Four of the 21 people accused of forcibly expelling more than 800,000 Albanian civilians from Kosovo during the 1998–99 war are reported to have died. However, no official document confirming this has so far been submitted for the trial being conducted in absentia.
Të lidhura
None found
At the preliminary hearing, Atdhe Dema, a prosecutor with the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office, announced that four of the accused were listed as deceased, but did not mention their names. He also said that the investigation into those suspected of war crimes had lasted three years before the case was sent to court.
Dema: Four of the accused are listed as deceased
“After three years of investigations, the Special Prosecution Office has submitted the case to the court for consideration at trial in absentia. Four of them are listed as having died, but to date we have not received an official document from the competent institutions,” Dema declared.
Of the 21 court-appointed lawyers assigned to defend the accused, 20 supported continuing the hearing in absentia. The exception was lawyer Shkumbin Asllani, who requested that his client be notified of the judicial proceedings.
Asllani: My client must be notified of the judicial proceedings
“Regardless of the prosecution’s actions to secure the defendants, I must verify whether all the conditions of Article 303 have been met, specifically whether the obligations to effectively notify my client of the judicial proceedings have been fulfilled,” Asllani said.
Medie Bytyqi, the presiding judge, said the court had exhausted its legal efforts to secure the presence of the accused. As this had not been achieved, the court had determined that the proceedings could continue in absentia.
Bytyqi added that, in the court’s assessment, sufficient efforts had been made to locate and secure the defendants.
Bytyqi: We have no information about the whereabouts of the accused
“The court has called on the accused to surrender, but so far we have received no information from the police about their whereabouts. The court has also taken into account the fact that this concerns a criminal offense involving war crimes,” she said.
The hearing began one hour later than scheduled. Lawyer Albana Zogiani was fined 1,000 euros for the delay.
Bytyqi: Lawyer who was late fined 1,000 euros
“In accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Code, the court has decided to impose a fine of 1,000 euros on lawyer Albana Zogiani for being late to the hearing, although she had been notified that it would continue at 9:30 a.m. She arrived at 10:30 a.m.,” the judge said.
The Special Prosecution Office accuses the 21 people of exercising authority and effective control over forces operating under their responsibility from January to June 1999, during the armed conflict and war in Kosovo.
According to the indictment, they had access to operational reports and internal communications, and were in areas where they could have learned about the actions of forces under their command or control. These actions included the destruction of property, the burning of homes and civilian infrastructure, the persecution and arbitrary detention of people on ethnic grounds, as well as armed attacks on villages and towns populated by Albanian civilians, with the aim of forcibly displacing them.
The indictment says the actions culminated in the organization of columns of Albanian civilians who were expelled from Kosovo toward the borders of Albania and Macedonia. According to the document, the total number of people expelled was approximately 862,979.
The prosecution alleges that the defendants failed to take the necessary and reasonable measures within their authority and responsibility to prevent these actions, stop the perpetrators, or report the violations to the relevant authorities. They are accused of war crimes against the civilian population.
The accused are Zlatomir Peshiq, Mladen Cirkoviq, Radomir Markoviq, Dushko Adamoviq, Obrad Stevanoviq, Zhivko Trajkoviq, Goran Radosavljeviq, Bogoljub Janiçeviq, Sllavisha Ivanoviq, Boshko Vukiqeviq, Sreten Popoviq, Nikolla Petroviq, Krsman Jeliq, Ljubisha Stojimiroviq, Bozhidar Deliq, Radojko Stefanoviq, Dragan Zhivanoviq, Millosh Doshan, Ljubinko Cvetiq, Bozhidar Filiq and Millovan Kovaçeviq.
