{"id":79868,"date":"2025-07-17T14:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T12:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/?p=79868"},"modified":"2025-07-17T15:09:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T13:09:01","slug":"pristina-court-sentences-former-serbian-state-security-member-in-absentia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/pristina-court-sentences-former-serbian-state-security-member-in-absentia\/","title":{"rendered":"Pristina Court Sentences Former Serbian State Security Member in Absentia"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full\" dir=\"auto\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-6\" data-scroll-anchor=\"true\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] @[37rem]:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] @[72rem]:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:32rem] @[34rem]:[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @[64rem]:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto flex max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 text-base gap-4 md:gap-5 lg:gap-6 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"group\/conversation-turn relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\">\n<div class=\"relative flex-col gap-1 md:gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-5\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"1388497f-5c6d-45f0-9810-53829b5620bf\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-4o\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[3px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full break-words light\">\n<p data-start=\"79\" data-end=\"245\">A court in Pristina has sentenced in absentia a former member of Serbia\u2019s State Security Service to 15 years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"247\" data-end=\"464\">In a press statement, the Basic Court in Pristina announced that it found the defendant \u2014 identified only by the initials S.F. \u2014 guilty of committing the criminal offense of war crimes against the civilian population.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"466\" data-end=\"749\">The prosecution accused him of forcibly taking a doctor, identified by the initials H.Sh., into a vehicle along with two other unidentified officials in 1998 on the Drenas-Pristina road, and \u201cbringing him to the State Security building in Pristina, where he was beaten and tortured.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"751\" data-end=\"823\">\u201cSince that day, his fate remains unknown,\u201d according to the indictment.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"825\" data-end=\"910\">S.F. has the right to appeal the Basic Court\u2019s ruling at the Kosovo Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"912\" data-end=\"1152\">Trials in absentia are permitted in Kosovo following amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code made in 2022. However, such trials are only allowed if the prosecution and the court have exhausted all efforts to secure the accused\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1154\" data-end=\"1284\">Still, the law provides that individuals tried in absentia are entitled to an unconditional retrial if and when they are arrested.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1286\" data-end=\"1544\">According to the Humanitarian Law Center in Kosovo, between the entry into force of the law on trials in absentia and February 2025, 50 indictments have been filed in absentia against 73 members of Serbian forces suspected of committing war crimes in Kosovo.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1546\" data-end=\"1724\">The first verdict in absentia was delivered in December 2024 in the case of \u010cedomir Aksic, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1726\" data-end=\"1923\">During the 1998\u201399 Kosovo war, over 13,000 civilians \u2014 mostly ethnic Albanians \u2014 were killed, and thousands of others went missing. Around 1,600 people, primarily Albanians, remain unaccounted for.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1925\" data-end=\"2032\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Over the years, Kosovo\u2019s judicial authorities have charged or convicted several individuals for war crimes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mx-[var(--mini-thread-content-inset)]\">\n<div class=\"flex min-h-[46px] justify-start\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"aria-live=polite absolute\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"pointer-events-none h-px w-px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-edge=\"true\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A court in Pristina has sentenced in absentia a former member of Serbia\u2019s State Security Service to 15 years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population. In a press statement, the Basic Court in Pristina announced that it found the defendant \u2014 identified only by the initials S.F. \u2014 guilty of committing the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":79869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,1803],"tags":[243,151],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pristina Court Sentences Former Serbian State Security Member in Absentia - Euronews Albania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/pristina-court-sentences-former-serbian-state-security-member-in-absentia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pristina Court Sentences Former Serbian State Security Member in Absentia - Euronews Albania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A court in Pristina has sentenced in absentia a former member of Serbia\u2019s State Security Service to 15 years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population. In a press statement, the Basic Court in Pristina announced that it found the defendant \u2014 identified only by the initials S.F. \u2014 guilty of committing the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/pristina-court-sentences-former-serbian-state-security-member-in-absentia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Euronews Albania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/euronews.al\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-17T12:08:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-17T13:09:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nen Si\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@euronewsalbania\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@euronewsalbania\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nen Si\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/pristina-court-sentences-former-serbian-state-security-member-in-absentia\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/pristina-court-sentences-former-serbian-state-security-member-in-absentia\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nen Si\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/444d280f35e047949b7f0bc08093608f\"},\"headline\":\"Pristina Court Sentences Former Serbian State Security Member in Absentia\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-17T12:08:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-17T13:09:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/pristina-court-sentences-former-serbian-state-security-member-in-absentia\/\"},\"wordCount\":315,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/pristina-court-sentences-former-serbian-state-security-member-in-absentia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Gjykata-45.bmp\",\"keywords\":[\"kryesore 1\",\"Kryesoret\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Kosovo\",\"Latest news\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/pristina-court-sentences-former-serbian-state-security-member-in-absentia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/pristina-court-sentences-former-serbian-state-security-member-in-absentia\/\",\"name\":\"Pristina Court Sentences Former Serbian State Security Member in Absentia - 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