/Criminal Justice/War crime trials/War crime trials in Serbia

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Serbia illegally overturned the first instance ruling in the Ovčara case

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.


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The Trial to Anton Lekaj was Fair Although Conducted Before a Non-Jurisdictional Court

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.


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Serbian Supreme Court Verified Verdict in Case Sjeverin

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.


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The defendant confessed his participation in the crime at Ovčara

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 Sjeverin Case – A Test for the Serbian Judiciary

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.


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HLC On War Crimes Trial In Niš

On 11 October this year, the Military Court in Niš, central Serbia, handed down the first ruling in a case of a war crime committed during the armed conflict in Kosovo. The Court based its judgment on the confessions of Danilo Tešić and Mišel Seregi, formerly soldiers of the Yugoslav Army, to killing two unidentified Kosovo Albanian civilians and burning their bodies, and a statement made by Capt Rade Radojević during the investigation that the murders were ordered by a senior military security officer, Lt Col Zlatan Mančić. Mančić was sentenced to seven years, Capt Radojević to five years, and Tešić and Seregi to three years in prison respectively.


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Prokuplje Court Hands Down Sentence For War Crime

The Humanitarian Law Center is pleased to note that the recent conviction of Ivan Nikolic puts an end to the longstanding practice of allowing war crimes to go unpunished. On 8 July this year, the District Court in Prokuplje found Nikolic (30), a former Yugoslav Army reservist, guilty of killing two Kosovo Albanian civilians, Vlaznimi Emini and Bahri Emini, near Penduh village in Kosovo on 24 May 1999 and sentenced him to eight years in prison.


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