Mehmetaj to appeal war crimes sentence by Serbian court

Serbia's Supreme Court said it has concluded that Mehmetaj in June 1999 had participated in the kidnapping of Roma national civilian Jelaj Ramadan, whose mortar remains have not yet been found. According to court claims, along with Mehmetaj were other members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK).

The court's decision also told them that Mehmetaj was a member The KLA and at that time moved to the village of Rudica in uniform of the KLA.

The indictment against Mehmetaj said that in mid-June 1999, he had participated in the murder of five members of the Daslic family and at the end of June, Yelaj Ramadani and Zorka Shijakovikiqi.

Belgrade's Supreme Court said its participation in the murder of members of the Dashikq family and Zorka Shijakovik, as well as no testimony that Mehmetaj, in July 1999, had participated in the plunder and burning of ten village houses belonging to non-Albanians.

Nezir Mehmetaj's lawyer, Milliq Konstantinovic, told Radio Free Europe that he will appeal the verdict, as, according to him, the court has no relevant evidence for any point of the indictment.

He said the court did not accept evidence that was submitted by the defence, which, according to him, shows that Mehmetaj was not in Rudica at all at the time mentioned in the indictment, but was in Switzerland.

The court is clearly based the verdict on the testimony of a protected witness who has issued a highly controversial statement to the prosecutor. It's about one person who was 14 years old at the time of those events, Konstantinovic told Radio Free Europe.

He added that during the trial, defence has stressed that Mehmetaj cannot be burdened with actions that took place after June 1999, when the war was over.

In the sentence pronounced by the first degree of the judiciary on December 6th, Mehmetaj will be counted time remaining in custody.

Nezir Mehmetaj was arrested on 3 January 2020 at the Merdare border crossing and has since been held in custody.

That same year, Serbian judicial authorities filed charges against him for war crimes in Rudica of the Cline municipality in the June-July period 1999.

Kosovo authorities have repeatedly sought the release of Mehmetaj and some other Kosovo citizens, who have been arrested by Serbia under suspicion of war crimes.

The Kosovo Justice Ministry in July 2024 called on Serbia to extradite Kosovo's Kosovo citizens held there.

But, the ministry's leader, Albulen Hadziu, said it is difficult for Serbia to respond positively to that requirement because of continued judicial co-operation.

Besides Mehmetaj, both Hasan Dajaj and Tefik Mustafa are in custody in Serbia. Meanwhile, Sadiku Duraku, who was arrested on April 17th under suspicion of war crimes, was released in October of this year.

The US State Department has called for legal proceedings for persons arrested in Serbia on charges of war crimes.

The Serbian Prosecutor's work has been criticised in the past.

According to the Fund for Humanitarian Law in Serbia, the lack of transparency and lack of information that should be publicly accessible has excluded the public from these processes.

The latest report on this organization also mentions a lack of witnesses. According to him, the prosecution has been unable to provide no key witnesses for more than two years in war crimes cases.

In Serbia's Progress Report for 2023, the European Commission has mentioned that <x0->Refortification of war crimes in Serbia has deteriorated in recent years” and that true commitment to resolving cases must be shown. / REL