Witness Jashari: I had Aksiq as my first neighbor, he destroyed my house

In the first case in Kosovo, of the trial in absentia, where the prosecution accuses Čedomir Aksić of war crimes, including participation in the Recak Massacre, the first witness Sadri Jashari appeared on Tuesday. He said that he knew the accused Aksiq and during the testimony, he referred to him as "Ceda"

Sadri Jashari, a citizen from Shtimja, testified on Tuesday at the Basic Court in Pristina, in the case where Cedomir Aksiq is accused of war crimes.

Jashari said that during the war, his house was destroyed with explosives, for which he holds the accused Aksiq, who was referred to as "Çeda", responsible. 

Jashari was asked by prosecutor Habibe Salihu why he calls the accused by his nickname. The witness emphasized that he has known him for a long time.

"We have always told Ceda, because I had him as my first neighbor. I knew Cedomir, his father, because we had houses next to each other", he announced.

The Special Prosecutor's Office accuses Aksiq of a number of murders, including participation in the Recak Massacre. 

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Accused Aksiq was not present at the hearing. The case against him is the first trial in absentia since the post-war period.

The witness Jashari said that he saw the accused Aksiq several times in police uniform.

"From the beginning, from the first day of the war, he was dressed (in uniform) and whether he was a director or held a high position in the police, I am not sure", said Jashari.

This Tuesday was the first court session for this case, after the initial hearing, which was held in November 2023. The indictment against Aksic was filed in May of the same year.

In the accusatory document, it is said that between the villages of Reçak, Mulapolc and Petrovë, Aksiqi, together with other members of the Serbian forces, ordered the expulsion of the inhabitants, and then burned their houses.

He is also accused of direct participation in a murder.

"Until the late Halil Hysenaj, together with his family and other members of the Albanian population of the village of Petrovë in Shtime, stayed on the mountain to protect themselves from the attacks that had begun by the Serbian forces, at the moment when the Serbian forces had started to go towards the location of the injured on the mountain, now the deceased, in order to ascertain whether they are members of the KLA or the Serbian forces, had started towards them, but was stopped by himself the accused Čedomir Aksiq, who had been wearing a patchwork uniform, and who had supported the now deceased Halil Hysenaj for a 'stami' and had pointed the weapon, a 10-gauge rifle, while later, Halil Hysenaj is found by the villagers without signs of life", the indictment states.

In the village of Reçak, according to the indictment, Aksiqi also participated in the murder of Hajriz Brahim, Hakin Murat, Sabri Murat, Arif Murat, Ahmet Mustafa, Sadik Mujota, Skënder Haliti and Hanumshaha Mujota.

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According to court documents, Aksiqi now lives in Kruševac, Serbia.

The possibility of trials in absentia was included in the Criminal Procedure Code of 2019. The Code meanwhile underwent changes in 2021 and 2022, until the first indictment in absentia was filed last year.