In Kosovo, Albanian judges handed down an unlawful sentence to another Serb
The Court of First Instance in Pristina handed down a verdict against Svetomir Bacevic from Beloe Polje near Pec, sentencing him to five years in prison for an alleged war crime against civilians in Kosovo and Metohija in 1998.
This was reported by RTS, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The verdict found him guilty of participating in the kidnapping and abuse of Hatice Kadri in 1998.
Svetomir Bacevic's defender, lawyer Dejan Vasic, said that this is another of the unfounded verdicts.
“Even though the victim Hatice Kadrije told the jury that Svetomir Bacevic was not the man who took her from her home and that she did not know the man at all, after this verdict I really have nothing more to say about the trial of the Serbs on charges of war crimes in Kosovo,” Vasic said.
Bacevic is a displaced person and lives in Gornji Milanovac.
In December 2020, he went from Bela Polje to Pecs to collect personal documents, where he was detained in the municipal building and taken to the police station.
After interrogation, he was transferred to Pristina for detention under the pretext that he was responsible for an alleged war crime.
Lawyer Vasich announced an appeal to a higher court.
The Office for Kosovo and Metohija expressed serious concern about this court verdict, calling it scandalous, since Bacevic’s guilt has not been proven.
“If the international community allows such verdicts, then it is clear that in such a case any Serb who ends up in the dock for an alleged criminal offense denied by witnesses will already be sentenced in advance,” the statement said.
Earlier, Nikola Nedeljkovic, a young man who wanted to celebrate Vidovdan with his people in Kosovo and Metohija and carried the Serbian flag, was sentenced to eight months in prison.
“In any normal society this would be a reflection of patriotism, but in the so-called “democratic” state of Kurti this is classified as a criminal offense... All sentences were passed against representatives of the Serbian people in the province, which is obviously a reflection of the daily political events in Kosovo and Metohija and the pathological hatred of Pristina politicians towards the Serbs,” says the Office for Kosovo and Metohija.
“In our opinion, the Pristina judicial system has not proven to be impartial and competent enough to judge and make decisions. The Office for Kosovo and Metohija will provide all possible support and legal assistance to Svetomir Bacevic, as we have done so far in such and similar cases, hiring outstanding lawyers, and in this regard we will also turn to competent international organizations,” the document says.
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