Former Pristina prison guard pleads not guilty to war crimes
Defendant Boban Tonic pleaded not guilty to the charge of war crimes during the court session held on Tuesday, January 20, at the Basic Court in Pristina.
Tonic is accused of violating the rules of international law during the armed conflict in his capacity as a prison guard in Pristina, parallel to Lipjan, during 1998-99.
At the hearing, Judge Rrahman Beqiri first informed the accused of his rights and then he declared himself innocent, reports Betimi për Drejtësi.
The indictment against Tonic was filed by the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office on January 31, 2025.
The prosecution said at the time that there is a suspicion that the defendant, together with other guards, "systematically mistreated Albanian prisoners, torturing them inhumanely with various means, such as rubber batons, metal rods, kicks and punches to the point of unconsciousness, causing them bodily injuries and psychological violence."
"The defendant, in co-perpetration, had left the prisoners without food for days, had seriously threatened their lives and, as a result of the constant beatings and inhumane treatment, they suffered a state of constant anxiety and fear," the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office said in a statement.
The court announced that the defendant's lawyer, Pregrad Miljkovic, has 20 days to object to the Prosecution's evidence and file a request to dismiss the indictment.
Recently, the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office has filed a series of indictments for war crimes in Kosovo.
The last indictment filed was on January 16, against a woman who is suspected of mistreating, threatening and torturing Albanian prisoners in her capacity as a guard at the Pristina prison, parallel to Lipjan.
The prosecution also filed an indictment in absentia against 21 people last year for the killing of civilians in Reçak, Shtime. Meanwhile, the Special Chamber has also filed an indictment in absentia against 21 people for the forcible expulsion of over 800.000 Albanian civilians from Kosovo during the war.
Since the end of the war, dozens of people have been convicted of war crimes before local and international institutions.
Initially after the war, from 2000 and 2008 respectively, war crimes in Kosovo were investigated by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), and from 2008, by the European Union Rule of Law Mission (EULEX).
In 2018, EULEX handed over the cases to local justice authorities.
During the war in Kosovo, from 1998 to 1999, more than 13.000 civilians were killed, while thousands more went missing.
More than 1.500 people are still missing, most of them Albanians.Indeksonline/
