9 hours agoSerbia condemns Nezir Mehmetajan to 6 years in prison
Periskopi(2 years ago)
(2 years ago)Kosovo citizen Nezir Mehmetaj has been sentenced by Serbian judicial authorities to six years in prison, on charges of war crimes. The sentence will account for the time remaining in custody, and this decision on the first instance of the Serbian judiciary could be appealed. He was arrested on 3 January 2020 at the Merdara border crossing [...]
The sentence will account for the time remaining in custody, and this decision on the first instance of the Serbian judiciary could be appealed.
He was arrested on 3 January 2020 at the Merdara border crossing and has since been held in custody.
That same year, Serbian judicial authorities brought charges against him for war crimes.
By the war crimes prosecutor in Belgrade, they had told Radio Free Europe that Mehmetaj is accused of war crimes against the civilian population during the June-July period of 1999.
Crime was allegedly committed in the village of Rudica, Cline Town.
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/
