Convictions of Kosovo.Metohija Serbs a continuation of Pristina's institutional terror - gov't Office

BELGRADE - The Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija said on Wednesday a first-instance ruling by a so-called court in Pristina under which Kosovo-Metohija Serbs Zoran Kostic and Dragan Milovic had been convicted to 15 and seven years in prison, respectively, for alleged war crimes represented a continuation of institutional terror against Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija.

In a statement, the Office said Serbs in the province were declared guilty without relevant evidence and credible eyewitnesses.

"Not only were Kostic's and Milovic's numerous human rights jeopardised during the trial itself, but Kostic's health condition was seriously jeopardised as well due to inadequate conditions in a Pristina prison," it noted.

It added that even ethnic Albanian eyewitnesses had said Milovic had been helping ethnic Albanians during the 1999 conflict in the province.

The Office also said defence attorneys would appeal the ruling as it was more than clear that Kostic and Milovic were victims of political persecution by Pristina and that the ruling was a consequence of a politically instructed judiciary that was deciding based on ethnic criteria, rather than on evidence.

"The Office will inform all relevant international missions of these cases to once again point to the political motivation behind the cases and demand that they (Kostic and Milovic) be granted the right to fair trial," the statement also said.

Earlier in the day, a basic court in Pristina convicted Kostic, from Priluzje, and Milovic, from Zvecan, for alleged war crimes committed against civilians in Vucitrn during the conflict.

Court found acquitted Kosovo-Metohija Serb's initial statement to be true - attorney

PRISTINA - The attorney of Kosovo-Metohija Serb Dragan Ristic, 77, who was on Wednesday acquitted in a war crimes trial before a basic court in Pristina, said on Wednesday it was deplorable that her defendant had spent more than a year in custody at an age when every day might be his last, given his health condition.

The trial chamber showed courage by acquitting Ristic, Jovana Filipovic said.

"What he said in his first statement to the police is what the Pristina court eventually also found to be authentic and true," Filipovic said, adding that her client had absolutely nothing to do with the wrongdoing he had been accused of.

She said she did not know whether prosecutors would appeal the ruling but that, in case it became final, the defence would request compensation even if it was no more than a symbolic sum.

Ristic was accused of committing a war crime against civilians in Djakovica during the 1999 conflict in Kosovo-Metohija.

The trial chamber ordered his release from custody immediately after acquitting him.