Vasic: Trajkovic pleaded not guilty to the charges against him

Sladjan Trajkovic from North Mitrovica, who is charged by the Special Prosecutor's Office with alleged war crimes in Kosovo in the period from 1998 to 1999, pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him at today's hearing in the Basic Court in Pristina.

Trajkovic's lawyer, Dejan A. Vasic, stated that an objection had been lodged against the conduct of the prosecution.

"We objected to the behavior of the prosecution in terms of providing and disclosing evidence because they still haven't given us some evidence. I hope that we will somehow cancel that omission during the procedure. Today the indictment was read, and Trajkovic pleaded not guilty on all counts. The trial was closed to the public, so I am not in a position to talk about the accusations and the actions that he is unfoundedly accused of," lawyer Dejan A. Vasic said.

The next stage, according to the lawyer, is the objection to the indictment and the evidence.

"We will prepare it carefully and we will have something to say in the first and the second objection, and after that, we will see how the court will decide on those objections," Vasic said.

Today's hearing was attended by Sladjan Trajkovic's family, and he was briefly allowed to see his granddaughter. Sladjan Trajkovic's wife, Suzana, points out that the family is convinced of his innocence and will fight to prove it.

"Mentally, he's holding on somehow. All the while he rubs his hands where his handcuffs were placed. It looks like they are squeezing him a lot. We hope and believe in justice and we hope that God will be on our side," Suzana Trajkovic said.

Let us remind you that the previous two hearings, where the indictment was supposed to be read, were postponed because the prosecution did not submit complete documentation to the lawyer of the accused.

Trajkovic was arrested on December 15 last year in Bosniak Mahala in North Mitrovica and has been in custody since then. The Special Prosecutor's Office of Kosovo filed an indictment against him for alleged war crimes against the civilian population in the period from 1998 to 1999, in the village of Reznik in the municipality of Vucitrn and the surrounding villages.

By the way, at the beginning of November last year, Trajkovic, together with other colleagues, left the Kosovo Police as a sign of protest against the violence that the authorities in Pristina are carrying out against the Serbs in the north.