The hearing of two war crimes defendants, Momir Pantić and Zharko Zarič, was canceled for the second consecutive day at the Basic Court in Pristina on Tuesday. The hearing scheduled for Tuesday was canceled due to the health of the defendant Pantić.
The office of the presiding judge, Donika Shala-Avdyli, confirmed that they were informed by the High Security Prison in Dyz that the health condition of the accused Pantić continues to be the same, for this reason he cannot be present at the trial today, "Oath for Justice" reported.
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Letter to the Reader — Why We're Asking for Your Support ContributeThe March 16th session has also been canceled for the same reasons.
According to the indictment filed on September 1, 2024 by the Special Prosecution, the former chief of the Istog police station, Momir Pantić, and former police officer Zharko Zarič, are charged with having co-perpetrated the criminal offense of "War crime against the civilian population".
According to the indictment, on May 19, 1999, in the village of Dubrava, precisely in the Dubrava prison, after NATO bombings that killed 3 Albanian prisoners, Pantić, as the chief of the police station, together with Serbian police forces, went to take control of the situation and after the bombings stopped, along with the guards, entered the prisoners' rooms and exercised systematic violence, beating them in a cruel and inhumane manner, just because they were Albanians.
In the indictment it is stated that the NATO bombings continued on May 21, where 18 Albanian prisoners were killed and dozens more injured. While, the day after in the morning, guards, prisoners, armed Serbs together with police forces and Special Units who were under the command of the Police Station in Istog, first gathered the Albanian prisoners in the sports field and then, as it is said in the indictment they started shooting with different types of firearms, while from behind the prison wall they shot bombs at the Albanian prisoners.
According to the indictment, Serbian police forces from the Istog Police Station, under the leadership of Pantic, also kidnapped an Albanian civilian with the pseudonym “A1”, whom they sexually raped. In addition to victim “A1”, the indictment describes the rape of another victim – “B1”. The two defendants are also accused of murdering several families in the Istog Municipality.