The Special Prosecutor’s Office of Kosovo has announced that an indictment has been filed against a defendant with the initials C.K., a Serbian national, on charges of committing a war crime against the civilian population.
“Investigations have confirmed that during the period of the Kosovo War in 1998-1999, the defendant committed sexual violence as a war crime against a victim of Albanian nationality,” the statement reads.
It was also revealed that the Prosecutor’s Office has proposed to the Basic Court in Pristina that the trial proceed in absentia, as the defendant is unavailable to justice authorities.
It is important to note that the Special Prosecutor’s Office filed several other indictments in absentia at the end of December, mainly for crimes committed during the Kosovo War.
A trial in absentia, according to the justice system in Kosovo, can only proceed if the prosecution and the court have exhausted all means to secure the presence of the accused.
