5 hours agoBelgrade court rejects request by Nezir Mehmetaj, leaves it in custody
Periskopi(5 years ago)
(5 years ago)The Supreme Court in Belgrade has refused to change the detention measure for Kosovo citizen Nezir Mehmetajn, who is accused of war crimes in Kosovo. The judge rejected the defence attorney's request to replace the house-standing detention measure under electronic escorts. At the hearing session on May 26, the chairman of the court [...]
The judge rejected the defence attorney's request to replace the house-standing detention measure under electronic escorts.
At the hearing session on May 26th, the chairman of the court said the circumstances had not changed with the time of their detention extended, as well as that the appeals procedure for extending detention was under way.
On 4 January 2020, Nezir Mehmetaj was arrested by Serbian police at the Merdare crossing between Kosovo and Serbia, with an order issued by Serbian justice institutions.
Since then, he has been held in custody in Belgrade.
Mehmetaj is accused of participating in the killing of seven people and the burning and robbing of homes in the village of Rudica in the municipality of Kline, as a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK).
He said in court that his family left Rudica in May 1999 and that he spent his entire life in Switzerland.
He later said that he had visited his family in Rudice once a year but that he did not come during the 1999 war. According to him for the first time in Kosovo came in September that year through Albania, where his family lived, and that he went to Rudica with them.
At the trial hearing on May 26th, three witnesses -- whose family members died in 1999 in the village of Rudica -- were heard.
They claimed they had indirect information that Nezir Mehmetaj was part of a group of KLA members who killed members of their families.
But they did not disclose the names of those who have been offered that information, claiming they feared for their own safety.
A protected witness named Atar did not attend the session.
Serbia's Interior Ministry Witness Protection Unit (MUP) informed the court that they had no information about the location or position of this person. This unit told the court that information about this person was being pressured.
The next session is scheduled for July 9th.
Kosovo authorities have sometimes called on the European Union to influence the release of Nezir Mehmetaj.
Mehmetaj has been travelling from Switzerland to Kosovo when it was stopped by Serbia's police.
