Balkan Legal News

The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 18 March to 24 March 2022.

Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates with a focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina, 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.

Serbia – 18 March 2022

Belgrade Higher Court sentenced Osman Osmanovic, a wartime official, to five years in prison for abusing civilians and prisoners of war who were held at the detention facility during the summer of 1992. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 22 March 2022

The lawyer for former Kosovo Liberation Army unit commander Salih Mustafa told the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague that his client could not have been responsible for the crimes listed in the indictment because he did not have control over the area in which they allegedly happened. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – 22 March 2022

Sarajevo Cantonal Court found Veljko Papic guilty of planning, directing and supervising the activities of a forced labour squad in Sarajevo’s Grbavica and Kovacici neighbourhoods in 1993 and 1994. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 23 March 2022

Albin Kurti promised to make ‘innovative’ foreign policy a priority; his government’s ineffective performance so far reveals the need for a new approach. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – 23 March 2022

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik repeatedly denies the allegations that he received a fictitious loan from a friendly bank to buy a pricey villa, after being grilled by Bosnia’s State Prosecution. The full article can be found here.

Montenegro – 23 March 2022

Montenegro’s Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority rights rejected a Russian request for the extradition of Rizvan Babayev, a member of a far-right Ukrainian group, “Right Sector”, citing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 24 March 2022

Kosovo’s judicial governing body, the Kosovo Judicial Council, suspended the head of Mitrovica Basic Court Liljana Stefanovic and established a panel to investigate her, two days after she and political representatives of the Kosovo Serb community in Kosovo met Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade. The full article can be found here.

Croatia – 24 March 2022

The removal of fake news from social networks has taken centre-stage in Croatia in recent weeks after several right-wing portals and bloggers accused the country’s main fact-checking media organisation, Faktograf, of censorship. The full article can be found here.