The Basic Court in Pristina has found Miloš Plesković guilty and sentenced him to 15 years in prison, accused of war crimes in Kosovo.
According to the indictment, during 1998-99 in Prizren, Plesković, in collaboration with a group of armed Serbs, killed three Albanian civilians and injured several others, reports "Oath for Justice".
The verdict against Plesković was announced on Thursday by the presiding judge, Rrahman Beqiri, and the members: Violeta Namani-Hajra and Kujtim Krasniqi. According to Judge Beqiri, the 15-year prison sentence will be executed within 15 days of the verdict becoming final. The injured parties are instructed to proceed with a regular civil dispute.
The accused is ordered to pay the costs of the criminal proceedings - for the court fee of 200 euros and another 100 euros for the compensation tax for the victims of the crime. The same is continued in detention until the finality of the verdict, but not longer than the sentence imposed by this verdict. The judge said that after the administration of the evidence, the Court by majority votes found the accused Plesković guilty of the criminal offense "Crime of war against the civilian population" in co-perpetration.
"The witnesses have proven beyond any doubt that on 1.9.'98, while the victims FB, BD, and RD were going to the mountain, uniformed and armed people had appeared, where they were killed. This fact has been proven by all the evidence from the witnesses who described how the victims were found in that place, and moreover by the medical report issued at that time where the condition of the victims was ascertained. For the Court, there was no doubt that these three Albanian victims were killed on 1.9.'98 and moreover that they were massacred," said the judge.
Otherwise, according to the indictment of the Special Prosecutor's Office filed on June 7, 2024, it is said that during 1998-99 in Prizren, Milosh Plesković, in collaboration with other persons, violated the rules of international law against civilians, by killing the victims.
According to the indictment, Plesković, operating as an armed group with 7-8 persons of Serbian nationality, on September 1, 1998 in Prizren, while the victims RD, BD, FB, together with the injured Fevzi Cana, Xhenger, were going to their mountain. Cana and Bashkim Kastrati were initially stopped suddenly by the Serbian armed group, who were then insulted with Serbian words, and the accused was also seen among that Serbian armed group Pleskovic.
At one point, according to the indictment, Plesković started shooting with a "Kalashnikov" type weapon, killing RD, BD, and FB at the scene, while the injured Xhenger Cana, Fevzi Cana, and Bashkim Kastrati escaped. The indictment further states that the families of the deceased were allowed to collect their bodies a week after the murder, stating that the bodies of R. and BD were placed on top of each other, and one of them had his leg cut off, while the victim F. did not have his head on his body.
Therefore, for these actions, Plesković was charged with the criminal offense "War crime against the civilian population" sanctioned by Article 142 in conjunction with Article 22 of the Criminal Code of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as the law in force at the time of the commission of the criminal offense. /Oath for Justice/
