Trials in absentia are considered a form of satisfaction for the injured parties, even though the accused is not present.

Kosovo issued its first verdict in absentia at the end of last year for war crimes, in which Cedomir Aksic was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Meanwhile, last week, the first verdict in absentia for sexual violence was announced, where the Basic Court in Prishtina sentenced Ivica Rajkovic and Dragan Denic to 15 years in prison each for this war crime.

However, these cases could also end up before the European Court of Human Rights, says Bekim Blakaj from the Humanitarian Law Center.

As long as the convicted individual does not serve their sentence, he emphasizes that trials in absentia are not enough.

“Trials in absentia have quite a few flaws. Firstly, the absence of the accused; another issue is that although international standards do allow for trials in absentia, it is only under very specific conditions, and it is by no means recommended for these trials to become a norm, as is currently happening in Kosovo. Such trials can be unfair, and I say this based largely on Croatia’s experience, because Croatia implemented trials in absentia for many years, but many of those cases ended up at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which found the verdicts to be unlawful. It is very likely that in the future, once Kosovo becomes a member of the Council of Europe, such cases could end up before that court and the verdicts could be overturned,” Blakaj said.

The first trial in absentia began in November 2023 in the Special Department of the Basic Court.

If the accused is arrested, Blakaj says they may request a retrial, and the case would return to square one.

“At first, perhaps on the surface, the victims or their families may feel a sense of satisfaction that someone was punished for the crime committed against them. However, over time, that is not enough—especially in cases where the person sentenced in absentia is never arrested and does not serve a single day in prison. That then becomes another form of pain for the victims’ families. And in the best-case scenario, let’s say that someone sentenced with a final verdict in absentia is arrested, that person then automatically has the right to request a retrial. So, the trial returns to the initial phase, and once again, victims will be called to give their statements, making it a very painful process,” he added.

Such situations are also mentioned by Flamur Kabashi from the Kosovo Law Institute (KLI), who says they are regulated under provisions for trials in absentia.

“It is more understood as a form of satisfaction for the injured parties, as a judicial process where the victims now hold a court decision declaring someone guilty and recognizing their right to seek legal property claims—rather than a punishment that is actually enforced against the accused. The person does not serve the sentence; you don’t have the individual present to enforce the punishment. So, it’s more of a moral satisfaction for the injured party. However, if the person is captured with a final and binding decision, they have the right—and are guaranteed all legal, national, and international guarantees provided under the framework of trials in absentia—to request a retrial and the reopening of the judicial process,” he said.

With the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, trials in absentia are now permitted.

A trial in absentia can proceed only after five summonses have been sent to the relevant country, and the individual has been declared wanted for investigation in criminal proceedings for at least six months in the official gazette.

In the last war in Kosovo, over 13,000 civilians were killed, more than 20,000 women and men were sexually assaulted, over 6,000 people disappeared—with 1,600 still missing—and more than 800,000 people were displaced during the years 1998–1999. Yet Serbia continues to deny all these crimes committed in Kosovo.