The Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo has submitted an indictment in absentia to the Basic Court in Prishtina against 21 individuals for the criminal offense of “War Crimes Against the Civilian Population.”
During a press conference, the case prosecutor, Atdhe Dema, emphasized that after years of intensive investigations, charges have been brought against several persons who held authority over the Yugoslav armed forces and Serbian police in the relevant territories of Kosovo.
“After years of intensive investigations, the Special Department of the Prosecution at the Basic Court in Prishtina has today submitted an indictment regarding war crimes against the civilian population during the armed conflict in Kosovo, for the period January–June 1999,” Dema stated.
The prosecution noted that collected evidence demonstrates the involvement of the defendants in the forced displacement and mistreatment of civilians during the war.
“The indictment charges the defendants under Article 142 of the Criminal Code of the SFRY, in force at the time of the acts, which criminalizes war crimes against the civilian population, in accordance with international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols. These acts include systematic destruction of civilian property, including burning of homes and infrastructure; direct attacks on civilians and their settlements; persecution and arbitrary detentions based on ethnicity; and mass forced displacement of the Albanian population from Kosovo to neighboring states,” Dema added.
According to the indictment, during this period, the defendants were aware that forces under their command were conducting operations as part of a broad and coordinated campaign, including the destruction of property, burning of homes, persecution and arbitrary detention of persons based on ethnicity, and armed attacks on villages and towns inhabited by Albanian civilians, with the aim of forcibly relocating them within the administrative borders of Kosovo at the time.
