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UÇKHistory and Memory

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) · IT-05-87/1

Prosecutor v. Vlastimir Đorđević

Procedural status: Final judgmentCrimes attributed to Serbian and Yugoslav officials and forces · The 1998–1999 war

Procedural status

From investigation to final decision. Where does the case stand today?

Path of the case

Stage 6 of 6: Final

  1. Investigation
  2. Indictment
  3. Trial
  4. First instance
  5. Appeal
  6. Final

Stage 6 of 6: Final

Final

A definitive decision after appeal, or after the time limit for appeal has passed.

Appeal status:The appeal concluded on 27 January 2014; the decision is final.

Sentences imposed

1 sentenced · by final judgment

  1. 01

    Vlastimir Đorđević

    27 years

    at trial; 18 years on appeal

    Final

A judgment concerning individuals is not automatically a judgment against a people, a war, or every member of an organization.

Outcome for each accused

Convictions(1)

  • Vlastimir Đorđević

    Assistant Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia and Chief of the Public Security Department

    Outcome:Conviction

    Sentence:27 years at trial; 18 years on appeal

    Final

Charges and alleged conduct

According to the indictment, participation in a joint criminal enterprise to change Kosovo's ethnic balance through the deportation, murder and persecution of Albanians in 1999.

Period covered by the charges:1 January – 20 June 1999

Charges

  • Deportation
  • Forcible transfer
  • Murder (crime against humanity and war crime)
  • Persecutions

Findings

According to the judgment, the accused played a leading role in MUP efforts to conceal killings by transporting victims' bodies from Kosovo for clandestine burial in Serbia: the remains of 744 people were exhumed at Batajnica, 61 at Petrovo Selo and 84 at Lake Perućac. These findings were not reversed on appeal.

Procedural history

  1. Confirmed indictment

    Indictment IT-03-70 is confirmed.

  2. Arrest or transfer

    Arrested in Montenegro and transferred to the ICTY.

  3. Indictment amended

    Leave granted to add the Podujevo killings (14 victims).

  4. Trial opened

    The trial opens.

  5. Trial (first-instance) judgment

    Sentenced to 27 years' imprisonment.

  6. Appeal judgment

    Sentence reduced to 18 years; a new conviction entered for persecution through sexual assaults; some specific incidents reversed.

Photographs

A square crowded with people, tractors and vehicles, with the lake in the background
Kukës's main square during the exodus of Kosovars in 1999: people, tractors, trucks and tents along the edges of the square.Photo: Jonuz Kola · 1999 · CC BY-SA 4.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
Long rows of white tents in a valley
A tent camp of Kosovars during the 1999 exodus.Photo: Jonuz Kola · 1999 · CC BY-SA 4.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
Hundreds of tents pitched in rows on a flat plain
Hundreds of tents as the Camp Hope tent city is built near Fier, part of the US refugee-relief operation.Photo: Staff Sgt. Chris Steffen / U.S. Air Force · maj 1999 · Domen publik (vepër e qeverisë federale të SHBA)
A field crowded with people, plastic sheeting and smoke from fires, seen from a distance
Thousands of expelled people in the field at Blace on the Macedonian border, spring 1999. The photograph was used as an exhibit at the Hague Tribunal (ICTY).Photo: ICTY staff / ICTY (provë gjyqësore) · 1999 · Attribution

Editorial status: Awaiting verificationDrafted from the cited sources; not yet fully reviewed by the editors.

Last verified:

Verification note:Most recent official information: transfer to serve the sentence (16 October 2014). The outcome of a later IRMCT early-release decision was not verified.

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