22 Oct 14
Former high-ranking Serbian interior ministry official Vlastimir Djordjevic will be sent to a German prison to serve his 18-year sentence for war crimes against Albanians in Kosovo.
Marija Ristic
BIRN
Belgrade
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia announced on Tuesday that Djordjevic, who was convicted of the murder and persecution of Kosovo Albanians during the conflict in 1999, will be transferred to Germany.
The name of the prison where he will serve his sentence will be made public once the transfer takes place. Djordjevic, the former assistant Serbian interior minister and chief of the Public Security Department, will remain in the UN detention centre in The Hague until then.
The Tribunal upheld Djordjevic’s war crimes conviction on appeal in January but cut his sentence from 27 to 18 years in prison.
The verdict said that Yugoslav and Serbian forces, “acting at the direction, with the encouragement, or with the support of Vlastimir Djordjevic perpetrated crimes which resulted in the forced deportation of approximately 800,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians”.
Forces directed, supported or encouraged by Djordjevic “murdered hundreds of Kosovo Albanian civilians and other persons taking no active part in the hostilities and sexually assaulted Kosovo Albanians, in particular women”.
The court also found him guilty of “persecutions through sexual assaults as a crime against humanity”.
In May last year, during closing arguments in his case, Djordjevic admitted that crimes were committed against Kosovo Albanians during the conflict and apologised to civilian victims.
“In Kosovo in 1999, war crimes took place. I didn’t want those war crimes and if I could turn back time, I would act differently,” Djordjevic said.
“I have deep regrets about all the victims in Kosovo and for the suffering their families lived through. Without any reservations, I apologise to all Albanian civilians who lost their lives,” he added.
“I apologise to refugees as well. I hope the future of this region will be dedicated to peace,” he concluded.
Djordjevic was arrested in 2007 in Montenegro after being on the run for four years.
