KLA member gets convicted for expulsion of Serb civilians

Marko Kasnjeti (60), from Prizren, was handed down the sentence by the War Crimes Chamber of the Belgrade District Court and his detention was extended, the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's Office said in a release Friday. On April 7, 2013, Serbia's Appellate Court overturned the first instance verdict against Kasnjeti, which was sending him to two years in prison for the expulsion of the Serb civilians from Prizren, Kosovo, on June 14, 1999, and sent the case back for retrial. According to the indictment, which the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office issued on May 11, 2012, on June 14, at about 11 a.m., Kasnjeti stopped a “Jugo 55" car, ordered the Serb civilians out, searched them, took their personal documents, money and other valuables, hit one of them in the head with the butt of his rifle and tied their hands with rope. Together with other unidentified KLA members who also carried weapons, he threatened to kill them, took them down the street, hitting them with the rifle butt on the head and the rest of the body until they reached the yard of a house where he illegally detained them for a few hours. After that, he and another unknown KLA member drove them to the village of Ortokol near Prizren, stopped the car, threw them out and ordered them to go flee to Serbia if they wanted to stay alive, taking their vehicle and everything in it away from them.