Prishtina’s Basic Court sentenced Sacir Lutvija, a former member of Serbian police forces, to ten years in prison for war crimes committed during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo.

According to the indictment, Serbian police and military forces staged a campaign of arrests of ethnic Albanian civilians and 11 of them were taken to Prizren police station in southern Kosovo, where Lutvija was among the inspectors who questioned them.

Prosecutors said those arrested were beaten during the interrogation and subjected to electric shocks on their hands and genitals. One civilian died and ten others sustained serious bodily injuries.

Lutvija, a 65-year-old ethnic Gorani, who has both Kosovo and Serbian citizenship, was arrested in October 2023 and has been in detention since then. The time in custody will be counted towards his sentence.

Jovana Filipovic, a lawyer for Lutvija, said the defence will appeal. “We believe [the verdict] is totally unlawful and that the court was forced to issue the [guilty] verdict against him,” Filipovic told media after the verdict was announced.

“We have heard the verdict and are waiting to see the explanation because it is unclear on what basis and with what evidence he could be convicted, when we consider the evidence presented during the trial,” she added.

Kosovo’s Special Prosecution charged Lutvija with unlawfully arresting and beating civilians,  inhumane treatment and murder in his capacity as an inspector and police officer in Prizren.

Lutvija pleaded not guilty in September last year.