The Supreme Court of the Republic of Kosovo has rejected as unfounded the request for protection of legality, submitted by the defense counsel of the defendant Ramadan Morina against the rulings of the Basic Court and the Court of Appeals relating to the extension of the detention measure.
Lower courts had extended Morina's detention for two months due to the well-founded suspicion that he had committed a criminal offense - war crimes against the civilian population.
Ramadan Morina is accused of having participated in the murder of 34 Albanian civilians on March 31, 1999, in the village of Burim in the municipality of Malisheva, in complicity with other members of the Serbian police and military forces.
The Basic Court of Pristina, with its ruling dated 30.12.2025, extended the defendant's detention for a period of 2 months.
In the appeal procedure, the Court of Appeal, with its ruling dated 09.01.2026, rejected as unfounded the appeal of the defendant's defense attorney Ramadan Morina, thus confirming the ruling of the Basic Court.
Against the rulings of the two courts, a request for protection of legality was filed with the Supreme Court by the defense attorney of the defendant Ramadan Morina, lawyer Arianit Koci.
Morina's defense attorney had filed a request for protection of legality with this Court under the allegations that there had been a violation of the provisions of criminal procedure and a violation of criminal law, proposing that his request be approved as well-founded, the decisions of the Basic and Appeal Courts be annulled, so that his client be released from pre-trial detention and this measure be replaced with a more lenient measure.
The lawyer in the request for protection of legality stated that the reasoning of the decisions of the Basic and Appellate Courts is incomprehensible and contradictory to their content, does not include reasoning, and no reasons have been presented regarding the decisive facts.
Lawyer Koci further emphasized in the request that the lower courts have not even provided a complete and individualized justification for the concrete actions attributed to his client.
The defendant's defense attorney also said that the automatic extension of detention is contrary to the guarantees set forth in Article 5, paragraph 3 of the ECHR, and according to Article 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, it can only be done when there are clearly substantiated grounds that the person has committed a criminal offense.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has assessed that there is a legal basis for the continuation of the defendant's detention due to the risk of his flight, taking into account the circumstances of the case, including the fact that the defendant has changed several residential addresses, has a permanent residence outside Kosovo and possesses dual citizenship.
This, according to the Supreme Court, could facilitate evasion of criminal prosecution, especially given the lack of legal cooperation between Kosovo and the other country.
The Supreme Court has also found that the defense's claims of violations of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo are unfounded, since the detention measure was ordered by a decision of the competent court and in accordance with legal provisions, while the criminal procedure is still in the initial phase.
This decision by the Supreme Court was made by a panel composed of: Mejreme Memaj (president of the panel), Bashkim Hyseni and Afrim Shala (members).
We recall that at the initial hearing held on 30.12.2025, the defendant Ramadan Morina pleaded not guilty.
"I do not admit guilt because from 1998 to 1999 I was not in Kosovo at all, I have proof," he declared.
PROSECUTOR'S FILE
According to the indictment of the Special Prosecution dated 17.02.2025, Ramadan Morina is accused of participating in murders, physical and psychological abuse, arrests, and theft and destruction of property of Albanian civilians.
The prosecution is claiming that Morina committed these acts in 1998 - 1999 during the war in Kosovo.
According to the Prosecution, the accused committed these actions in collaboration with members of the Serbian police and military forces, in violation of international conventions.
The indictment of the Special Prosecution further states that Morina participated in actions in which over 30 Albanian civilians were killed. These killings, which the Prosecution mentions, took place in the village of Burim in the municipality of Malisheva.
The murder was committed in an armed action, with tanks, armored vehicles, and infantry forces surrounding the area where over 1 citizens who had been expelled from several villages in Malisheva were sheltering.
A citizen was lying dead in order to escape this action by Serbian forces, who is also a witness in this process, the indictment of the Special Prosecution Office states.
With these actions, the accused Ramadan Morina is accused of war crimes against the civilian population.
Ramadan Morina was arrested on the morning of 12.08.2025 in Pristina on suspicion of committing the criminal offense of war crimes against the civilian population.
While the hearing against him was held on 14.08.2025 at the Court of Pristina.
War crimes trials
For the massacres and other war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo by the Serbian and Yugoslav forces during the war of 1998/1999, the highest former political and military leaders of the remaining Yugoslavia were tried, and some were even convicted. of Serbia.
Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Serbian and Yugoslav forces in Kosovo. Milosevic was also charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.
His trial at the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), based in The Hague, did not receive an epilogue as Milosevic died on 11.03.2006 in his cell while being held in custody.
Milan Millutinovic, the former president of Serbia, was acquitted of war crimes charges during the conflict in Kosovo.
Nikola Shainović, Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war.
Dragolub Ojdanić, former Chief of General Staff of the Yugoslav Army, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for crimes against humanity.
Nebojsha Pavkovic, the former commander of the Third Army of the Yugoslav Army, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war.
Vladimir Llazrevic, the former commander of the Pristina Corps of the Yugoslav Army, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for crimes against humanity.
Sreten Lukic, the former chief of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs for Kosovo, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war.Kallxo.com
