Attorney Vlajic: Repeated trial of Arsic nearing its end, the decision must be fairer

Source: Kosovo Online

Attorney Nebojsa Vlajic said that the trial of Dusko Arsic from Maticane, which is being conducted in a repeated procedure before the Special Department of the Basic Court in Pristina for alleged war crimes, is nearing its end, and that he hopes the new verdict will be fairer than the first-instance one.

After three witnesses were heard today, Vlajic noted that the hearing of one more witness remains, after which closing arguments will follow.

“There is one more witness left who, in the opinion of the defense, is completely irrelevant and does not even have to appear. However, the public prosecutor insists on him. I expect that if that person appears at the next hearing, scheduled in four to five days, he will be heard, and if he does not appear, I believe we will conclude the proceedings without him. The closing arguments should also be delivered that day, and after that, within three days, the court is obliged to announce the verdict,” Vlajic said.

He added that his expectations in this case are maximal, but that this does not necessarily mean anything.

“I am not the one who decides in this procedure, and we have had many opportunities to see how decisions are made in these proceedings,” Vlajic pointed out.

As he emphasized, the proceedings before the appellate court showed that the first-instance trial was a complete failure.

“That nothing that was done in that trial was recognized by the appellate court. I believe that this second trial will not meet the same fate and that the decision must be fairer than the first one,” Vlajic said.

Arsic was arrested on December 8, 2021, at the Jarinje crossing, in the presence of his two minor children, after he came to resolve issues related to usurped property in the village of Maticane, near Pristina.

On February 2, 2024, he was sentenced at first instance to 13 years in prison by the court in Pristina, but the Court of Appeal, following an appeal by the defense, ordered that the trial be repeated.