05 September 2012

A panel of EULEX judges at the Supreme Court ordered the retrial in the war crimes case against E.K., N.H., M.H., M.H., N.B. and J.K.. The panel of judges granted the appeals of the defendants, annulling the verdict of the first instance court, except for the part related to the acquittal of H.M..

In August 2011, the District Court of Prizren found E.K. guilty of war crime against the civilian population in co-perpetration and sentenced him to five years of imprisonment. N.H., M.H., M.H., N.B. and J.K. were found guilty for providing assistance to the perpetrators after the commission of criminal offences and were sentenced to suspended six months of imprisonment.

The case against E.K. et al. is related to crimes allegedly committed against the Serbian civilian population in the village of Opterushe/Opterusa in 1998.

The prosecution in the case was represented at the Supreme Court by a EULEX State Prosecutor.