Ten years in prison have been handed down to Serb Slajjan Trajkovic, who is accused of war crimes committed in the 1998-1999 period in the municipality of Vushtrri. He is charged with individually and in complicity contributing to the murders, raids, beatings, burning and destruction of houses in the village of Reznik and other villages in this municipality. The Special Prosecution Office welcomed the verdict against him.
A Serb from Novolan, Slajjan Trajkovic, was sentenced to ten years in prison on Friday, accused of war crimes committed in Reznik and other villages in the municipality of Vushtrri during the 1998-1999 war.
The Special Prosecution has accused Trajkovic of individually and in complicity contributing to murders, raids, beatings, burning and destruction of houses in villages in Vushtrri.
In reading the verdict, the presiding judge of the Basic Court in Pristina, Ngadhnjim Arrni, said that Trajkovic is guilty of point C of the indictment.
“This court has found the accused Slajjan Trajkovic guilty of count C of the indictment and sentenced him to 10 years in prison,” he said.
In the prison sentence, the accused will also be credited with the time spent in pre-trial detention and this measure will be extended to him by a separate ruling.
In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Arrni emphasized that Trajkovic is also obligated to pay the costs of the procedure, 200 euros for the court fee and 100 euros for the crime victim compensation fund.
Present in the courtroom during the sentencing were family members of the defendant, who did not welcome the first instance decision.
But unlike them, the Basic Court’s verdict has been welcomed by the Special Prosecution Office.
“The Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo welcomes the verdict announced by the Basic Court in Pristina against the accused for war crimes. The Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo remains committed to the criminal prosecution of crimes committed during the war in Kosovo, with the aim of ensuring justice for the victims and establishing criminal responsibility for the perpetrators, in accordance with international standards,” the Special Prosecution said.
Trajkovic, according to the indictment filed against him, was a member of the Serbian police and military forces and “contributed to the murders, raids, beatings, mistreatment, arrests, torture, cruel and inhuman treatment, keeping in conditions of slavery, the expulsion of thousands of Albanian civilians, as well as the measures of looting, burning and destruction of the homes of the civilian population of Albanian nationality.”
He was arrested in Mitrovica in December 2022. During this year, 10 verdicts were announced for the criminal offense of “War crimes against the civilian population”, while an acquittal was made for the defendant Gavrilo Milosavljevic.
In 2024, 14 indictments were filed against 25 Serbs suspected of war crimes. Of these, six were filed in absentia against 11 Serbs, while seven others were filed against 13 Serbs who are in custody. This year, a total of 35 war crimes cases were processed, of which 10 contain indictments for sexual violence.
And in August of this year, the Special Prosecution Office submitted to the court an indictment in absentia against 21 suspects for the forcible expulsion of more than 800 Albanian civilians from Kosovo during the war.
During the 1998 and 1999 war in Kosovo, over 13.000 civilians were killed, while thousands more disappeared. Nearly 1.600 people are still missing, the majority of whom are Albanians.
