Vlastimir Djordjevic : Serbian Police Commander Apologises for Kosovo Killings

Now: in 2013: only 200.000 “transfer of at least 200,000 people in 1999″

Serbian Police Commander Apologises for Kosovo Killings

At his appeal hearing this week, former Serbian police chief Vlastimir Djordjevic offered profuse apologies to the families of those who were killed by Serb forces during the late 1990s conflict in Kosovo.

“I’m deeply sorry for all victims in Kosovo and the suffering of their families. I apologise unreservedly to the families of all Kosovo Albanians who lost their lives and to those who were displaced. I truly sympathise with their pain and I hope the future of the region will be one of peace,” Djordjevic told the appeals bench.

During the Kosovo conflict, Djordjevic was deputy interior minister and chief of public security and as such in command of Serbia’s police force.

In February 2011, Djordjevic was found responsible for the murder of 724 ethnic Albanian civilians and for the deportation and forcible transfer of at least 200,000 people in 1999. He was also convicted of persecution for acts of deportation, forcible transfer, and destruction of property culturally or religiously significant to Kosovo Albanians.

He was sentenced to 27 years in prison, with credit for time served since 2007. (For more on the original judgement, see Djordjevic Handed 27-Year Sentence.)

In his address to the appeals judges on May 13, Djordjevic acknowledged that he did “not oppose the cover up” carried out by Serbian police to conceal the murder of Kosovo Albanians in 1999.

“I did not take steps to find and prosecute the perpetrators as I should have. I deeply regret this and the fact that I didn’t resign immediately. I didn’t have the strength and power to stand up to the [interior] minister,” Djordjevic said.

At the time, he said, he felt “marginalised”. “I suppose that made me feel like I could turn away,” he added.

Djordjevic said the reason he did not plead guilty in his original trial was because “the prosecution says I am responsible for absolutely everything that happened in Kosovo”.

“I did play a role, and for that I accept I must be punished, but the trial judgement distorts the reality of my role. I beg you to review my role and actions objectively. The judgement places too much blame on me,” he said.

Djordjevic’s lawyers reiterated this point in their submissions to the bench.

“We say that Djordjevic’s liability for crimes in Kosovo has been overstated and his sentence is too harsh,” defence lawyer Russell Hopkins said.

Hopkins spent a good deal of time focusing on his client’s role in a specific massacre carried out by the Scorpions, a Serbian paramilitary unit. On March 28, 1999, a group of 19 Albanian women and children from the village of Podujevo were lined up and shot. Only five of them survived…

http://iwpr.net/report-news/serbian-police-commander-apologises-kosovo-killings