Kosovo Court Convicts Serb Ex-Fighter of War Crimes

Pristina Basic Court found Zoran Djokic guilty on Thursday of war crimes against the ethnic Albanian civil population in the town of Peja/Pec during the Kosovo war in 1999 and sentenced him to 12 years in prison.

The court found that Djokic was part of an organised group that wore military, paramilitary and police uniforms and 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.

"The court has also analysed the accused's alibi and has reached the conclusion that the alibi has not been proven," said judge Arben Hoti, referring to Djokic's claim that he had been in Belgrade in the time of the crimes.

This was a first-instance verdict and can be appealed.