The Special Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kosovo (PSRK) on May 13, 2024 filed an indictment in absentia against three defendants Ljubomir Çimburović, former director of the District Prison in Pristina, Predrag Bradić and Milivoje Iviq, former prison guards of Pristina and Lipjan , who are accused of war crimes against the civilian population.
According to the indictment provided by the “Oath of Justice”, Ljubomir Çimburović is accused of being the director of the District Prison in Pristina, during the period of the war in Kosovo 1998-1999, in Pristina Prison and in parallel in Lipjan, in collaboration with other officials of these prisons Predrag Bradić and Milivoje Iviq, guards of Pristina Prison and the parallel in Lipjan and the now accused Dragisha Milenkovic, warden of Pristina Prison and the parallel in Lipjan, acting in opposition and violating the rules of international law during the war, was aware all along and that he had not taken any action to stop the actions of the guards and had not reported these actions to the hierarchy.
The indictment says that throughout this period of time, the guards had systematically mistreated the Albanian prisoners, inhumanely torturing them with various tools such as rubber sticks, metal rods, electric cables, water pipes, kicks and punches, until faiting, inflicting bodily injuries, as the victims themselves explain, that after these beatings they had great pain in the whole body, psychological violence, they left them without food for almost a week, seriously threatened their lives and as a result of this and the continuous beatings have suffered a state of anxiety and fear, actions sanctioned according to local laws, customs of war and the Geneva International Conventions and Additional Protocols.
In the indictment it is stated that Çimburović, in his capacity as the director of the District Prison in Pristina, during the period of the war in Kosovo, specifically from May 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999, in the parallel Prison of Pristina in Lipjan, in collaboration with officials other of these prisons, the guards Predrag Bradić, Milivoje Iviq and the now accused guard Dragisha Milenkovic, after having transferred the Albanian prisoners from Dubrava prison to the prison in Lipjan, was aware all the time and had been present and had not undertaken any action to stop the guards and had not reported these actions to the hierarchy.
According to the indictment, initially the guards formed a cordon at the entrance of the prison from both sides, where the prisoners were forced to pass through the cordon, they began to hit them with various tools such as rubber batons, punches, kicks and after that in they had systematically mistreated the Albanian prisoners, inhumanely torturing them, mistreating them, inflicting bodily injuries, as the victims themselves explain, that after these beatings they had great pain in the whole body, psychological violence, so they left them without ate for whole days, insulted and insulted them, and seriously threatened them with their lives that they will kill them all, actions which have caused a state of anxiety and fear in them.
With this, Čimburović is accused of complicity in committing the criminal offense “War crimes against the civilian population” from Article 142 in relation to Article 22 of the Criminal Law of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), now incriminated under Article 144, 145, 146 and 147 related to Article 31 of the KPRK.
According to the indictment, the defendants Predrag Bradić and Milivoje Iviq, in the capacity of guards of the Prison of Pristina and the parallel in Lipjan, during the period of the war in Kosovo 1998-1999, in the Prison of Pristina and in the parallel in Lipjan, in collaboration with officials others of these prisons, the director of the District Prison in Prishtina, Ljubomir Çimburović, and the warden of the Prishtina and Lipjan Prison, Dragisha Milenkovic, are accused of systematically mistreating Albanian prisoners.
They had tortured them inhumanely with various tools such as rubber sticks, metal rods, electric cables, water pipes, kicking and punching, up to beatings, inflicting bodily injuries, as the victims themselves explain, that after these beatings they had great pain in the whole body, psychological violence, so that they left them without food for almost a week, they seriously threatened their lives and as a result of this and the continuous beatings they suffered a state of anxiety and fear, these actions were sanctioned according to local laws, customs of war and International Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols.
In the indictment it is stated that Bradić and Iviq, during the period of the war in Kosovo, specifically from May 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999, in the parallel prison of Pristina in Lipjan, in collaboration with Čimburović and Milenković, are charged with having transferred the Albanian prisoners, from the Dubrava prison parallel to the Pristina Prison in Lipjan, had initially formed a cordon at the entrance of the prison from both sides, where the prisoners were forced to pass through the cordon, they had started to hit them with tools different ways such as rubber sticks, punches, kicks and after that they had systematically mistreated the Albanian prisoners, torturing them in an inhumane way, ill-treating them, inflicting bodily injuries, inflicting injuries, psychological violence and leaving them without food for days, they have insulted and cursed, and they have seriously threatened their lives that they will kill them all, actions which have caused a state of anxiety and fear in them.
With this, Bradić and Iviq are charged with co-committing the criminal offense “War crimes against the civilian population” from article 142 related to article 22 of the LP of the RSFJ, now criminalized according to article 144, 145, 146 and 147 related to the article 31 of the KPRK.
