Belgrade Slams War Crimes Conviction of Serb in Kosovo

Kosovo's Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it has upheld the verdict convicting Serb fighter Zoran Djokic of war crimes against ethnic Albanian civilians in Peja/Pec in March and April 1999.

In February last year, Pristina Basic Court found Djokic guilty and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. The verdict was upheld by the Court of Appeals in November.

The Supreme Court said in a statement that it was upholding the lower courts' verdicts, which it said "correctly implemented the criminal law".

The Serbian government's office for Kosovo strongly criticised the decision, describing it as "another indication of Pristina's anti-Serb policy and an example of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija having no right to a fair trial".

"Despite the fact that many of Djokic's procedural rights were violated during the trial, and no relevant witness recognised him as the perpetrator, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison," it said, Tanjug news agency reported.

Pristina Basic Court initially found that Djokic was part of an organised group wearing military, paramilitary and police uniforms which forcibly entered the homes of Kosovo Albanians in the Kristal and Te Soliterat (since renamed Rrokaqielli) neighbourhoods of Peja/Pec in March and April, physically and mentally abused them, robbed them and then forced them out of their houses. Some of the victims were killed.

The verdict said that the operation by Serbian forces against ethnic Albanian civilians began in the Kristal neighbourhood on March 28-29, 1999, with the aim of evicting them from their homes and killing them, and then widened its focus to also target the Te Soliterat neighbourhood in April.