Prosecutor charges a Kosovo for “crimes against humanity” in Syria and Iraq

Kosovo's Special Prosecutor has filed charges against a Kosovo citizen Friday, which he charges with conducting “crimes against humanity” in Syria and Iran over a three-year period between 2014 and 2017.

In a media communiqué Friday, the Prosecution said that the initial suspect, M.D., is also charged with performing criminal work “serious violation of laws and customs that apply to armed conflicts that are not of the international character”.

The suspect, who is being held in custody, is accused of committing the crime against girls and women of the jazz community during the conflict in Syria and Iraq during 2014-2017.

In 2015, Kosovo enacted a law that prohibits it Sharing in Foreign Wars Who foresees sentences of up to 15 years in prison for the accused.

In a report last December, the US State Department (DASH) criticised Kosovo for low sentences on terrorism-related charges.

The UN said that in Kosovo during 2022, justice institutions continued to issue low sentences on charges linked to terrorism, and said there are early releases on those charges.

For several years since 2011, more than 350 Kosovo citizens traveled to Syria and Iraq. Most of them are said to be lined up alongside the militant Islamic state group.

According to data from the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (QKSS), published in March 2023, the “most of returnees, once arrived in Kosovo, have been arrested and subject to court processes against them”.

According to the QKSS, a portion of them have already served the sentence in prison, but, given the “level of risklessness that these individuals and causes that they supported, represent for the national security of Kosovo and its allies, Kosovo institutions are obliged to monitor the significant process of rehabilitation and the return to community”. /rel