Pristina Basic Court hands down a detention order for Kosovo Serb Dejan Pelevic, suspected of war crimes in Skenderaj/Srbica that left 15 dead and 16 missing in 1999.
Laurant Berisha
Dejan Pelevic (seated with back to camera) at the Pristina Basic Court on April 16, 2026. Photo: BIRN.
The Pristina Basic Court on Thursday remanded Dejan Pelevic, a Kosovo Serb, in custody for one month. Pelevic is suspected of war crimes committed in Skenderaj/Srbica during the Kosovo war.
Pelenic was arrested on Tuesday in his village of Socanica, near Leposavic. The court decided to remand him in custody because of the risk of flight and evidence destruction. Pelevic holds Serbian citizenship.
The custody decision can be appealed.
According to Kosovo’s Special Prosecution, in March 1999, in Skenderaj/Srbica, Pelevic together with other members of the Serbian forces participated in the killing of 15 individuals and the disappearance of 16 others. The prosecution claims that Pelevic at the time was an official working for Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The prosecution’s file, seen by BIRN, states that Pelevic, with the Serbian forces, committed murder, inhumane treatment, torture, intimidation, destruction of property, looting, and expulsion of the civilian population.
The file states that on March 20, 1999, numerous Serbian military and police forces were concentrated at an ammunition factory in the village of Prekaz near Skenderaj/Srbica and they dispersed from there moving in formation with military and police vehicles and machinery.
According to the prosecution, these vehicles were placed at the entrances and exits of the city of Skenderaj/Srbica in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the city.
“In a coordinated manner, groups of three to four individuals entered each house and committed serious violence, killed innocent civilians, and caused terror to the Albanian population. During this illegal operation of the Serbian forces, in the yards and houses of a place called Pishat (the Pines), other than the expulsion, arson of houses and assets, looting, and torture of the residents, 15 Albanian civilians were killed and 16 other unarmed Albanians not involved in the war were disappeared,” the prosecution’s request for custody reads.
The Serbian government’s office for Kosovo described the case against Pelevic as legally unfounded, based on questionable testimony, and called for his release
It said in a statement that Pelevic had not left Kosovo since 1999, “as he had nothing to hide or flee from”.
The statement also said that Pelevic had been a member of the Kosovo Police force, and also a guard at the prosecutor’s office in Mitrovica, which meant he had to undergo “detailed security checks by Pristina”. This proved he had been arrested for political reasons, it insisted.
