UNMIK/PR/709
Tuesday, 26 March 2002

SRSG Michael Steiner Announces Return of Kosovo Albanian Detainees

SRSG Michael Steiner announced today that all Kosovo Albanians remaining in Serbian prisons who so wished have been returned to Kosovo.

These were the last known Kosovo Albanians held in Serbia, since Yugoslav forces in June 1999 moved approximately 2,000 prisoners from Kosovo to other facilities in Serbia following the NATO airstrikes.

Securing the return of the prisoners has been a top priority for UNMIK since the mission began. Since then, most of the Kosovo Albanian detainees had either been amnestied or released following the expiry of sentences or after charges were dropped.

With the Common Document of 5 November, 2001, Yugoslavia and Serbia committed to returning all remaining Kosovo Albanian detainees.

“I am extremely happy that after extremely intensive talks in Belgrade, all Kosovo Albanian prisoners were returned to Kosovo today,” SRSG Michael Steiner said.

Early this month, Belgrade officials gave case files of most of the detainees to the UNMIK Department of Justice, where each case was reviewed by international judges in Kosovo. This review was done to determine whether the prisoners had committed recognized crimes and were convicted in legally sound trials.

SRSG Michael Steiner explained that tomorrow, he will order the release of all those whom UNMIK justice officials have already determined to have legally invalid convictions.

Those prisoners whom the international judges have determined to have committed recognised crimes and whose convictions were legally valid will serve out their sentences in Kosovo.

The review of the remaining cases has not yet been completed. This process will be carried out by international judges as expeditiously as possible and in accordance with the same standards applied to all the others.

It has also been agreed that in the future, the principles of the European Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners will apply.

Finally SRSG Michael Steiner said that “ The return of the detainees to Kosovo brings to closure a painful legacy of the war.”