EULEX hands over war crimes case to locals

Prosecutor Harley, after completing this session, has said that since the next sessions will continue in June, he will no longer be able to represent this subject, due to the completion of the EULEX mission in Kosovo.

He has thanked the juro for the correctness and professionalism he claims to have shown during the court reviews.

After that, the prosecutor is expected to be appointed to represent this subject from now on.

Similarly, in this hearing, she has given her testimony, witness Shukriye Beray, who is the wife of the accused Bislim.

She said that her husband has never been at war, nor has he ever carried a gun. “Never had employment in any company. He didn't serve in the army because they brought documentation where he was sick, describing why he didn't serve. He never carried a gun in his life. I've never seen her in uniform or with a gun, and she declared.

Beraj stated that she was about 15 years old when she married accused Bislimi and that she has 13 children who live with her in Krushevc, Serbia since they left Kosovo, and that, according to her, because they were afraid of Serbs, because their names were Albanians, and her father was also Albanian.

As for the house in Fushe Kosovo, in which she lived with the accused and children, Beraj said that earlier to buy the house, her neighbour Shaban, Bujar Bajrami's grandfather who in this trial is in the quality of the victim, had come to the house.

In the question of prosecutor Charles Harley, that during the time they lived in Fushe Kosovo, if they knew the Bajrami family, the witness said they had neighbours and had very good reports. Even though property and home are still in your name, why aren't you back in Kosovo after the end of the war?

Prosecutor Harley also asked the witness about her statement that if they had been afraid of Serbs, why they had fled to Serbia.

Witness Beraj, said she had heard that the war would begin and that she thought it would be better to hide in Serbia with a relative of her husband. ” From home we left three months before the start of the war and that we have never returned. The house was taken care of by neighbor Mejid, and after the war for him, his sister Shema”, Beraj said.

The same stated that when they had fled to Serbia, they had not left home for a month. I'm a man who's never been to war, and he hasn't even done anything like that. I got the Koran, I could swear on it”, it's over.

Witnesses Silvana Bislimi, Ali Bahhitari, Sabit Yasar, Hope Gervalla and Naile Bajrami, who were not present at this session were also seen at the hearing.

The chairman of the court, Arben Hoti, stated that in terms of two witnesses Silvana Bislimi and Ali Bahtiari, since their address has not been provided, the court will revote the decision to hear the same as witnesses.

And for witness Jashar, he stated that the ordinance for act of compulsion would be repeated, and the same will be done for the verification of Witness Nille Bajrami, and for Hope Gervala will be decided later.

Otherwise, the session was interrupted in the absence of these witnesses, and since the next session was previously scheduled to be held on June 04, 2018, at 10: 00 p.m.

According to the indictment, there is doubt that Skender Bislimi has committed criminal work “crimes against the civilian population” as predicted by articles 22 and 142 of the Criminal Code of the Socialist Federation Republic of Yugoslavia, currently penalised according to Article 31 and 152 of the Kosovo Criminal Code.

The indictment says that on March 26th 1999, in Fushe Kosovo, in co-ordination with at least ten other prominent and unknown authors, acting as members of the Serbian armed forces, Bislimi has violated the body integrity and health of more than 40, Kosovo Albanian men.

Under the indictment, Bislim has applied measures of intimidation and terror, and has carried out illegal arrests and taken hostages, including the Bujar and Haki Bajrami victims.

By contrast, Ivica Radivojevich, was being investigated along with Bisimi in 2012.

After Radivojevic has been charged and tried on May 24th 2015, he has been sentenced to 6 years in prison after being convicted of war crimes in Kosovo. On December 9, 2016, Bislim was extradited from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Kosovo. /Betimitor Directorate