Marinkovic: The Institute for War Crimes is Kurti's fabrication with no legal basis

Danica Marinkovic, a former investigative judge in Pristina who testified at the Hague Tribunal in the Racak case, says for Kosovo Online that the Institute for War Crimes in Pristina was established without any legal basis and solely with the aim of intimidating Serbs living in Kosovo or planning to return there.

Marinkovic says it remains to be seen whether the establishment of this institute by Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, was an attempt to score points with his voters or if it will serve as an extended arm of the Special Court in The Hague, which is prosecuting members of the former KLA for crimes committed during the 1998-1999 period.

"The Institute is a fabricated institution; Albin Kurti wants to show that he has power," Marinkovic claims.

She asserts that there is no legal basis for its establishment because "there was no war in Kosovo in 1998."

Stating that she spent a considerable amount of time throughout Kosovo working as an investigative judge during that period, Marinkovic says that Albanian terrorists took actions, including killing and committing crimes against Serbs and Albanians who were not loyal to the terrorists.

"At that time, the state of Serbia, through its institutions, functioned and took all necessary actions based on its authority to identify perpetrators of such criminal acts and prosecute them. There were even cases where verdicts were handed down, legally concluding with convictions," Marinkovic emphasizes.

When asked whether Serbian authorities prosecuted Serbs suspected of war crimes in 1998 and 1999, Marinkovic responded affirmatively.

"Proceedings were initiated, and all necessary legal measures were taken for every perpetrator of a criminal offense, regardless of whether they were Serbian or Albanian. It was done according to the law and within the scope of the authority. The prosecution and the court did their job, and as for 1999, when the NATO aggression and bombing began, a state of emergency was declared, military courts and prosecutors were formed, and they worked continuously throughout the aggression, prosecuting cases regardless of the perpetrator's ethnicity," Marinkovic explains.

Commenting on Kosovo's announcement of preparing a lawsuit against Serbia for genocide, Marinkovic emphasizes that there is not even "g" of the "genocide" and that ethnic cleansing of Serbs occurred in Kosovo.

"Genocide is out of the question, nor can it be posed as a question, let alone accusing Serbia of such a criminal act. What Kurti has now declared and the formation of the Institute for crimes allegedly committed during the war in Kosovo and Metohija is intended to intimidate, to create insecurity among Serbs living in Kosovo and Metohija and Serbs who want to return to Kosovo and Metohija, to their homes," she warns, pointing out that it could lead to a "hunt against Serbs" regardless of facts or evidence of any crime, including crimes during 1998 and 1999.

The former investigative judge in Pristina says that this "hunt against Serbs" is already happening because, for months, Serbs have been arrested and accused, as she claims, without any legal basis or evidence.

As a key piece of evidence, she mentions that Serbs who worked in Kosovo institutions until November of last year are being arrested.

"For 20 years, they worked without any problems, and when they left those institutions, the hunt against Serbs began, making up allegations that they committed alleged war crimes," she emphasizes.

Commenting on the announced trials in absentia, Marinkovic says that criminal legislation allows for such a possibility, but she is not familiar with how it is legally resolved in Kosovo.

Marinkovic says that certain legal conditions must be met for such proceedings: the perpetrator must be known, that he is unavailable to state authorities, with unknown residence, not properly served with a court summons, etc.

"Only then does one go to issuing a warrant, making a decision to conduct an investigation, and making a decision to try them in absentia, and only then are such individuals prosecuted," Marinkovic says.