Kosovo indicts ex-guerrilla for war crimes News
Kosovo indicts ex-guerrilla for war crimes

[JURIST] The Special Prosecution for the Republic of Kosovo [official website] has filed an indictment against former Kosovo Liberation Army guerrilla Remiz Shala. He is charged [Balkan Insight report] with detaining an Albanian civilian suspected of collaborating with Serbia for several days before he was found dead. The indictment for war crimes against Shala, known during war time as the Red Apple, has been outstanding since October, but was only recently made public. The prosecution was launched when the son of the detained civilian gave a statement saying he witnessed the abduction in 1998.

In January 2016 a special court was set up [JURIST report] in The Hague to investigate and try alleged war crimes committed during 1998-99. In July 2015 11 Kosovo Albanian men were sentenced [JURIST report] to prison for war crimes. In February 2014 Serbia’s war crimes court convicted [JURIST report] nine former paramilitaries for their involvement in the genocide of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999. Two former Serbian secret service officials were arrested [JURIST report] under suspicion that they planned the 1999 killing of an anti-government journalist. In 2013 Amnesty International accused [JURIST report] the UN Mission in Kosovo of failing to adequately investigate war crimes committed during the conflict. Kosovo held its first local elections [JURIST report] in November 2013 since it seceded from Serbia in 2008. Serbia still does not recognize the secession.