Kosovo prosecutor charges ex-Serb paramilitary of war crimes

7/12/2019 0:45

        Kosovo prosecutors have issued war crimes charges against an ethnic Serb former police officer suspected of torturing ethnic Albanians during the 1998-99 war, according to a statement released Friday. The suspect, identified only as N.A., was part of reserve forces of Serbian police in the capital Pristina who in May 1999, together with other unidentified paramilitary forces, tortured two Albanians who still are suffering its consequences, the statement said. It also said the Serb paramilitary stole the Albanians' belongings, vehicles and other valuable items. It is not clear whether the suspect is under arrest. The 1998-99 war in Kosovo, then a province in Serbia, ended following a 78-day NATO bombing campaign against a bloody Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian nationalists. More than 10,000 people died during the conflict, and 1,650 are still unaccounted for. Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence isn't recognized by Serbia.