The defendant, Boban Toniq, pleaded not guilty to charges of war crimes during a court hearing held on Tuesday, January 20, at the Basic Court in Prishtina.
Toniq is accused of having violated the rules of international law during the 1998–1999 armed conflict, while serving as a prison guard at the Pristina Prison’s parallel facility in Lipjan.
During the hearing, Judge Rrahman Beqiri initially informed the defendant of his legal rights, after which Toniq entered a plea of not guilty, reports Betimi për Drejtësi.
The Special Prosecution of Kosovo filed the indictment against Toniq on January 31, 2025.
At the time, the prosecution stated that there is reasonable suspicion that the defendant, together with other prison guards, had systematically abused Albanian detainees, subjecting them to inhumane torture using rubber batons, metal rods, kicks, and punches until loss of consciousness, causing physical injuries and severe psychological harm.
“The defendant, acting in co-perpetration, deprived detainees of food for days, seriously threatened their lives, and as a result of continuous beatings and inhumane treatment, the victims suffered ongoing anxiety and fear,” the Special Prosecution said in its statement.
The court announced that the defendant’s lawyer, Pregrad Miljković, has 20 days to challenge the prosecution’s evidence and request the dismissal of the indictment.
Recently, the Special Prosecution of Kosovo has filed a series of indictments for war crimes committed in Kosovo.
The most recent indictment was filed on January 16, against a woman suspected of abusing, threatening, and torturing Albanian female detainees while serving as a prison guard at the same facility in Lipjan.
Last year, the Special Prosecution also filed indictments in absentia against 21 individuals for the killing of civilians in Reçak, Shtime, and against another 21 individuals for the forced displacement of more than 800,000 Albanian civilians from Kosovo during the war.
Since the end of the war, dozens of individuals have been convicted of war crimes before domestic and international judicial institutions.
Initially, from 2000 to 2008, war crimes in Kosovo were investigated by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), and from 2008 onward by the European Union Rule of Law Mission (EULEX). In 2018, EULEX transferred the remaining cases to Kosovo’s domestic judicial authorities.
During the war in Kosovo between 1998 and 1999, more than 13,000 civilians were killed, while thousands more were forcibly disappeared.
More than 1,500 people remain missing, the majority of them Albanians.
