Belgrade Court Aquits Ethnic Albanian
Students
27 October 1999
The trial of one of two groups of
Kosovo Albanian students before the Belgrade District Court ended with their acquittal of
the charge of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. The university students were
arrested in Belgrade on 13 May this year during the NATO military intervention.
The panel, presided by Judge Zoran Savi?,
found that the prosecution had failed to present evidence to prove that the defendants had
conspired to commit acts of terrorism, and aquitted Bekim and Safet Bljakaj, brothers from
Kovraee village near Istok, Edon Hajrulagini from Prizren, and Luid Ndou from Djakovica.
The Court’s ruling sets a positive
precedent in domestic judicial practice as it is the first to aquit Kosovo Albanians
indicted of terrorism for lack of evidence. The defendants were, however, found guilty on
other counts and sentenced to terms of imprisonment.
Bekim Bljakaj, the chief defendant, was
sentenced to 12 months for illegal possession of ammunition, falsifying official documents
and illegal trafficking in medicines. He was remanded in custody until the sentence
becomes final.
Safet Bljakaj, Edon Hajrulagini, and Luid
Ndou were found guilty of illegal trafficking in medicines and sentenced to five months
and 13 days. Since they had spent this time in confinement awaiting trial, the Court
released them.
During the trial, the defendants described
in detail the torture they were subjected to during police detention to extract
confessions to the criminal offenses they were charged with. |
