Podgorica, 1 person is sentenced for the killing of 4 Albanian in 1999

Court of Podgorica

 The Supreme Court in Podgorica has sentenced Vlado Zamajevic to 14 years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population in Kosovo. He was found guilty of killing four Albanian civilians in the village of Zhegër of Gjilan in 1999.

The head of the Judges Team Dragoje Jovovic, stated that the evidence presented undoubtedly "proved that there were committed war crimes, as witnesses testified, but also the accused himself admitted in the first phase of investigations, but later denied his own statements." Zmajevic has the right to appeal the verdict to the Court of Appeals.

In August 2016, Montenegro's Special Prosecution Office for Organized Crime and War Crimes confirmed that he had arrested Vlado Zmajevic (47) from Niksic on suspicion of "committing war crimes against the civilian population in Kosovo in 1999".

The Director of the Humanitarian Law Center in Kosovo, Bekim Blakaj told to Radio Free Europe that Vlado Zmajevic was the first in the list for crimes in Zhegër of Gjilan. Based on the research of the 2000, the Fund has documented that six people were killed in this crime on March 29 and 30 in 1999.

"Based on the witnesses testimonies, on March 29, 1999, eight buses, most likely with volunteers from the Yugoslav Army, arrived in the village and killed six people. Of course, all civilians of Albanian origin, including elders and women," Blakaj declared.