On September 8, 2022, the Basic Court in Pristina announced the first instance verdict, sentencing defendant Svetomir Bačević with five (5) years of imprisonment for war crimes against the civilian population, specifically for taking as hostage an Albanian woman in the period July-August 1998, in village Bellopojë/Belo Polje, Municipality of Pejë/Peć. The Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo (HLCK) considers that the verdict was based on merit, the trial was fair, and the rights of the parties in procedure were respected.
The judgment was announced after six (6) hearings, where six (6) witnesses proposed by the prosecution were heard. In addition, two (2) hearings were held following the Special Investigative Opportunity, in which the testimony of the injured party, Tigje Kadrijaj, was taken. The defense has not proposed any witnesses to be heard in this trial.
The injured party, Tigje Kadrijaj, stated that the person who came to her house did not beat her, and that, according to her husband who passed away a few years after the war, that person belonged to the Bačević family and was their neighbor. Thus, the injured party was not able to identify the person who entered their house and took the injured Tigje Kadrijaj hostage from the backyard of the house at gunpoint. In addition, the injured party was not able to identify the person who released her and returned the injured party home.
Witness M.S., neighbor of the injured party, a Serb, who was the only eyewitness heard in this trial, testified that defendant Bačević was the person who took hostage the injured Tigje Kadrijaj. After a physical confrontation with the defendant, witness M.S. released the injured Tigje Kadriajaj and returned her home.
Other witnesses of the prosecution stated that they heard from the now deceased Rexhep Kadrijaj, Tigje’s husband, that the person who entered their house during the war and mistreated them was Svetomir Bačević.
The Office of the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo, on November 11, 2021, filed an indictment against defendant Svetomir Bačević for the criminal offense of war crimes against the civilian population, specifically for taking the injured Tigje Kadrijaj hostage.
When the verdict was announced, the jury failed to provide a reasoning on the announced verdict, despite being a legal requirement for the court to include a brief reasoning regarding the evidences on which it based the decision.
The parties have the right to appeal against this judgment in the Court of Appeals.
