On Friday, the Basic Court in Prishtina sentenced Sladjan Trajkovic, a former member of Serbian forces, to ten years in prison for war crimes committed against civilians in the Vushtrri area during the 1999 Kosovo war.

According to the indictment, Trajkovic was a member of Serbian police, military, and paramilitary forces and contributed to “killings, raids, beatings, abuse, illegal arrests, torture, cruel and inhuman treatment, detention under slavery-like conditions, and the forced displacement of thousands of Albanian civilians.”

Furthermore, the indictment notes that the crimes were committed between 1998–1999 in the village of Reznik in the municipality of Vushtrri, and in surrounding villages. 

The Special Prosecutor’s Office welcomed the verdict against Trajkovic, adding that it remains committed to prosecuting war crimes in Kosovo, “with the aim of ensuring justice for the victims and establishing criminal responsibility for the perpetrators, in accordance with international standards.”

Bogdan Lazic, a lawyer of Trajkovic, called the verdict unfair and announced he would appeal it.

“The defence strongly disagrees with the verdict because the court did not correctly evaluate all the evidence,” Lazic was quoted saying by the Kossev news agency.

The court ruled that the time Trajkovic has already spent in pretrial detention will be credited toward his sentence.

The indictment was filed on July 12, 2023, following Trajkovic’s arrest on December 15, 2022. 

During the 1998-1999 Kosovo war, more than 13,000 civilians were killed, while thousands went missing. More than 1,600 people remain unaccounted for.