Arsic: The fundamental method in Kosovo - if you can't force someone to do something, accuse them of war crimes

Dusko Arsic from Matiqan, currently on trial in Pristina for an alleged war crime during 1999, stated today in court that the basic method in Kosovo was that if you could not force someone to do something, accuse them of war crimes.

"They pressured me and threatened me to withdraw from my property, to withdraw from the trial I initiated for my property. I will regret it. I didn't know I would be accused of a war crime. It seems that this is the basic method in Kosovo. The easiest method. If you can't force someone, accuse them of a war crime," Arsic said.

The verdict in the case of Dusko Arsic is scheduled for February 2nd at 10:00, and his lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic, after today's hearing, emphasized that the court would have a difficult time resolving this issue.

"This trial is one of the similar trials taking place in Kosovo courts, and in my opinion, as I emphasized in the closing statement, it is a case where the evidence is not just unconvincing, but almost nonexistent. A man who lived in Kosovo before and after the war, who established a family here, never left Kosovo, freely moved around, went to Kosovo institutions, worked in Kosovo, and suddenly, when he wanted to sell his land and had a property dispute, he was reported to have committed a war crime. I think that two or more decades of silence from the alleged victim or witness, in this case, indicate that there are, at the very least, some shady dealings, and I believe the court will have a difficult time resolving this issue and making a fair decision. The verdict announcement is scheduled for seven days from now, so we'll see what happens," Vlajic said.

Arsic is being tried before the Special Department of the Basic Court in Pristina. He was arrested on December 8, 2021, at the Jarinje crossing, in the presence of two underage children, after coming to resolve issues regarding usurped property in the village of Matiqan, near Pristina. The prosecution charges him with committing a war crime in 1999 in the village of Butovac, Kosovo.

Arsic filed a lawsuit for property usurpation on September 20, 2021.