Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurt has welcomed the decision of the Basic Court of Prishtina to convict a former Serbian policeman for wartime rape.
Although the conviction comes 23 years after the Kosovo War, Kurti stressed that even when delayed, justice is still necessary. In his statement, he also highlighted that victims of wartime sexual violence require not only justice, “but also our social support to fight the stigma that follows them.”
“War crimes are not foreseen, and cannot have amnesty for this crime committed during the war in Kosovo, this weapon of war used by the occupier,” Kurti concluded in his Facebook post.
Yesterday, the Basic Court of Prishtina issued its first ever conviction for wartime rape against Serbian ex-policeman Zoran Vukotic.
Vukotic was condemned to ten years in prison for both rape and the ethnic expulsion of Albanian civilians from the town of Vushtrri in May 1999.
Based on data gathered from Kosovo institutions, there are around 20,000 cases of wartime sexual violence committed by Serbian forces. To date, few survivors have come forward publicly.
