who was killed in Vaksince in 2001, can be seen.

However, it was impossible to extract information from either the police or BDI Wednesday as to whether the detainees include former members of the NLA. The Interior Ministry says that they do not have any information whether any of the suspects are former NLA members. Even if they are, it is not considered a crime.

It has been speculated only that some of the suspects were members of governing BDI.

“They are all suspects and only the court can tell whether they were involved in the murder. We have no information whether the suspects include former members of the NLA. Even if they were, that fact cannot be brought in relation with the murder at Smilkovci and with radical Islam. The NLA was disbanded in 2001 and its members joined a number of political parties,” party spokesman Bujar Osmani said.