In 2024, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) monitored all war crimes trials (23 cases) before the War Crimes Departments of the Higher Court and the Appellate Court in Belgrade. A total of 145 hearings were scheduled, of which 94 were held. Fifteen hearings were not held due to the absence of the accused, 11 due to the absence of witnesses, and 12 for reasons unknown to HLC and the public. Other reasons for the postponement of scheduled hearings included the absence of defense counsel or court experts, motions to disqualify the judicial panel, or requests by newly appointed defense attorneys for time to review case files. In eight cases, the HLC provided legal and logistical support to the families of victims.
In 2024, the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes (PPOWC) of the Republic of Serbia filed eight indictments against 10 individuals, one of which was still under judicial review at the end of the year. Following an investigation, JTRZ filed seven indictments against eight individuals, while one indictment was transferred from the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Except for the transferred indictment, all were filed against Kosovo Albanians for war crimes against Serbs. For the first time, the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes (PPOWC) filed an indictment [Labljane Case] for the criminal offense of organizing and inciting the commission of genocide and war crimes. Of the accused Kosovo Albanians, one was sentenced to one year of imprisonment under a plea agreement, one was held in pre-trial detention, and six were unavailable to the Serbian judiciary and will be tried in absentia.
At the end of February 2024, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) decided to transfer the case against Vojislav Šešelj et al. to Serbia. However, by the end of 2024, the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes (PPOWC) had neither published the indictment nor undertaken any procedural action.
The War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade issued five first-instance verdicts, two in retrial proceedings, and one verdict based on a plea agreement concluded between the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes (PPOWC) and the accused.
The complete report is available in Serbian at the following link.
The executive summary of the report is available for download at the following link.
