2 acquittals and 1 continued detention in Kosovo

(BRUSSELS2) A jury of the Court of Pristina acquitted on Friday (November 23) a Serbian Kosovar Alexandar Bulatovic, accused of war crime. The jury was made up of three European judges (from the EULEX mission), one of whom presided over the court, and a Kosovar judge. The evidence presented was declared insufficient by the jury. Alexandar Bulatovic was charged with having participated, with a whole group, in the attack on Xheladin Idrizi, found dead in the town of Fushë Kosovo (Kosovo Polje) in 1999. The case was brought by a European prosecutor from the special prosecution office (SPRK).

Note that in another case, the same jury also acquitted three Kosovars (Afet Dalloshi, Agron Dalloshi and Nysret Cena) accused of aggravated murder and attempted murder with unauthorized possession of a firearm. Again, the jury acquitted all three men, for lack of sufficiently clear evidence. They were charged, along with two other convicted defendants, with opening fire and killing three other men, Neshat Baftiu, Sylejman Baftiu and Urim Baftiu in September 2007. Again the case was being led by an SPRK prosecutor.

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In a separate case, a EULEX judge at the Pristina District Court on Saturday (November 24) ordered the continued detention of four individuals accused of war crimes in the so-called Klecka case. Naser Krasniqi, Nexhmi Krasniqi, Naser Shala and Fatmir Limaj will stay for another month. The judge considers that great suspicion weighs on the defendants and that releasing them leads to a risk of theft and destruction of evidence, or pressure on witnesses.