Kosovo’s Parliament Speaker, Glauk Konjufca, has reacted strongly after a court in Serbia sentenced Kosovo citizen Nezir Mehmetaj to six years in prison for war crimes against civilians, calling it an injustice.
Konjufca has called on the international community to increase pressure on Serbia over this case, as reported by Express.
“Today, after an arrest in 2020, followed by fabricated and arbitrary charges against our citizen Nezir Mehmetaj, the court in Serbia has sentenced him to six years in prison. Serbia’s old mindset, which committed genocide in Kosovo, can produce nothing new except the concealment of crimes on one side and the fabrication of them on the other. I strongly condemn this injustice and call on the international community to increase pressure on Serbia, with a clear voice against this injustice and in support of human rights,” wrote Konjufca.
Mehmetaj was sentenced to six years in prison under charges of war crimes against civilians in the village of Rudicë in Klina in 1999.
Mehmetaj’s lawyer, Milliq Konstantinović, told Radio Free Europe that they would appeal the verdict, as, according to him, the court did not have any relevant evidence for any point of the indictment.
He added that the court had rejected evidence presented by the defense, which, according to him, shows that Mehmetaj was not even in Rudicë at the time mentioned in the indictment, but was in Switzerland.
Mehmetaj was arrested on January 3, 2020, at the Merdare border crossing and has been held in detention ever since.
