Closing arguments in Kosovo Six case

The Hague trial of former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic and five former state officials is drawing to a close. The closing arguments of both the prosecution and defense will begin tomorrow, and will last until the end of the week. Closing arguments in Kosovo Six case Alnogside Milutinovic in the dock, accused of the forced displacement, deportation, murder and persecution of Albanian civilians from Kosovo in the first six months of 1999 are then Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, Head of the Yugoslav Army’s (VJ) Chief of Staff Dragoljub Ojdanic, VJ Third Army Commander Nebojsa Pavkovic, VJ Pristina Corps Commander Vladimir Lazarevic, and Serbian MUP Chief of Staff in Kosovo Sreten Lukic. The trial chamber presided by Judge Ian Bonomy has granted the prosecution eight hours for its closing statements and the representatives of the six accused two and a half hours each. Prosecutor Tom Hannis is expected to call on the Trial Chamber to find the six defendants guilty of the crimes in Kosovo and sentence them to long prison terms, while the defense counsels will claim that their clients’ guilt has not been proven beyond reasonable doubt, and that they should therefore be acquitted. The trial of Milutinovic and his co-accused began on July 10, 2006, and the prosecution rested its case on May 1, 2007. Defense counsels then began making their case, bringing 114 witnesses before the judges, while retired Generals Milan Djakovic and Aleksandar Dimitrijevic gave their statements as Trial Chamber witnesses. According to the indictment, “Serbian forces, acting on orders, at the instigation or support of Milan Milutinovic, Nikola Sainovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic, and Sreten Lukic, perpetrated criminal acts, the consequence of which was the forced displacement and deportation of close to 800,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians. In order to facilitate that persecution and deportation, Serbian forces wilfully created an atmosphere of fear and pressure through the use of force, threats of force and application of violence.“ “The same forces, acting on orders, at the instigation or support of the accused, killed hundreds of Kosovo Albanian civilians and other individuals that did not actively participate in the enmity and sexually abused Kosovo Albanians, especially women,” the indictment adds. The first indictment for crimes committed against the Kosovo Albanians—brought in late May 1999 by then Hague Chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour during the NATO air strikes on the former Yugoslavia and the conflict between state forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in Kosovo—cited the late Slobodan Milosevic, Sainovic, Ojdanic, and Vlajko Stojiljkovic, then Serbian interior minister. Milosevic was tried separately after he was extradited to the Tribunal in summer 2001, while Stojiljkovic committed suicide in Belgrade. Slobodan Milosevic, Milan Milutinovic (FoNet, archive)

Closing arguments in Kosovo Six case

Alnogside Milutinović in the dock, accused of the forced displacement, deportation, murder and persecution of Albanian civilians from Kosovo in the first six months of 1999 are then Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Šainović, Head of the Yugoslav Army’s (VJ) Chief of Staff Dragoljub Ojdanić, VJ Third Army Commander Nebojša Pavković, VJ Priština Corps Commander Vladimir Lazarević, and Serbian MUP Chief of Staff in Kosovo Sreten Lukić.

The trial chamber presided by Judge Ian Bonomy has granted the prosecution eight hours for its closing statements and the representatives of the six accused two and a half hours each.

Prosecutor Tom Hannis is expected to call on the Trial Chamber to find the six defendants guilty of the crimes in Kosovo and sentence them to long prison terms, while the defense counsels will claim that their clients’ guilt has not been proven beyond reasonable doubt, and that they should therefore be acquitted.

The trial of Milutinović and his co-accused began on July 10, 2006, and the prosecution rested its case on May 1, 2007.

Defense counsels then began making their case, bringing 114 witnesses before the judges, while retired Generals Milan Đaković and Aleksandar Dimitrijević gave their statements as Trial Chamber witnesses.

According to the indictment, “Serbian forces, acting on orders, at the instigation or support of Milan Milutinović, Nikola Šainović, Dragoljub Ojdanić, Nebojša Pavković, Vladimir Lazarević, and Sreten Lukić, perpetrated criminal acts, the consequence of which was the forced displacement and deportation of close to 800,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians. In order to facilitate that persecution and deportation, Serbian forces wilfully created an atmosphere of fear and pressure through the use of force, threats of force and application of violence.“

“The same forces, acting on orders, at the instigation or support of the accused, killed hundreds of Kosovo Albanian civilians and other individuals that did not actively participate in the enmity and sexually abused Kosovo Albanians, especially women,” the indictment adds.

The first indictment for crimes committed against the Kosovo Albanians—brought in late May 1999 by then Hague Chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour during the NATO air strikes on the former Yugoslavia and the conflict between state forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in Kosovo—cited the late Slobodan Milošević, Šainović, Ojdanić, and Vlajko Stojiljković, then Serbian interior minister.

Milošević was tried separately after he was extradited to the Tribunal in summer 2001, while Stojiljković committed suicide in Belgrade.