Balkan Legal News – 02 December 2024

The following media round-up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 28 November 2024 to 06 December 2024. Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates with a focus on Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.

Guernica 37 Balkan Legal News

Kosovo – 5th December Sokol Bashota, a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and ex-mayor, celebrated the suspension of investigations into him by the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office following his testimony in the war crimes trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci. Bashota argued that the halting of the investigations was a victory for him and a defence of the KLA's "purity" during the war. During his testimony, he explained the decentralized nature of KLA command structures, asserting that many decisions, like the attack on Rahovec/Orahovac in 1998, were made at the local level rather than by the General Staff. Thaci and other leaders face charges for war crimes during the Kosovo conflict, including the mistreatment and murder of prisoners, which they deny. See here. Kosovo 5th December Three individuals, including former Kosovo Justice Minister Hajredin Kuci, were reportedly arrested as part of an investigation by the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor's Office (SPO) into alleged obstruction of justice related to war crimes trials of former Kosovo Liberation Army members. Fadil Fazliu, Isni Kilaj, and Bashkim Smakaj were arrested in Kosovo on 5th December 2024, with Kuci's house also raided, though the SPO has not confirmed the arrests. The SPO, supported by the EU’s rule-of-law mission, has however said “The …SPO is conducting ongoing operations in Kosovo in an investigation focusing on offences against the administration of justice…The SPO operations have been judicially authorised by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) and supported by the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX)”. See here. Croatia – 2nd December The remains of seven people, including two soldiers and five civilians, killed during the 1991 war for Croatian independence were formally identified by Croatia's Veterans Minister, Tomo Medved, in Vukovar. Among the victims were a father and two sons found in the same mass grave, with one son being a soldier and the others civilians, highlighting the brutality of the conflict. The remains were exhumed from graves near the Vukovar-Negoslavci road, where the victims were forcibly taken and killed after the fall of Vukovar. With this identification, 1,782 individuals remain missing from the war, and efforts continue to locate and identify more victims. See here.