Vlado Zmajevqi sentenced to 14 years in Kosovo war crimes prison

The Supreme Court in Podgorica has sentenced Vlado Zmajevqi to 14 years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population in Kosovo.

He was convicted of killing four Albanian civilians in the village of Zeger of Gjilan in 1999.

The chairman of the Judicial Chamber, Dragoje Jovovic, in explaining his trial, stated that the evidence presented undoubtedly proved that war crimes were committed after witnesses testified to them, but the accused himself accepted it in the first phase of investigation but later denied those statements.

According to the indictment, in 1999, Zmajevic killed three people with a firearm and killed a woman with a knife.

Zmajevic has the right to appeal the trial to the Court of Appeals.

In August 2016, Montenegro's Special Prosecutor for Organised Crime and War Crimes confirmed that he had arrested Vlada Zmajevqi (47) from Niksic on suspicion that “committed war crimes against the civilian population in Kosovo in 1999”.

Kosovo Humanitarian Law Fund Director Bekim Blakaj had told Radio Free Europe that Vlado Zmajevicq was the first on the Gjilan war crimes list.

Based on research during 2000, the Fund has documented that six people were killed in this crime, on March 29th and 30th 1999.

According to witness testimony, on March 29, 1999, eight buses, in all likelihood, with Yugoslav Army volunteers, have arrived at the village and killed six people. Of course, all civilians of Albanian affiliation, including older men and women”, had declared Blakaj.