On 26 March 2002, the last known Kosovo Albanians held in Serbia since Yugoslav forces moved approximately 2,000 prisoners from Kosovo to other facilities in Serbia in June 1999, were transferred back to Kosovo. Following the transfer, 80 of those prisoners were released, based on a review of their case files by international judges. The judges determined that those prisoners should be released due to legally deficient convictions or because of the context in which the crimes for which they were charged were committed.
Subsequently, the case files of 26 remaining detainees transferred from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have been reviewed by UNMIK under the auspices of international judges and prosecutors to determine whether their trials conformed to international human rights standards.
Following this review, release orders for the 26 detainees were authorized today by the SRSG Michael Steiner and signed by Clint Williamson, Director of the Department of Justice.
Other prisoners transferred in March, whom international judges determined had committed recognised crimes and whose convictions were legally valid, are serving out their sentences in Kosovo.
