War crimes trials in Serbia are being held before the War Crimes Trials Chamber of the Belgrade District Court founded in July 2003. In addition, two members of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia (MUP Serbia) are being tried before the District Court in Požarevac for war crimes committed in Kosovo (Orahovac Case). The Niš District Court brought a first instance decision in the trial of two members of MUP Serbia for a murder committed during the armed conflict in Kosovo (the Emini Case), while in the Pakšec Case the Novi Sad District Court brought a first instance decision for the criminal offences of murder and rape.
The Belgrade District Court War Crimes Chamber verdict rendered on 10 April 2007 against indicted members of the Scorpions Unit for the execution of
six Bosniak civilians in Trnovo, BiH, committed in July 1995 is not based on the law and facts determined during the trial.
The decision of the Supreme Court to overturn the first instance ruling in the Ovčara case has no legal or factual grounds. The Supreme Court carries on its practice of overthrowing every judgment made in war crimes trials and returning it for retrial. Three first instance judgements have been considered and decided on by the Supreme Court and all three were overturned and sent back for retrial.
The War Crimes Chamber of the Belgrade District Court, presided by judge Olivera Andjelkovic, in a Decision of September 18, 2006, found Anton Lekaj, a former member of KLA, guilty of war crimes against civilian population, and sentenced him to 13 years in prison. The verdict was highly publicized in all Serbian media, as opposed to the trial itself which went unnoticed, without media coverage or expert involvement.
The Serbian Supreme Court verified on 18 May 2006 the verdict handed down by the Belgrade District Court, by which four members of the “Osvetnici” (Avengers) armed group within the Republic of Srpska Army were convicted to imprisonment because of the kidnapping and murder of 16 Bosniaks from the village of Sjeverin, which took place in the place called Mioče, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in October 1992. Milan Lukić, Dragutin Dragičević, Oliver Krsmanović, and Đorđe Šević were convicted for this crime.
The confession of the defendant, Ivan Atanasijević, at the trial of 16 persons accused of war crime against prisoners of war committed at the Ovčara farm (Croatia) on 20 November 1991, before the War Crimes Chamber in Belgrade, is the first confession of guilt before a domestic court.
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The trial of Milan Lukić, Oliver Krsmanović, Dragutin Dragićević and Djordje Šević, who are accused of a war crime against the civilian population under Article 142 of the Criminal Code, opened before the Belgrade District Court on 20 January 2003. Lukić and Krsmanović are being tried in absentia. Known as the “Sjeverin Case” after the village that was home to the victims, the trial is generally seen as a test for the Serbian judiciary and its ability to see that justice is done.