/Criminal Justice

• Criminal Justice/Press Releases/War crime trials
• 21.01.2014.

Anonymization of judgments in war crimes cases contrary to national and international regulations

 On 16 January 2014, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) appealed to the Commissioner for information of public importance against the decision of the Higher Court in Belgrade (the Higher Court) to deny the HLC access to the full text of the court judgments delivered in the Beli Manastir and Gnjilane Group cases. The HLC notes that the Serbian courts’ practice of judgment “anonymization” in war crimes cases runs contrary to the Serbian Constitution and other national and international regulations and denies victims and the society the right to know the truth about the crimes that were committed.

• Criminal Justice/Press Releases
• 03.01.2014.

Prison Regime for War Crimes in Serbia Represents Mockery of Victims’ Suffering

Slobodan Medić, the former Commander of the “Scorpions” unit, who was convicted of the war crime in which six Muslim boys and men from Srebrenica were killed, died in a car accident near Sremska Mitrovica on Tuesday, December 31^st, 2013. At the time of the accident, Medić was serving his prison sentence of 20 years in the Sremska Mitrovica Penitentiary. As the media have reported, Medić was on provisional release, because he was granted the right to leave prison for holidays on account of his good behaviour. The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) emphasizes that war crimes trials in Serbia are being trivialized by granting privileges to perpetrators of war crimes, and that the sufferings of victims are thereby being negated.

• Criminal complaints/Press Releases
• 27.12.2013.

Criminal Complaint Against Yugoslav Army Officer for Crime Committed Against 17 Kosovo Albanians and One Ashkali

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint against Božidar Delić, the former Commander of the 549^th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army (549^th YA MtBr), Radivoj Paravinja, the Commander of the 3^rd Combat Group, and a number of unidentified members of the 549^th MtBr, on December 26^th, 2013, based on reasonable suspicion that they committed a war crime against the civilian population in the village of Landovica (Municipality of Prizren) on March 26^th, 1999.

• Pravda i reforma institucija/Press Releases/Vetting
• 09.12.2013.

Persons Indicted for War Crimes in Police Uniform

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) demands that the Gendarmerie Commander, Milenko Božović, and Police Director, Milorad Veljović, use the option offered by the law and suspend the Gendarmerie Commander, Vladan Krstović, indicted for the war crime committed against Kosovo Albanians in Ljubenić on April 1st, 1999, until the completion of the proceedings in question.

• Analysis/Press Releases/War crime trials
• 09.12.2013.

Acquittal in Case Against Samir Hondo

The Trial Chamber of the Higher Court in Belgrade rendered an acquittal on November 22^nd, 2013, in the case of Samir Hondo, indicted for war crimes against the civilian population in the Čelebići Camp, near Konjic (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) stresses that the court rendered a correct ruling, because the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor (OWCP) failed to provide credible evidence during the trial which would have pointed to the responsibility of the accused for the crimes he had been charged with.

• Pravda i reforma institucija/Press Releases/Vetting
• 20.11.2013.

Officers Indicted of Crimes Against Civilians in Trnje Should Be Suspended from Serbian Army

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) demands that the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Ljubiša Diković, suspends Pavle Gavrilović and Rajko Kozlina, persons indicted for the crime in Trnje committed against Kosovo Albanians on March 25^th, 1999, from the Serbian Armed Forces, until the completion of the proceedings.

• Dossiers/Publications
• 11.10.2013.

Dossier on “125th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army”

The Dossier presents the operation of this Yugoslav Army unit during the war in Kosovo and the crimes committed in  this unit’s zone of responsibility, where 1,813 Kosovo Albanian civilians were killed, 216 of whom are still registered as missing. None of the perpetrators of these war crimes have been prosecuted to date.

• Criminal complaints
• 10.10.2013.

Criminal Report against Officers and Members of YA and MUP on account of Crime Committed Against 78 Kosovo Albanians

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) has filed a criminal complaint against six identified officers and members of the 125^th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army (125^th YA MtBr), the Commander of the 24^th Detachment of the Special Police Units (SPU), a number of unidentified members of the YA and the 24^th Detachment of the SPU, owing to the reasonable suspicion that they ordered or executed the murder of 78 men – Kosovo Albanians – in the village of Kraljane (the Municipality of Đakovica) on April 4^th, 1999. Among the accused are Dragan Živanović, the then Commander of the 125^th YA MtBr,  Žarko Braković, the then Commander of the 24^th Detachment of the SPU, Đorđe Nikolić, the Chief of Staff of the Command of the 125^th YA MtBr, and Robert Šmajcelj, the Deputy Commander of Combat Group 5 of the 125^th YA MtBr.

• Criminal complaints/Press Releases
• 10.10.2013.

Criminal Report against Officers and Members of YA and MUP on account of Crime Committed Against 78 Kosovo Albanians

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) has filed a criminal complaint against six identified officers and members of the 125^th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army (125^th YA MtBr), the Commander of the 24^th Detachment of the Special Police Units (SPU), a number of unidentified members of the YA and the 24^th Detachment of the SPU, owing to the reasonable suspicion that they ordered or executed the murder of 78 men – Kosovo Albanians – in the village of Kraljane (the Municipality of Đakovica) on April 4^th, 1999. Among the accused are Dragan Živanović, the then Commander of the 125^th YA MtBr,  Žarko Braković, the then Commander of the 24^th Detachment of the SPU, Đorđe Nikolić, the Chief of Staff of the Command of the 125^th YA MtBr, and Robert Šmajcelj, the Deputy Commander of Combat Group 5 of the 125^th YA MtBr.

• Criminal complaints
• 04.07.2013.

Criminal Complaint against Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers with regard to the Murder of 21 Albanian Civilians on March 25th, 1999

The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint on July 2^nd, 2013 with the Republic of Serbia Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor against Duško Šljivančanin, former Commander of the 53^rd Border Battalion of the Yugoslav Army and currently a representative of the Commander of the Yugoslav Army Land Forces Training Centre, and Vasilij Rangelov, a Sergeant in the Yugoslav Army and the Commander of the Goden Watchtower, and a number of unidentified soldiers from the 53^rd Border Battalion of the Yugoslav Army, with regard to the war crime against the civilian population committed on March 25^th, 1999 in the villages of Goden and Zulfaj/Zylfaj (the Municipality of Đakovica/Gjakovë).

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