Special Prosecutor Hands Charge to 21 Persons for Exile of Civil Population During War in Kosovo

Special Prosecutor Father and Dema, Prosecution, presented the indictment during a news conference.

After years of intense investigation, the Special Prosecutor's Department at the Constitutional Court in Pristina has submitted an indictment today concerning war crimes against the civilian population during the armed conflict in Kosovo, in the January 1999 period.

According to evidence collected during preliminary investigations, defendants who are in number have exercised control and authority over the armed forces in Kosovo's respective territories, including the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Army and Serbia's Police.

The prosecution stresses there has been sufficient reason to know that some of these forces have committed actions forbidden by international humanitarian law, including systematic destruction of civil property, house burning and infrastructure, direct attacks on civilians and their settlements, as well as arbitrary detentions and persecutions for ethnic reasons.

These actions have resulted in the mass expulsion of the Albanian population from Kosovo towards neighbouring states.

According to the indictment, these actions constitute part of a broad campaign that has triggered the violent shift of 863 thousand Albanian citizens, according to official statistics.