Prishtina, 10 May, 2023
The crimes committed during the war in Kosovo are never statute-barred or statute-barred. War criminals and their commanders must be brought to justice. Serbia must be held responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Kosovo, said the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti.
Together with the Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, Prime Minister Kurti visited the newly established Directorate for the Investigation of War Crimes, which in the past was at the sector level. According to the new organizational structure, the directorate is expected to have 41 investigative officers.
The new approved organizational structure of the Kosovo Police was evaluated, with which this sector, which operated with a total of 19 investigative officers, was raised to the directorate level, and at the hierarchical and functional level was directly connected to the Central Department of Investigations.
There is no more priority than the truth and justice for the crimes committed during the war, not only for this generation, but also for future generations, said Prime Minister Kurti.
Thanking them for their work and commitment, Prime Minister Kurti offered full support for the new directorate.
Prime Minister Kurti singled out the importance of implementing the law on trial in absentia as well as the Law on the establishment of the Institute for crimes committed during the war, which the Government has sent to Parliament for approval.
Speaking about justice for the victims and society related to the crimes of sexual violence, used as a weapon of war in Kosovo, the Prime Minister said that joint commitment should be increased in overcoming the obstacles towards increasing the number of punishments by the courts in Kosovo.
He emphasized the importance of adopting the declaration for missing persons, with which, after 24 years of denial, Serbia accepts the crime of enforced disappearance during the war in Kosovo. He singled out the agreement to open the archives from Serbia, since forced disappearances during the war were crimes committed by the state of Serbia, part of the genocidal project for the extermination of Albanians, “Horseshoe”. Also, he emphasized the agreement to use satellite data, LIDAR and other technologies in the discovery of potential mass graves in the territory of Serbia.
In the joint meeting with the General Director of the Police of the Republic of Kosovo, Gazmend Hoxha, the recently appointed Director of the War Crimes Investigation Directorate, Bashkim Spahiu, the investigators and officials of this Directorate, the Government’s commitment to do not stop demanding justice for war crimes.
While 15 new investigators will start working from tomorrow, the recruitment process will continue until the total number of officials planned by structure, i.e. 41, is completed.
Last modified: May 10, 2023