Pristina court acquits Kosovo-Metohija Serb of war crimes charges

PRISTINA - A Pristina court on Monday acquitted a Kosovo-Metohija Serb of charges of alleged war crimes committed against civilians during the 1999 conflict in Kosovo-Metohija.

The ruling said Zlatan Arsic from Ajnovce near Kosovska Kamenica was acquitted due to a lack of evidence by prosecutors.

Arsic, a former Serbian police officer, had been accused of severely beating an ethnic Albanian man in the Kosovska Kamenica police station in March 1999.

He is expected to be released from custody during the day.

One of his attorneys said this was the first acquittal by the special war crimes chambers in Pristina.

"He is no longer accused, he has been acquitted and will get out of prison today. He has spent 11 months in prison. He knows how he felt during that time, but justice has arrived - it is slow but attainable," the attorney said, adding that there was no evidence that his client had committed a war crime.

Arsic's wife Zorica thanked the defence attorneys and the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija for their support.