A former prisoner, Zahrije Podrimçaku, testified Monday at the Basic Court in Prishtina in the trial of Nadica Cepkenović, who is accused of committing war crimes while serving as a guard at the women’s section of Lipjan Prison during the 1998–1999 Kosovo War.
“We were in such pain that we could scratch the walls. It was a horrific situation, and I still suffer from problems today,” Podrimçaku testified, according to Betimi për Drejtësi.
Podrimçaku said she was arrested by Serbian forces because, in 1998, she had been working with the Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) within the Democratic League of Kosovo, where she was responsible for documenting and reporting on violence committed by Serbian police by interviewing victims.
She also said she had been involved in informing KLA soldiers whenever she noticed Serbian patrols entering areas of Kosovo.
According to Podrimçaku, she was arrested on June 8, 1998, and sentenced on December 25, 1998, on terrorism charges.
“I had a pen and notebook in my hands, not a weapon. I was arrested on June 8, 1998, and that same day I had submitted the complete file concerning the Poklek Massacre to the CDHRF,” she said.
She testified that the torture began at a police station in Pristina, where Serbian inspectors interrogated her for three days and repeatedly beat her with a one-meter-long wooden stick across different parts of her body.
Podrimçaku said she was then transferred to Lipjan Prison, where she alleged that Cepkenović and another former guard physically tortured her until she lost consciousness.
“They took me outside and tortured me, Nadica and Sllagjana Arsiq, known by the nickname ‘Pipi,’ until I lost consciousness. When I fell to the ground, Nadica took my legs, placed them underneath her feet and beat the soles of my feet with a baton. I was in very serious condition,” Podrimçaku testified.
She said she spent one year and two days in prison and was released with the assistance of the Red Cross.
Podrimçaku testified that the torture was carried out by two or more female guards together. During the NATO bombing campaign, she said, the prisoners were tortured every day for two to three weeks. To prevent their screams from being heard, the former guards allegedly played the radio at high volume.
She further testified that on June 10, 1999, she and 13 other female prisoners were transferred to Požarevac Prison in Serbia. Before their departure, she said, male prisoners were brutally beaten in the prison yard so that they would be too exhausted to stand during the journey.
Podrimçaku said she continues to suffer the consequences of the torture, including partial hearing loss in her left ear. She said that for 27 years after her release, she has required medication and physiotherapy and continues to experience constant stress.
She also said she considers herself a victim and is seeking compensation from Cepkenović for the health damage she says she suffered in Lipjan Prison.
“I consider myself a victim and I am seeking compensation from the accused based on the health damage she caused me in Lipjan Prison,” Podrimçaku said.
The hearing was then suspended for the scheduled break and was set to continue in the afternoon, when Cepkenović’s defense attorney, Jovana Filipović, and the other parties in the proceedings were expected to question the witness.
At the initial hearing on February 2, 2026, Cepkenović pleaded not guilty.
The Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo filed an indictment against Cepkenović on January 16, 2026. It alleges that, as a former guard at the women’s section of Lipjan Prison during the 1998–1999 Kosovo War, she acted jointly with other prison officials—Ljiljana Seliq, Danica Lukić, Sllagjana Arsić and Biljana Stolić—to systematically mistreat and torture Albanian female prisoners.
According to the indictment, the alleged abuse included beatings with rubber batons, kicks and punches, in some cases allegedly causing the victims to lose consciousness and suffer physical injuries, psychological trauma, anxiety and fear for their lives, as well as serious violations of their human dignity.
Cepkenović is charged with “Crimes Against the Civilian Population” under Article 142 in conjunction with Article 22 of the Criminal Code of the former SFRY.
