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Kosovo Sentences Serb Ex-Security Officer in Absentia Over Doctor’s Disappearance
Former Serbian security service member sentenced in absentia to 15 years' prison over the disappearance of a Kosovo Albanian doctor who went missing in April 1998 – and has not been seen since.
The Basic Court of Pristina on Thursday sentenced a former member of Serbia’s Security Service, Slavisa Filic, to 15 years in prison in absentia over the case of a Kosovo doctor, Hafir Shala, who went missing on April 10, 1998, on the day he was arrested by Serbian police. He was never seen again.
Judge Violeta Namani-Hajra said Filic was also obliged to pay 200 euros for the court fee and 100 euros to the crime victims’ compensation fund. The verdict can be appealed.
Gentrit Shala, Hafir Shala’s son, told media after the verdict that Filic was not the only person responsible for the arrest and disappearance of his father.
“This verdict is not the end of the process but only the beginning. Slavisa Filic was not alone when my father was arrested and taken to state security premises. Two others were with him,” Shala said.
“My father was not arrested in a routine control; there was an arrest warrant [for him] and the address for this warrant was in Belgrade [Serbia], so I expect more procedures to be followed in future,” he added.
According to the confirmed indictment, Filic and two other unidentified members of Serbia’s state security service stopped the car in which Dr Shala was travelling from Drenas/Glogocav to Pristina along with two other passengers at the Slatina crossroad near Pristina airport.
“After they were stopped … He [Shala] got in the car which was driven by the suspect and was escorted to security service premises in Pristina, where he was initially subjected to beatings and torture; nothing is known of his whereabouts since,” the prosecution said.
On April 30, 1998, the human rights watchdog Amnesty International voiced concern about the safety of Shala, then aged 38. “Even if he is held in unacknowledged detention, he would be at increased risk of torture or ill-treatment and, should criminal proceedings be initiated, denial of a fair trial,” Amnesty said.
This is the second war crimes verdict reached in absentia in Kosovo.
In the first-ever war crimes trial held in absentia, the Pristina Basic Court in December 2024 sentenced former Serbian fighter Cedomir Aksic to 15 years’ imprisonment for involvement in the mistreatment, expulsions and murders of Kosovo Albanian civilians in Shtime/Stimlje municipality.
According to the Humanitarian Law Centre Kosovo, HLCK, in 2024, the Kosovo Special Prosecutor’s Office filed 13 indictments for war crimes. Six were filed in absentia for 11 suspects, all allegedly members of Serbian military or police forces.
Seven indictments were against 13 former members of Serbian forces who had already been arrested. In 2023, eight indictments were filed in absentia against 61 accused.
(c) 2025, Balkan Transitional Justice, Balkan Insight
The detail that the former Serbian security service member was sentenced in absentia to 15 years raises an important question: what does justice mean when a case involving a disappeared doctor still leaves families waiting for answers? I’ve read similar reports where the legal outcome matters, but so does preserving a clear record of what happened and ensuring victims are not reduced to a line in the news, which is why the Lemkin Institute’s focus on genocide prevention and documentation feels especially relevant here. Writing about these cases requires careful sourcing and a distinction between established facts and allegations; for academic projects on human rights or transitional justice, BuyCapstoneProjectOnline is one resource a student might come across, though credible primary sources…
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