The Basic Court in Pristina has announced that it has scheduled the initial hearing session for 21 people accused of the Recak Massacre, who are charged, among other things, with Count for war crimes against the civilian population.
The trial in absentia will be held against the defendants Obrad Stevanović, Radomir Marković, Krsmam Jelic, Goran Radosavljević, Živko Trajković, Bogoljub Janičević, Milan Lekić, Radomir Milić, Dragan Đorgović, Branko Mladenović, Dragan Jasović, Momčilo Sparavalo, Darko Amanović, Srboljub Vujinović, Božidar Marinković, Zoran Stanojević, Milan Josanović, Goran Petković, Dragoslav Nikolić, Čedomir Aksić and Zvonimir Janičević.
In a press release, it is announced that according to the proposal of the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo, the trial in this case will take place in the absence of the defendants, because they were unavailable until the moment the indictment was filed.
"For this reason, through this announcement, the aforementioned defendants are called upon to appear and surrender before the prosecution authorities of the Republic of Kosovo. Also, all persons who possess relevant information regarding the whereabouts of the defendants are called upon to communicate this information to the Kosovo Police or other competent authorities," the announcement states.
It was further announced that the hearing will be held at the Basic Court on July 20.
According to the indictment, in the period 1998 - 1999, the defendants, in complicity, as members of the Army of the former Yugoslavia, the "243rd Mechanized Brigade", the 3rd Army, known as the "Pristina Corps", as well as members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP), also committed inhumane treatment, destruction of property, mass deportation and ethnic cleansing of the civilian population.
also
Trial for the Recak Massacre fails to start
"The defendants initially surrounded the village of Recak from the places called 'Pishat', 'Geshtenjat' and 'Çesta'. Then, from a distance, they shelled the village with military vehicles, searched house by house, and separated the men from the women and children, forcing them to leave the village, while the detained men were executed," the Prosecution's statement reads.
The prosecution's investigations have established that the defendants exercised physical violence against civilians, beating them with gun butts, kicks, wood, chains and other hard objects.
