The Court of Appeal in Pristina increased the sentence of Zoran Vukotic from 10 to 13 years in prison; Vlajic: Unfair verdict

The Court of Appeal in Pristina increased the prison sentence of Zoran Vukotic from Vucitrn, from 10 years to 13 years, to which he was previously sentenced by the Basic Court in Pristina. Lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic pointed out that the decision was unfair.

As stated in the court's announcement, the verdict of Tuesday, April 18 had partially accepted the appeal of the Special Prosecutor's Office of Kosovo, so the verdict of the first instance court had been changed, only with regard to the decision on the sentence, while the second part of the prosecution's complaint, as well as the complaint of the accused Z.V. and his defense attorney N.V., was rejected as unfounded.

By the verdict of the Basic Court in Pristina, dated November 11, 2022, the defendant Z.V. for the "criminal act of war crimes against the civilian population", was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

"The court assessed that all the circumstances in their unity provided a sufficient basis to justify the imposition of a prison sentence of 13 years, with the conviction that the sentence imposed now was proportionate and fully justified in relation to the specific prison sentence, the gravity of the criminal act, the circumstances of its execution and a high degree of criminal responsibility of the defendant," the Court of Appeal announced.

Zoran Vukotic's defense attorney, lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic, told Kosovo Online that he had not received the Court's decision yet and that he had been informed about it by the media.

"I can't say anything about it, but if so - it's an unfair verdict, where the right of defense and the Criminal Procedure Law are violated in many serious ways. I haven't used all the legal means yet, and I will file a petition to the Supreme Court of Kosovo," Vlajic said.

Vlajic reminded that Vukotic had been sentenced to 10 years in 2018, after which the sentence had been revoked.

"Then he was again sentenced to 10 years, and now, apparently, the prison sentence has been increased to 13 years," Vlajic said.

Vukotic was arrested in Montenegro in 2016, based on a red Interpol warrant issued at the request of UNMIK and handed over to the Kosovo judicial authorities.