Trials for war crimes: Of the 74 convicted - 40 are members of the KLA, 34 from the Serbian forces

The war of the Kosovo Liberation Army has so far been judged through several judicial processes by at least five institutions of justice. Of the 74 persons convicted so far, 40 are former members of the Liberation Army, and only 34 are members of the Serbian criminal forces. With the start of the trial in absentia, experts in justice hope that the truth about the crimes committed by Serbia during the war in Kosovo will begin to be revealed.

Since the end of the war, hundreds of indictments have been filed in Kosovo and trials for war crimes have taken place by five institutions that deal with the justice system, starting with UNMIK, EULEX and the Special Prosecutor's Office, then the International Tribunal of The Hague, and now recently also the Special Court.

From 1999 to 2020, there have been 117 accused, 62 of them Albanians, 49 Serbs, and others from non-Serbian ethnicities. This is stated in a report of the Kosovo Institute for Justice.

From this Institute, they talk about various factors that have led to this large number of Albanians accused of war crimes, as opposed to a smaller number of Serbian accused.

"An important factor that we appreciate and have made a report on that has influenced this element has also influenced the political readiness in Kosovo to draft and have a national strategy for the investigation, prosecution and trial of war crimes , you also know that since the war, various international institutions, such as UNMIK and EULEX, have been charged with war crimes, which have not carried out their mandate and powers properly, as well as the justice system when History under the competence of the Special Prosecutor's Office of Kosovo, it had its own defects and today we are in such a reality", said Astrit Kolaj, researcher at IKD.

74 people have been convicted for war crimes by powerful decisions so far from all justice structures, where the Hague Tribunal mainly convicted Serbian superiors who were involved or were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Kosovo. Of these 74 convicted persons, 40 are former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army and 34 are members of the Serbian forces, say the Fund for Humanitarian Rights.

"The reason why the Serbs have not been able to be tried in Kosovo has been their non-existence in Kosovo, the lack of international legal cooperation between Kosovo and Serbia, because Serbia did not extradite its citizens to be tried before the courts of Kosovo. For this reason, during the international missions, we had more indictments or punishments against KLA members. We already have the amendment to the law of criminal procedure, where it is possible to file indictments and trials in absentia, and with the entry into force of this law, we have 10 Serbs who have been accused in absentia for crimes committed in Kosovo during the war. , said Amer Alija, Fund for Humanitarian Law.

With the start of the trial in absentia in Kosovo, experts in justice hope that the truth about the crimes committed by Serbia during the war in Kosovo will begin to be revealed./rtk