The tenth issue of the bulletin “through ACCESSION towards JUSTICE”
The 10th issue of the bulletin through ACCESSION towards JUSTICE has been released!
This issue features an interview with Dr Vladimir Orlić, Chairman of the EU-Serbia Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee and a MP of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. In it Mr Orlić answers our questions about whether Serbia has recognised the importance of addressing the grave legacy of the past, how the Committee he chairs approaches this subject and in what way the National Assembly can contribute towards reconciliation in the Western Balkans.
Goran Miletić, Western Balkans Programme Director at Civil Rights Defenders, analyses whether and to what extent Serbia has met the political criteria for becoming an EU member.
The News section highlights current developments in the areas of transitional justice and Serbia’s EU integration process, and the War Crimes Trials section offers an overview of recently held trials and rulings delivered.
Send us your opinions and comments on the newsletter and/or the topics discussed to the e-mail address towardsJUSTICE@hlc-rdc.org. Discussion is also welcome on Twitter/#towardsJUSTICE.
Download your copy of the bulletin here.
On 17 August 2015, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed criminal charges against two unidentified members of the 86th Detachment of the Special Police Unit (SPU) of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia (MoI), on reasonable suspicion that they killed 53 ethnic Albanian civilians, including 24 women and 23 children, on 17 April 1999 in the village of Poklek (Municipality of Glogovac). Criminal charges were also filed against Dragan Obradovic, former commander of the 86th Detachment of the SPU, and against the commander of the company which the perpetrators belonged to, on the charges of not preventing the crime and not punishing the perpetrators. 
The First Basic Court in Belgrade passed two judgments ordering the Republic of Serbia to pay compensation to six Kosovo Albanians from Glogovac, in amounts ranging from 125,000 to 370,000 dinars, because of Serbia’s responsibility for torture and unlawful detention committed by members of the Ministry of the Interior (MoI). Although the judgments established the right to compensation for violations of basic human rights, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) emphasizes that the amounts awarded are unjustifiably low and the rationale of the judgments indicates the intention of reducing the state’s responsibility for the widespread torture against Kosovo Albanians in 1999. The HLC lawyers have filed appeals for the judgments to the Court of Appeal in Belgrade. 
