Witness Avni Selimi testified that the accused war criminal in Vushtrri, Sladan Trajkoviq, was standing guard while the house of his uncle, with family members inside, was set on fire.
Selimi stated that his father and uncle were stopped by the accused, Trajkoviq, who told them to raise their hands and, under the threat of a weapon, escorted them to the house of his uncle, as reported by “Betimi për Drejtësi.”
On March 27, 1999, while in their neighborhood, Selimi and his family observed an incident where Sladan Trajkoviq, armed with an automatic rifle and dressed in police uniform, ordered the men to raise their hands and escorted them to his uncle’s house. According to Selimi, he and another family member witnessed this event directly.
Later, other police officers, including Trajkoviq’s father, arrived at the house and conducted searches, Selimi testified. He also stated that the house was set on fire afterward, with his uncle and father inside.
Trajkoviq, he said, was stationed at his uncle’s house, standing guard while the house burned down, with family members trapped inside. Selimi added that during the fire, his uncle’s wife, H.S., tragically died. The witness described seeing her on the balcony before she was killed.
“I saw H.S. on the balcony, and my father later reported to UNMIK that Sladan had stabbed H.S. and thrown her into the fire,” Selimi recalled.
The witness went on to state that the family had pulled the deceased woman’s body from the house, but it had not been burned.
Selimi also testified that he encountered Trajkoviq’s son in Vushtrri and, during their conversation, realized who he was.
“You are the son of the criminal. Don’t you know your father did this and that?” Selimi recalled telling him.
In court, the defense lawyer for Trajkoviq, Dejan Vasić, cross-examined Selimi about discrepancies in his previous statements. Vasić pointed out that in an earlier statement, the witness had said Trajkoviq had held them by the hands, but now he claimed they had raised their hands. Selimi explained the discrepancy, stating that the men had always been made to raise their hands but may have misspoken in earlier declarations.
Furthermore, Vasić requested access to a statement given by the witness in 2017 or 2018, which the defense claimed they did not possess.
In the same court session, another witness, Sylejman Mustafa, testified about seeing Trajkoviq in Prolluzhë, where he and others, with Serbian flags and photos of Milosevic and Arkan, were singing Serbian nationalist songs. Mustafa, who has known Trajkoviq since childhood, also recounted the brutal killing of his father and mother, and the murder of an elderly man from the village of Sibovc by six Serbian police officers, including Trajkoviq.
Mustafa described how the elderly man was beaten to death with rifle butts, and the police then went to a church to ring the bell, claiming they had killed a “terrorist.”
Mustafa confirmed that Trajkoviq was present during these atrocities and participated in the beating.
The court did not finish Mustafa’s testimony and will continue hearing him at a later date, as requested by the defense. The defense also requested access to additional statements made by witnesses in other institutions.
The Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo (SPRK) filed an indictment against Sladan Trajkoviq on July 12, 2023, charging him with war crimes against civilians.
According to the indictment, during the conflict in Kosovo in 1998-1999, Trajkoviq, along with others, contributed to killings, raids, beatings, arrests, torture, inhumane treatment, and the destruction of Albanian civilian homes, including acts of arson. He is accused of committing war crimes against humanity, as defined in the Kosovo Penal Code.
(Note: The individuals mentioned in this article are considered innocent until proven guilty by a final court decision.)
