Kosovo Serb sentenced to 10 years for war crimes — Balkan Insight

The Basic Court in Pristina sentenced Kosovo Serb Milorad Djokovic to 10 years in prison for war crimes committed during the 1998–1999 Kosovo war. The court found him guilty of involvement in murders, raids, beatings, arrests, torture and cruel treatment of ethnic Albanians in the village of Ozdrim in the municipality of Peja.

Case circumstances

As Balkan Insight reports, according to the prosecution, Djokovic was part of the Serbian armed forces that surrounded and attacked Ozdrim from three directions in May 1999.

The indictment stated that six Albanian civilians were killed during these actions and another three were wounded. The remains of five of those killed have still not been found. The three wounded were taken to a hospital in Peja, after which, according to the prosecution, they were executed and buried in the village of Lutoglava.

Detention of civilians

According to the case materials, an armed group that included Djokovic detained about 40 civilians. Twelve of them were released after three days of being held without food and water and subjected to torture. Another 28 people were first sent to a prison in Peja and, after the end of the war, transferred to a prison in Leskovac, Serbia.

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As stated in the indictment, these people were released after the intervention of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Djokovic pleaded not guilty in July 2023.

Reaction of victims

After the verdict was announced, one of the victims in the case, Halit Gashi, told journalists that no punishment would bring back the lives of those who were killed. He called the prison term imposed meaningless.

Djokovic was arrested in 2022. At the time, the Serbian government stated that the detention was an example of intimidation of Serbs in Kosovo.