30.11.2010.

The District Court of Peć/Pejë Sentences Former Member of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia and Member of the Kosovo Police Force for War Crimes Charges

On November 9, 2010 the mixed Trial Chamber of the District Court of Peć/Pejë, Kosovo, presided by Justice Ingo Risch, sentenced former member of the reserve force of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia (MUP Serbia) Vukmir Cvetković to seven years in prison for committing a war crime against civilian populations, as stipulated in Article 142 of the Criminal Code of Yugoslavia, and as an accomplice to committing such a crime, with respect to Article 22 of the Criminal Code of Yugoslavia.

The Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo (HLC Kosovo) believes that the sentence is fair and that it corresponds to the gravity of the crime. The sentence also satisfies the need for justice for the victims, who were left homeless in March 1999. The Trial Chamber established that the accused, Cvetković, as member of MUP Serbia, on March 27 or 28, 1999 took part in the forceful displacement of Albanian families from the village of Klina/Klinë, one of whom was the Simonaj family, and set on fire at least two houses owned by Ndue Simonaj and Zef and Krista Qetaj.

The proceedings against the accused Cvetković began in September 2005 when his identity was disclosed to the police by his Albanian neighbours from Klina/Klinë. At the time, the accused Cvetković worked as police officer with the Kosovo Police Force. In 2007 the accused Cvetković moved to Norway, where he was arrested on March 10, 2009, after being put on an international “wanted persons” list, and extradited to Kosovo on July 13, 2007.

The indictment against Cvetković was raised on August 8, 2010. The main hearing began on October 26, 2010 and there were four trial days. Four witnesses for the prosecution were heard and a crime scene investigation was conducted in the presence of the witnesses. The accused Cvetković defended himself with silence throughout the proceedings. The Trial Chamber based its decision on the statements given by the four witnesses for the prosecution, who gave a number of statements against Cvetković during the investigation. Their statements showed some discrepancies concerning the colour of the uniform the accused was wearing, the distance from which the fire was set, and the number and names of individuals who committed the criminal acts along with the accused. Nevertheless, all witnesses testified during the main hearing and during the crime scene investigation that they had seen the accused Cvetković setting their cousins’ and neighbours’ houses on fire. They gave very detailed and precise accounts of the manner in which the accused set the houses on fire, as well as the names of other Serbian neighbours who helped him do it. Although they all testified against Cvetković, they did not testify that they did not get along as neighbours. On the contrary, upon his return to Kosovo, several years after the war, they were friendly during chance encounters with Cvetković, but they could not allow him to be a member of the Kosovo Police Force because he was instrumental in their dislocation and property destruction.

HLC finds it rather disturbing that an individual notorious for his participation in war crimes could have been cleared for a police officer position with the Kosovo Police Force, which was at the time (2005) under intensive international surveillance.