War crimes in the Kosovo War

Serbia has raised more than 100 arrest warrants for persons suspected of committing war crimes in Kosovo and Metohija in the late 1990s.

BELGRADE - A French court has ordered former Kosovar Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj to remain in custody pending an extradition request from Serbia on war crimes in a case that has strained the already fragile ties between Belgrade and Pristina.

Serbian authorities have released Hilmi Kelmendi after detaining him last Friday on a war crimes arrest warrant.

Kelmendi, suspected of committing war crimes in Kosovo, was arrested while entering Serbia from Croatia. Beta is quoting the KTV broadcaster that reported his lawyer Sead Spahovic confirmed his release.

Kosovo’s Special Prosecution filed an war crimes indictment against former guerrilla commander turned MP Fatmir Limaj over the murder of two Kosovo Albanian civilians in October 1998.

The Humanitarian Law Centre will appeal to the Constitutional Court over a ruling ordering it to compensate Serbian Army chief Ljubisa Dikovic for accusing him of involvement in war crimes in Kosovo and Bosnia.

Kosovo Serb political party leader Oliver Ivanovic, convicted of war crimes for ordering the murder of ethnic Albanians in Mitrovica in April 1999, launched an appeal against his nine-year sentence.

President Hashim Thaci sent letters to Kosovo prosecutors urging them to take action to resolve a series of crimes against both ethnic Albanians and Serbs during and after the war in 1999.

"The Kosovo Special Prosecution (SPRK), on its own initiative, on September 16, 2016, started a preliminary investigation into this case," prosecution spokesperson Liridona Kozmaqi told BIRN on Wednesday.

"Now the SPRK is awaiting the results of the preliminary investigation and the filing of criminal charges by police investigators," Kozmaqi added.

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Marko Djuric said Friday he hoped the special court set up to try crimes committed by the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army" ("KLA") would help rid the Kosovo public scene of people responsible for crimes.

The chief prosecutor at the new special court set up to try former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters for crimes during and after the war promised he would conduct his investigations fearlessly and independently.