Pantovic: Indictments against Serbs are vague and imprecise, with the aim of securing as many convictions as possible

Attorney Ljubomir Pantovic told Kosovo Online that the OSCE's report on the monitoring of war crimes proceedings is "entirely fair, balanced, and addresses the core of the problem".

Pantovic said that what particularly drew his attention was that the report explicitly raises an issue which he and his colleagues have been highlighting for years in the courtrooms of Pristina, where war crimes cases are tried—namely, that indictments against non-Albanian defendants, primarily Serbs, are extremely broad and lacking in specificity.

"From these indictments, it is impossible to determine precisely what the accused is charged with, what he allegedly did, or how those alleged actions constitute a war crime. The indictments are vague, imprecise, unclear, and, in every respect, very poorly drafted. The most recent example is the Banjska indictment. Anyone who has followed that trial could see that it is completely chaotic, imprecise, and unclear, making it impossible to establish from the indictment itself what the defendants allegedly did in Banjska. Nevertheless, the court accepted it, and the harshest sentences were subsequently imposed. The report also addresses other problems that are evident in all such proceedings—excessive delays, prolonged pre-trial detention, and a lack of judicial impartiality. These are not fair trials. The defendants' right to a fair trial is not respected, nor is their right to a judicial decision based on evidence and established facts," Pantovic said.

He further stated that he has repeatedly voiced what he described as a very serious concern—that the objective is to secure convictions of as many non-Albanians as possible for war crimes, even where the available evidence is insufficient.

"That is precisely what is happening. The media are also playing their part. Defendants are convicted in the public eye before their trials even begin. They are declared guilty in advance. I represented a client who was charged with terrorism, and before the trial had even started, a senior Kosovo government official repeatedly referred to him in the media as a terrorist. In the end, he was not convicted of terrorism. An atmosphere is deliberately created from all sides that sends a message to the courts that all defendants are guilty and must be convicted. We have also seen representatives of the executive branch publicly saying: 'Such-and-such a sentence is too lenient; the punishment should be harsher. The courts must work faster and convict those accused of war crimes," he said.

Pantovic concluded that the proceedings are not fair and that court decisions are not based on evidence and established facts.

"For that reason, there can be no genuine transitional justice under the present circumstances," Pantovic concluded.