Three Serbs acquitted of war crimes charges

Three Serbs acquitted of war crimes charges

PRIŠTINA -- The mixed trial chamber of the Priština Basic Court acquitted on Thursday three Serbs of charges that they committed a war crime during the Kosovo war in 1999.

Brothers Slobodan and Srecko Martinović and Svetlana Stojanović were acquitted of charges due to lack of evidence, Srecko Martinovićc's lawyer Dejan Vasić told Tanjug.

The Priština Basic Court and the mixed trial chamber presided by judge Vladimir Mikula passed the ruling on Thursday acquitting the defendants of all charges, Vasic said.

He underscored that the court did not find enough evidence in the retrial and that the testimony of damaged Kosovo Albanian Selatin Beciri was unconvincing.

The EULEX police arrested the three Serbs on September 24, 2009, on suspicion that they committed war crime against civilians during the conflicts in Kosovo and Metohija.

The Priština court established that they are not guilty in the first-instance trial, but the prosecution appealed the ruling and the Appellate Court issued instructions for a retrial. It concluded on Thursday by the acquittal of the Serb defendants.