Balkan Insight's Transitional Justice

23/07/2024

Bislim Zyrapi, former Chief of KLA General Staff, after testifying for three weeks at the war crimes trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three co-accused, admitted several prosecution points but also confirmed some of the defence’s stances.

Read our analysis:

Bislim Zyrapi, former Chief of KLA General Staff, after testifying for three weeks at the war crimes trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three co-accused, admitted several prosecution points but also confirmed some of the defence’s stances.

19/07/2024

The Prishtina Basic Court on Friday found Kosovo Bosniak Ekrem Bajrovic, a former member of Serbian forces during the Kosovo war in 1998-99, guilty of war crimes, including the beating, torture, and killing of ethnic Albanian civilians in the municipality of Istog/Istok in May 1999.

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Ekrem Bajrovic was sentenced on Friday to 12 years' imprisonment for his role in the beating, torture and killing of ethnic Albanian civilians who were fleeing towards Albania.

17/07/2024

One-sided narratives and incomplete documentation provided by the authorities fuel misinformation about war crimes and transitional justice in Kosovo, a BIRN report launched on Wednesday says.

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One-sided narratives and incomplete documentation provided by the authorities fuel misinformation about war crimes and transitional justice in Kosovo, a BIRN report launched on Wednesday says.

16/07/2024

The trial of Serbian citizen Jovan Radan, accused of wartime r**e in the Vukovar area in Croatia in 1991, opened at Belgrade Higher Court on Tuesday.

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Alleged wartime Territorial Defence fighter Jovan Radan is accused of ra**ng a female Croatian civilian three times during the siege of the Croatian town of Vukovar in 1991.

16/07/2024

Pjeter Shala was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the arbitrary detention and torture of at least 18 detainees, and the murder of one detainee, at the Kukes Metal Factory in Albania.

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Pjeter Shala was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the arbitrary detention and torture of at least 18 detainees, and the murder of one detainee, at the Kukes Metal Factory in Albania.

16/07/2024

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague sentenced former Kosovo Liberation Army member Pjeter Shala to 18 years in prison for committing the war crimes of arbitrary detention and torture against at least 18 detainees and the murder of one detainee.
Background:

Kosovo ex-guerrilla Pjeter Shala goes on trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers this week, accused of abusing civilian detainees held at an Albanian metal factory during wartime, but his defence claims that his own rights have been abused.

16/07/2024

Twenty-three members of Liridona Deliu’s family were killed in a massacre in September 1998 – but she’s facing an uphill battle to be recognised by the Kosovo government as a war victim.

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Twenty-three members of Liridona Deliu’s family were killed in a massacre in September 1998 – but she’s facing an uphill battle to be recognised by the Kosovo government as a war victim.

12/07/2024

Muhamet Alidemaj, a former member of the Serbian police, was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment by the Pristina Basic Court for participating in a massacre at Izbice during the Kosovo war in March 1999, when around 130 people were shot dead.

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Muhamet Alidemaj, a former member of the Serbian police, was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment by the Pristina Basic Court for participating in a massacre at Izbice during the Kosovo war in March 1999, when around 130 people were shot dead.

11/07/2024

Serbian NGO YIHR marked the Srebrenica genocide anniversary by lighting candles in central Belgrade to commemorate the victims. Activists displayed the banner saying "Too Young to Remember, Determined Never to Forget."

11/07/2024

On the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, personal possessions owned by a teacher killed in the 1995 massacres were exhibited in a commemorative display at BIRN’s Reporting House in Pristina.

On the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, personal possessions owned by a teacher killed in the 1995 massacres were exhibited in a commemorative display at BIRN’s Reporting House in Pristina.

11/07/2024

Ex-soldiers Bosko Uncanin, Dragan Despot and Marinko Miljevic were convicted of crimes against humanity for their participation in the wartime murders of at least 74 civilians in Velagici near Kljuc in June 1992.

11/07/2024

Thousands attended a ceremony at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre marking the 29th anniversary of the genocide of Bosniaks as 14 more victims were laid to rest, while commemorations were also held across the former Yugoslavia.

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Thousands attended a ceremony at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre marking the 29th anniversary of the genocide of Bosniaks as 14 more victims were laid to rest, while commemorations were also held across the former Yugoslavia.

11/07/2024

Ibro Zahirovic filmed life in the besieged enclave during the Bosnian war and captured the last moments before it fell in July 1995 – escaping with videos that were later used as evidence at the Hague Tribunal.

Read more about him at the link in bio.

Video footage: Ibro Zahirovic

11/07/2024

Ibro Zahirovic filmed life in the besieged enclave during the Bosnian war and captured the last moments before it fell in July 1995 – escaping with videos that were later used as evidence at the Hague Tribunal.

Read more about him: https://balkaninsight.com/2024/07/10/filming-horror-how-videographer-captured-srebrenicas-last-moments-before-genocide-2/

11/07/2024

Serbian peace campaign group Women in Black called on Serbia’s authorities to proclaim July 11 Srebrenica Genocide Remembrance Day at their annual silent mourning event in Belgrade on Wednesday evening.

Read more: https://balkaninsight.com/2024/07/11/serbia-urged-to-proclaim-july-11-srebrenica-genocide-remembrance-day/

10/07/2024

An exhibition in Montenegro featuring photographs of Srebrenica victims' shoes that were found in mass graves aims to illuminate the suffering of people who died in the 1995 genocide.

Read more 👉 https://balkaninsight.com/2024/07/10/montenegro-exhibition-remembers-srebrenica-victims-through-their-shoes/

10/07/2024

Despite the announcements of an incoming extreme heat wave in Bosnia and Herzegovina, more than 5,000 people have set off on a three-day 100-kilometre Peace March to Srebrenica.

Read more: https://balkaninsight.com/2024/07/10/thousands-brave-bosnias-heat-to-join-20th-srebrenica-memorial-march/

10/07/2024

Ibro Zahirovic filmed life in the besieged enclave during the Bosnian war and captured the last moments before it fell in July 1995 – escaping with videos that were later used as evidence at the Hague Tribunal.

Read the story:

Ibro Zahirovic filmed life in the besieged enclave during the Bosnian war and captured the last moments before it fell in July 1995 – escaping with videos that were later used as evidence at the Hague Tribunal.

09/07/2024

Marko Rosic, sentenced over the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic two weeks ago, can't be arrested as his whereabouts are unknown.

“When we received the decision, it was too late,” Veton Elshani, Kosovo police deputy commander for the north, told BIRN.

Kosovo Police told BIRN they are unable to arrest Marko Rosic, who was sentenced to 10 years' prison and a 10,000-euros fine over the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic, as his whereabouts are unknown.

09/07/2024

The youngest of 14 genocide victims who will be buried on Thursday at the annual Srebrenica commemoration will be Beriz Mujic, who was killed aged 17 and whose remains were found last year.

"He will be buried next to his brother Hazim, who was buried in 2013," said Bosnian Missing Persons Institute spokesperson Emza Fazlic. Their father’s body has yet to be found, she added.

Read our report about childhood in besieged Srebrenica 👇

Ahead of the annual Srebrenica genocide commemoration, two cousins recall school days spent in the besieged Bosniak town before it fell to advancing Bosnian Serb forces.

09/07/2024

Every child’s first day of school stays in their memory for the rest of their lives. But when that day happens in a war-torn enclave and in highly improvised conditions, those memories tend to be that much stronger.

Ahead of the annual Srebrenica genocide commemoration, two cousins recall school days spent in the besieged Bosniak town before it fell to advancing Bosnian Serb forces.

08/07/2024

As the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide approaches on July 11, campaigners are dissatisfied that no new defendant has been convicted of involvement in the crime since the last annual commemoration 12 months ago.

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Over the past year, the Bosnian state court has not issued any verdicts for the July 1995 Srebrenica genocide and the prosecution has filed only two indictments – figures that disturb victims' families.

08/07/2024

Almir Halilovic, Sakib Kiviric, Eminom Mustafic, and Fuad Djozic are four Bosnian Muslims who survived the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica, eastern Bosnia, and almost made it to freedom.

Read the story:

The story of four Bosniak men who survived a mass ex*****on after the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995 but ultimately failed to get away to freedom is a haunting parable of courage, solidarity – and luck that ran out.

05/07/2024

Belgrade Higher Court found Danko Vladicic guilty on Friday of murdering Ramo and Tima Vranjaca in the Bosnian town of Brod na Drini on August 18, 1992, and sentenced him to nine years in jail.

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In a retrial for murdering an elderly couple in Brod na Drini during the war in Bosnia in 1992, Belgrade Higher Court again found Danko Vladicic guilty and sentenced him to nine years in prison.

04/07/2024

A Serbian court has ordered custody for a Kosovo Albanian suspected of committing war crimes against Yugoslav Army troops during the Kosovo war - the fourth Kosovo Albanian arrested on war crime charges in the country this year.

04/07/2024

In the Balkans, politics is never very far from history, and history is never far from politics. In the case of the history of the Independent State of Croatia, you don’t have to look far for examples.

Read the opinion by Rory Yeomans:

https://balkaninsight.com/2024/07/04/croatia-must-stop-downplaying-the-genocidal-crimes-of-the-ustasa/

02/07/2024

Nikoll Bufi 34 years ago jumped over an embassy wall in Tirana to escape the country’s repressive communist regime.

Today he recalls his struggle to find freedom and a new home in Western Europe.

Read the full feature 👇

An Albanian who 34 years ago jumped over an embassy wall in Tirana to escape the country’s repressive communist regime recalls his struggle to find freedom and a new home in Western Europe.

28/06/2024

The trial for the assassination of Oliver Ivanovic, a Kosovo Serb opposition politician gunned down outside his party’s office, sparked claims that powerful criminals are able to subvert justice – while the main suspects went unprosecuted.

Read more: https://balkaninsight.com/2024/06/28/kosovo-serb-politician-oliver-ivanovic-convictions-in-murder-trial-but-justice-not-done/

28/06/2024

Pristina Basic Court on Friday found four men guilty of involvement in the murder of the Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic, an opponent of the Serbian government-backed Srpska Lista party, in North Mitrovica in January 2018.

Read more:

Pristina Basic Court found Nedeljko Spasojevic, Marko Rosic, Zarko Jovanovic and Dragisa Markovic guilty of involvement in the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, who was gunned down outside his party's office in January 2018.