UN Court

The Council of State, the country's highest administrative court, has rebuffed an appeal lodged by a group of citizens and groups calling for a temporary order allowing churches across the country to open for worshippers wanting to attend religious services.

Former PASOK defense minister Yiannos Papantoniou was released from pre-trial custody on Tuesday after spending 17 months behind bars, following a decision by a council of misdemeanor court judges to accept his request to pay the 150,000-euro bail by July 1.

Miodrag Stojanovic, one of the lawyers representing Ratko Mladic at his trial in The Hague, told BIRN that the former Bosnian Serb military commander had a colon operation on Monday and has now left hospital.

"He was discharged from the hospital yesterday [Wednesday] and returned to the [UN] detention unit [in the Netherlands]," said Stojanovic.

Bosnia's Constitutional Court said that it has rejected Zarko Vukovic's appeal against his conviction, describing as unfounded his claim that his right to a fair trial was violated.

A court in Bosnia and Herzegovina has terminated restrictions on the movement of Turkish citizen Fatih Keskin, previously imposed by the Service for Foreigners' Affairs following his arrest and subsequent release in December last year, the court told BIRN BiH.

Skopje Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced Democratic Union for Integration, DUI party officials Ejup Alimi and Ismet Guri to three-and-a-half years in jail each for the "destruction of electoral materials" in Skopje's municipality of Cair during the 2013 local polls.

A former Democratic Party deputy, Constantin Tutu, surrendered to Moldovan law enforcement agencies on Friday at the Albita-Leuseni border crossing point with Romania, wearing medical gloves and a protective mask when taken into custody.

In this endeavour, Thaci is believed to have secured support US President Donald Trump's envoy for Serbia-Kosovo peace negotiations, Richard Grenell. A man of many titles - he is also the acting Director of National Intelligence and the US ambassador to Germany - Grenell has denied that the partition of Kosovo has been discussed in secret as part of the rumoured peace deal.

The pilot of an airplane that skidded off the runway in Istanbul on Feb. 5, killing three passengers and injuring over 100 more, has been released from prison on condition of house arrest.

The plane flying to Istanbul from the Aegean province of İzmir veered off the end of the wet runway while landing.

A court in Karabük's Safranbolu district has ruled for house arrest for a couple who violated the coronavirus quarantine rules.

In fact, the couple tested negative for the virus, however, the person they live with tested positive. As part of the measures introduced to contain the spread of the deadly disease, the couple was ordered to remain under quarantine for 14 days.