FLASH NEWS
Serbia sentences a Kosovo citizen to 6 years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population
2024-12-06 12:58:31 / KOSOVA
The citizen of Kosovo, Nezir Mehmetaj, has been sentenced by the Serbian judicial authorities to six years in prison, under charges of war crimes.
The time spent in detention will be counted in the punishment and this decision of the first instance of the Serbian judiciary can be appealed, writes Free Europe.
He was arrested on January 3, 2020 at the border crossing in Merdare and has been detained since then. That same year, Serbian judicial authorities indicted him for war crimes.
The Prosecutor's Office for war crimes in Belgrade told Radio Free Europe that Mehmetaj is accused of war crimes against the civilian population during the period June-July 1999.
The crimes are supposed to have been committed in the village of Rudicë, Municipality of Klina. The Kosovo authorities have repeatedly requested the release of Mehmetaj and several other citizens of Kosovo, who have been arrested by Serbia under suspicion of war crimes.
The Ministry of Justice of Kosovo in July 2024 asked Serbia to extradite the Kosovar citizens held there to Kosovo.
However, the leader of this ministry, Albulena Haxhiu, stated that it is difficult for Serbia to respond positively to this request, due to the ongoing legal non-cooperation.
Apart from Mehmetaj, Hasan Dakaj and Tefik Mustafa are also in custody in Serbia under charges of war crimes. Meanwhile, Sadik Duraku, who was arrested on April 17 under suspicion of war crimes, was released in October of this year.
The US Department of State has called for a fair legal process for the persons arrested in Serbia on charges of war crimes.
The work of the Serbian Prosecutor's Office has been criticized in the past. According to the Fund for Humanitarian Law in Serbia, the lack of transparency and the lack of information – which should be publicly accessible – have excluded the public from these processes.
The lack of witnesses was also mentioned in the last report of this organization. According to him, the Prosecution has not been able to provide any key witness for more than two years in war crimes cases.
In the Progress Report for Serbia, for 2023, the European Commission has mentioned that "the pace of war crimes trials in Serbia has worsened in recent years" and that real commitment must be shown to solve the cases.
-
A Serb is arrested in Kosovo, suspected of preparing a murder
December 6, 11:29
Happening now...
ideas
top
Alfa recipes
TRENDING 
services
- POLICE129
- STREET POLICE126
- AMBULANCE112
- FIREFIGHTER128