GENERAL PAVKOVIĆ'S FAMILY FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST NATO

BELGRADE, JUNE 19 /SRNA/ - The family of General Nebojša Pavković today filed a lawsuit against NATO before the Second Court of General Jurisdiction in Belgrade over the general’s death, which is linked to the consequences of exposure to depleted uranium used during NATO’s 1999 bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the family’s lawyer Srđan Aleksić told SRNA.

He specified that Pavković’s son Darko and daughter Marija filed the lawsuit over the loss of a close family member, seeking non-material damages due to the use of depleted uranium and heavy metals during the NATO aggression.

“We submitted the lawsuit today, and now we expect the court to schedule a hearing,” Aleksić told SRNA, adding that the lawsuit is 1,000 pages long and includes all evidence and documentation.

Aleksić said he drafted the lawsuit over six months together with his Italian colleague Angelo Tartaglia, who in Italy has obtained dozens of rulings in cases concerning the illness and deaths of Italian soldiers from KFOR who served in Kosovo and Metohija.

He stressed that the lawsuit is based on medical evidence and laboratory analyses from Italy, which showed that the body of General Pavković, who developed two cancers and died, contained 29.80 micrograms per kilogram of depleted uranium, and that other heavy metals were also found.

“This analysis is absolute proof that depleted uranium was present in his body. He had two cancers, and the same was the case with Italian KFOR soldiers who were stationed in areas targeted with depleted uranium. As a rule, they also developed two or more cancers,” Aleksić said.

He pointed out that in cases involving Italian KFOR soldiers, who were in a similar situation to General Pavković, Italian courts ruled in favour of the plaintiffs.

“Italy is a NATO member, and it ruled in favor of the victims, so why shouldn’t Serbia do the same when it comes to its own citizens,” Aleksić said.

He believes that the interpretation that NATO and its members have immunity from prosecution in Serbia is unfounded.