Krasnic sentenced to 15 years for war crime in Belo Polje near Pec

The War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade handed down a first-instance judgment on 26 February finding Djeljos Krasnic, a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army, guilty of killing three and wounding one civilian of Serbian nationality on 19 June 1999 in the village of Belo Polje near Pec, and sentenced him to fifteen years in prison, according to a report by the Humanitarian Law Center.

Krasnic was tried in absentia, as he is not available to the bodies of the Republic of Serbia. Serbia’s War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office filed the indictment against him in 2021, and the proceedings entered the evidentiary phase during 2024. The judicial panel concluded that guilt had been established on the basis of statements by protected witnesses and material evidence collected during the investigation.

According to data from the Humanitarian Law Center, which monitors the case, this is one of eight first-instance verdicts handed down by the Higher Court in Belgrade in war-crimes cases during 2025, including one based on a plea agreement. Over the same period, the Court of Appeal issued six rulings on appeals in war-crimes cases.

Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, an appeal may be lodged by the prosecutor’s office and by the accused or his ex officio defence counsel within fifteen days of service of the written copy of the judgment. The appeal is decided by the Court of Appeal in Belgrade. The ex officio defence counsel has announced that he will appeal, the Humanitarian Law Center says.

War-crimes proceedings before the Higher Court in Belgrade face systemic difficulties, according to the Humanitarian Law Center. Of 107 hearings scheduled in 2025, only 66 were held. Last year, the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office filed five indictments against five people, four of which were confirmed by the court.

The Belo Polje case is part of a wider prosecution relating to crimes committed in the zones of responsibility of individual KLA units in Kosovo and Metohija during the armed conflict of 1998 and 1999. The prosecutor’s office says that there are more than thirty injured parties, but the cases have been separated for procedural reasons.

The director of the Humanitarian Law Center, Sandra Orlovic, told the daily Danas that the verdict represents procedural progress, but that the number remains small in relation to the number of recorded crimes. She added that the predominance of trials in absentia reduces the practical value of judgments, as the execution of sentences depends on extradition.

The next procedural step is the service of the written copy of the judgment. The Court of Appeal in Belgrade, if an appeal is filed, is expected to issue its decision within the statutory deadline, which in criminal cases averages between six months and a year.