Croatian and Serbian couple remanded to custody for alleged espionage

The Split County Court has remanded a Croatian Air Force pilot from Split and his partner from Kosovska Mitrovica to one month in custody. The female suspect from Kosovo is suspected of espionage on Serbia’s behalf.

The Croatian pilot arrested in the case is suspected of providing the female suspect from northern Kosovo with confidential information about the movement of NATO’s KFOR peacekeeping forces in northern Kosovo, which she then passed on to her Serbian handlers. Split County Court spokesman Neven Cambj decline to discuss the details of the ongoing investigation: "By law and the very nature of the proceedings the investigation is secret, but as to what level of secrecy, I honestly don't know. The punishment for spying, specifically what the Croatian national is being charged with, is between one and ten years in prison, while for the other charges it's from six months to five years."

Meanwhile, the Office of the President issued a statement on Thursday noting that President Zoran Milanović had been informed of the events as they unfolded and has strongly supported the work of the institutions that uncovered the potential crimes.

EXCERPT FROM A STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA:

"The President of the Republic was informed in a timely manner of the activities of the competent institutions undertaken in this case and expects an efficient investigation that will establish all the relevant facts. Every member of the Armed Forces must perform their military duty honorably, honestly and lawfully, and if any violation of the law and sworn oath is uncovered, it must be appropriately punished."

Source: HRT