The following media round-up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 24 December 2024 to 3 January 2025. Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates with a focus on Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.
Bosnia – 03 January
Ten former Bosnian Army members have been charged with war crimes against Serb civilians and prisoners of war during the 1992-95 conflict, specifically in the Hrasnica area near Sarajevo.
The accused are said to have mistreated around 100 detainees, including women, elderly people, and minors, subjecting them to forced labor, injuries, and executions.
The charges include the unlawful detention of Serbs and the killings of prisoners performing forced labor in war zones. In a separate case, Dragoljub Gligic, a former Police Squad Commander at the Public Security Station in Prijedor, faces charges of crimes against humanity for his role, alongside other members of the army and police, in the torture and murder of around 120 Bosniak civilians in the Prijedor area in 1992.
See here.
Montenegro - 02 January
Montenegro is in mourning after a mass shooting in Cetinje left 12 people dead, including two children, marking the deadliest such incident in the country’s history. The shooter, Aco Martinovic, opened fire at multiple locations, killing his victims before taking his own life; four others were injured. Martinovic had a history with the police, including a 2022 search where illegal weapons were found, but he appealed his sentence and was not imprisoned. In response, the Montenegrin government is considering urgent measures to tighten gun control and increase police presence, as this is the second mass shooting in Cetinje in less than three years.
See here.
Serbia - 30 December
Thirteen people, including former Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure Goran Vesic, have been charged over the deadly canopy collapse at Novi Sad railway station on November 1, 2024, which resulted in 15 fatalities and two serious injuries. Vesic, who resigned after the incident, faces charges of endangering public safety, alongside other key figures such as Jelena Tanaskovic, acting director of Serbian Railways Infrastructure, and Anita Dimovski, acting assistant construction minister. The charges also target Nebojsa Surlan, the general director of Serbian Railways Infrastructure at the time, and representatives from construction design companies, contractors, and technical supervisors, all accused of improper and irregular execution of construction works. The prosecution has requested that some of the accused be detained again, as the investigation continues, following the reconstruction of the station as part of a larger, Chinese-led railway infrastructure upgrade that began in 2021. The incident has sparked protests and student blockades across Serbia, with calls for greater accountability for the tragedy.
See here.
Serbia – 30 December
The parents of a Serbian teenager who carried out a school shooting in May 2023, killing ten people, were convicted of neglect and abuse. Vladimir Kecmanovic received a 14-and-a-half-year sentence, while his wife Miljana was sentenced to three years for failing to address their son's psychological issues and for allowing him access to firearms. The court found that Vladimir took his son to a shooting range and taught him how to use guns, which facilitated the teenager’s crime. Since the boy was 13 at the time, he could not be tried, and other individuals involved with the shooting range were also indicted for false testimony.
See here.
Montenegro - 27 December
Montenegro has decided to extradite South Korean crypto mogul Do Kwon to the United States rather than South Korea, following a ruling from the country’s Ministry of Justice. The decision came after the Constitutional Court rejected Kwon’s appeal, allowing the Minister of Justice to make the final call on his extradition. Kwon is wanted in both countries for financial crimes related to the collapse of his cryptocurrencies, Luna and TerraUSD, which wiped out billions in 2022. The case has sparked political controversy in Montenegro, where Kwon's alleged ties to a political movement and a “letter affair” investigation are still unresolved.
See here
Kosovo - 26 December
Kosovo's Pristina Basic Court has sentenced former Serbian fighter Cedomir Aksic to 15 years in prison for his role in war crimes, including the mistreatment, expulsion, and murders of Kosovo Albanian civilians in the Shtime/Stimlje municipality during the 1999 Kosovo war. This marks the first war crimes trial in Kosovo conducted in the defendant’s absence, as Aksic was not present during the proceedings. Aksic was convicted of ordering expulsions, participating in executions, and the destruction of property, including the deaths of several individuals in the villages of Recak, Petrove, and Shtime/Stimlje. The trial was held under an amendment to Kosovo’s Criminal Procedure Code, allowing trials in absentia for war crimes committed during the 1998-1999 conflict when all efforts to locate the defendant have been exhausted.
See here.
Kosovo - 24 December
The Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista party in Kosovo plans to appeal a decision by the Central Election Commission (CEC) not to certify it for the February 2025 elections, with party leader Zlatan Elek accusing Prime Minister Albin Kurti of politically motivated actions. The CEC’s rejection was supported by two members from Kurti’s Vetevendosje party, citing Elek’s nationalist remarks during a candidate presentation, though others abstained or did not vote. The US, UK, and OSCE have all expressed concerns about the decision, warning that it undermines democratic principles and could open the door to political interference in the election process. Srpska Lista intends to challenge the ruling through Kosovo's Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel, which must make a decision within 48 hours.
See here.