Kosovo Albanian mourners follow coffins covered with Albanian flags up a hill overlooking Recak/Racak in February 1999 as hundreds attended the funeral. Photo: EPA /Anja Niedringhaus.
The Pristina Basic Court has placed five forme r members of the Serbian police force into 30-day custody, it announced on Monday. The men are suspected of involvement in the January 15, 1999 massacre in Recak/Racak, which was the catalyst for th e NATO bombing of Yugoslavia two months later.
“The Pristina Basic C ourt – Special Department, h as decided on the request of the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo for the imposition of detention in the criminal case against the defendants N.P., S.J., B.P., S.M. and S.S., due to the well-founded suspicion that they committed the criminal offence of war crimes against the civilian popu lation,” the court said.
The five suspects were arrested and remanded on Sunday.
Prosecutor Ilir Morina said in a press conference on Sunday after the arrests that the suspects “were part of the special units of the Serbian police at that time who participated in the January 15, 1999 action in Recak.
Morina told the media that the prosecution used publicly available video recordings and evidence from The Hague to try to identify all the perpetrators.
Serbian security forces surrounded and attacked Recak/Racak on the morning of January 15, 1999 and murdered 45 civilians. They entered the village and raided the houses one by one. Some villagers tried to hide, but were discovered, beaten, taken away and shot.
The Serbian authorities insisted the casualties were all fighters from the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA. William Walker, head of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission, visited the scene the following day and called it a “crime against humanity” and insisted that the victims were civilians.
The massacre became an important factor in NATO’s decision to launch air strikes on Yugoslavia two months later to force Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milosevic to pull his troops out of Kosovo.
The attack formed part of the Hague Tribunal prosecution’s indictment of Milosevic, but no verdict was ever delivered because he died in 2006 while in detention.
On Sunday, the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo described the arrests as “institutional violence”, accusing Kosovo Police and the Prosecutor’s Office of taking revenge on Serbs .
“What we are witnessing here is systematic political and institutional violence by Pristina, led by Kurti, whose sole objective is to expel and arrest Serbs. As a cover for its chauvinistic and anti-Serb policies, it uses accusations of alleged war crimes,” the Serbian office for Kosovo said.
The Belgrade-backed party representing Kosovo Serbs, Srpska Lista, also spoke out against the arrests on Sunday, writing on Facebook that they “represent a new wave of intimidation and persecution of Serbs … which aim to create an atmosphere of fear, uncertainty and additional pressure on the Serbian people.”
In December 2025, the special prosecution of Kosovo also filed an indictment against 21 other individuals for war crimes against the civilian population in Recak/Racak during the operation by Serbian police forces on January 15, 1999.
Read the full article at Balkan Insight (BIRN) →📄Source document: Pristina Basic Court Statement
3 reports
Balkan Insight (BIRN)IndependentCenter6 days agoThe Pristina Basic Court has detained five former Serbian police officers on suspicion of involvement in the 1999 Recak/Racak massacre, an event that contributed to NATO's intervention in the region. The suspects are accused of committing war crimes against civilians during the attack. Prosecutor Ilir Morina stated that the investigation utilized publicly available video footage and evidence from The Hague to identify those responsible.
Bias read (Center): The article presents factual information regarding legal proceedings and historical events without overtly favoring any political side. It reports on the court's actions, the charges brought against individuals, and the use of evidence from international sources without apparent bias or subjective语言
Official sources cited
- government Pristina Basic Court Statement
- government Prosecutor Ilir Morina Press Conference
N1 SrbijaIndependentRight6 days agoFive retired members of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs were arrested in Kosovo and charged with alleged war crimes related to the 1999 Operation Racak. A court in Pristina ordered their detention for one month. The Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija criticized the arrests as part of a broader pattern of political and institutional repression by Kosovo's authorities. The Kosovo Special Prosecutor stated that further individuals linked to the 1999 events are under investigation.
Bias read (Right): The article presents the arrests as an example of 'systematic political and institutional violence' by Kosovo's government, citing the Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija. This framing emphasizes potential political motivations behind the legal actions, aligning with a perspective of
Official sources cited
- press release Kosovo Online
- government Kosovo Special Prosecutor Ilir Morina
- government Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija
Večernje novostiParty-alignedRight6 days agoFive Serbs were placed in administrative detention by the Basic Court in Pristina for up to 30 days. They are accused of war crimes in Racak in 1999 by the special prosecution office. Their lawyers claim they were arrested based on their past service in the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP), suggesting a pattern where former police officers are automatically considered guilty under Kosovo's judicial system. One of the accused, Slavko Savic, was reportedly not even mobilized into the MUP. The Office for Kosovo and Metohija has warned that these arrests appear politically motivated.
Bias read (Right): The article frames the arrests as politically motivated against Serbs in Kosovo, emphasizing the perceived bias of the Kosovo judiciary against former MUP members. It highlights claims of automatic guilt based on past employment and quotes defense attorneys who criticize the legal process. This one‐
Official sources cited
- government Basic Court in Pristina
- government Special Prosecution Office
Serbia