Basic Court

In an operation codenamed "Rez" ("Cut") Bosnian police on Tuesday arrested Elvis Kelmendi, son of the controversial Kosovo-born figure Naser Kelmendi, and six other suspects, for organised crime in connection with international smuggling and illegal trafficking in drugs as well as other crimes.

In January 2022, after Srdjan Letic was sentenced to six months in prison for causing severe bodily injuries to Cvijetin Sofrenovic, the Basic Court in Brcko allowed him to commute his sentence for a fine of 9,000 euros, the Court has confirmed to BIRN.

The courtroom at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Photo: EPA-EFE/PATRICK SEEGER

Kosovo civil society activists protested on Tuesday in front of the Kosovo Judicial Council in Pristina after a verdict handed down by a local court in the town of Peja/Pec sentenced a man to eight months and eight days in prison for sexually abusing a 15-year-old.

Ivan Todosijevic, a Kosovo Serb MP from the Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista party, did not appear on Wednesday at noon as ordered by the court to begin his two-year prison sentence for inciting ethnic, racial or religious intolerance.

Florent Gashi, spokesperson for the Kosovo Correctional Service told BIRN that "the person in question so far has not appeared to serve his sentence".

"It was agreed that the Court of Appeals in Pristina establish a panel made up of the majority of Serbian judges when it comes to verdicts within the majority Serb communities. In this case, that was not respected," Stano said.

On that occasion, he addressed a video posted on the Instagram profile "buducnostsrbijeav.

"They banished us just because we were members of 'Pravda za Davida' and because we sought the truth about the killed youngster," Testen said prior to his hearing in court.

Pristina Basic Court on Tuesday sentenced former police officer Zlatan Krstic to 14-and-a-half years in prison and former police inspector Destan Shabanaj to seven years for their roles in a deadly attack on Kosovo Albanian civilians during the war.

The Basic Court at Peje/Pec in Kosovo has ordered the reopening of the trial for the murder of a 29-year-old following a series of dramatic developments in recent days that caught public attention.

"The main trial is reopened," Presiding Judge Violeta Husaj Rugova declared on Friday, explaining that further completion of "the criminal proceedings" was now necessary.