Racak killings trial opens in Kosovo for 21 Serbs

A Kosovo war crimes trial opened in Pristina on Friday against 21 Serb officials accused over the January 1999 killings in the village of Racak, with the defendants being tried in absentia.

Presiding judge Violeta Namani Hajra noted the absence of the accused and said the trial would proceed without pleas from them. Prosecutor Ilir Morina read a summary indictment and said an international warrant had been issued for their arrest.

The accused are charged with murder, torture, inhumane treatment, destruction of property and the deportation of civilians to Albania. They include former police head Obrad Stevanovic, intelligence chief Radomir Markovic and Goran Radosavljevic, the police general in charge of special operations.

Serbian forces were accused of murdering 42 civilians in Racak, known as Recak in Albanian. The killings caused international outrage and were later used to partly justify a US-led NATO bombing campaign that ended the conflict between Serbia and independence-seeking ethnic Albanian guerrillas.

According to an indictment seen by AFP, the men are accused of taking part in or planning an attack that included shelling before Serbian forces entered the village and searched homes. The indictment alleges the victims were unarmed and executed at close range.

Serbia has never admitted to the massacre in Racak. Serbian officials, including current President Aleksandar Vucic, have repeatedly denied that a massacre occurred and alleged those killed were Kosovo Liberation Army fighters.

A separate trial is pending after authorities earlier this year arrested five Kosovo Serbs over alleged involvement in the killings. Serbia's office for Kosovo condemned those arrests as part of what it called an anti-Serb policy.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008 after Serbian troops left the territory and an international peacekeeping force was stationed there. Belgrade has never recognised Kosovo's independence. More than 13,000 people were killed during the Kosovo conflict, mostly ethnic Albanians.