War Crimes charges filed against Serbian Parliament official

Božidar Delić
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A Kosovo NGO filed war crimes charges against one of the newly-elected deputy Speakers of the Serbian Parliament.

The Djakovica 98-99 Association said it filed charges against Bozidar Delic MP (former commander of the Yugoslav Army (VJ) 549th Motorized Brigade during the Kosovo war).

Spokespeople for the NGO said they identified the perpetrators of war crimes through the testimony of Albanian civilians who were imprisoned or mistreated by the Serbian police and military. They said that the documents they handed to the war crimes prosecutors prove that war crimes were committed by both the police and miltiary. They said that Delic (a Major General at the time) took part in the war crimes as a civilian.

Delic is a native of the village of Lugbunar outside the Kosovo city of Djakovica. He retired from the army in 2005 and was elected to parliament several times. He was elected deputy speaker earlier this month as an MP of the NADA coalition. His election initially drew a reaction from Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani who claimed that he -commanded a brigade which “massacred thousands of Kosovars”.

Delic’s NADA coalition denied the claims by Kosovo officials, saying that the general defended the Serbs in Kosovo while Humanitarian Law Fund founder Natasa Kandic recalled that more than 2,100 Kosovo Albanians were killed in the zone of responsibility of Delic’s brigade. Delic testified before the Hague Tribunal during the trials of VJ general Vladimir Lazarevic and former FRY President Slobodan Milosevic.