Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told 8 Misdemeanours. Although no trials involving terrorism charges would be heard at those courts, many charges relating to the conflict, as well as cases with a human rights dimension such as those concerning property and housing, and minor criminal offences which could lead to punishment involving imprisonment, would be dealt with at these levels. The OSCE-KVM encountered serious problems obtaining information on trial schedules, and was 9 sometimes probably even deliberately misinformed on when or where a trial would take place. Many trials were postponed, often for no obvious reason (and although no new evidentiary material was to be expected), while the detention of the accused was regularly prolonged by court decision. In Pristina only three large cases were monitored, each stretching over several weeks as sessions were often postponed ("Urosevac group" - 26 accused, four weeks in session in January and February; "Pristina group" - eight accused, seven days in session in February and March; another case with one defendant, two sessions on 19 February 1999). In Pec, 35 trials involving terrorist charges were monitored at the District Court, the highest number of defendants in a single case being 14, with most cases involving only one or on average two or three defendants. In Djakovica/Gjakova, one trial was monitored at the Municipal Court. In Gnjilane, one trial with 16 defendants was monitored. In Prizren, the OSCE-KVM first started to monitor terrorism trials in December 1998. At a trial on 28 December at least 30 people were accused in the same case, although only 26 defendants were present during the court proceedings. The OSCE-KVM monitored two further trials in February (seven defendants) and March (24 defendants, all of whom were found guilty of terrorism). In that region the OSCE-KVM established a good working relationship with the local judges and even achieved a visible improvement in the conditions in the courtroom, as court guards carried only small arms after the OSCEKVM had complained about the presence of machine-guns during the trials. In Kosovska Mitrovica, several trials were monitored relating to terrorism charges, which resulted in prison sentences of three to four years. 10 Sentences handed down for terrorist activities could be well over 10 years' imprisonment. The OSCE-KVM being only mandated for Kosovo, it was not in a position to cover the few trials of Kosovo Albanians arrested in Kosovo but tried in Serbia proper. At least two types of such cases were tried. Largest in number were the cases of Kosovo Albanians arrested by VJ forces in the border area, particularly the FRY/Albania border. In these cases, since the VJ forces deployed in Kosovo were part of the Third Army Corps, individuals arrested in such circumstances were detained and eventually tried in the Military Court in Nis (Serbia), the town where that particular VJ corps was headquartered. In a separate instance, a group of Kosovo Albanian men, originally over 50 persons, was arrested on a bus in Podujevo/Podujeve (Podujevo) and tried in Prokuplje (Serbia) in February 1999. Criminal law applied http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/ch10.htm (3 of 18)12/5/2003 11:52:22 AM 11