Verdict of Svetomir Bacevic for war crimes in 1998 near Peja confirmed; Vasic: What kind of justice is that?

The Kosovo Court of Appeal confirmed the sentence of five years in prison to a Serb Svetomir Bacevic, who was convicted of war crimes in 1998 in Belo Polje, near Peja, Reporteri reported. Bacevic's lawyer Dejan Vasic announced for Kosovo Online that he would seek the truth and respect for the law before the Supreme Court of Kosovo.

"I wonder what kind of justice Kosovo provided with this verdict to the injured T.K. who clearly said in the presence of the panel that she did not know Mr. Bacevic and that he was not the person who had tried to kidnap her from the house. Instead of justice, Mrs. T.K. was shown to be demented by the authorities who are obliged to implement the law, even though she is injured, she has a brilliantly preserved consciousness and mind," Vasic said.

Reporteri reminded that on September 8 last year, Bacevic had been sentenced to five years in prison by the General Court in Pristina, and both parties in the proceedings had filed appeals to the court after the verdict - the prosecution requesting a harsher sentence, and Vasic for release.

The Court of Appeal rejected these appeals as unfounded in its decision of January 19 this year, confirming the first-instance verdict.

By the way, in the indictment of the Special Prosecutor's Office, filed on November 9, 2021, it is stated that in the period from July to August 1998, in the village of Belo Polje, near Peja, during the conflict between members of the KLA and the military forces of the FRY and the police forces of Serbia Bacevic had been "deliberately violated the rules of international law against the civilian population."

According to Reporteri, he "took Tigja Kadrija hostage" from the house of his neighbors Rexhep and Tigja Kadrija, to which he came armed, harassed them, and tried to kidnap her.