UNMIK/PR/710
Pristina – SRSG Michael Steiner today welcomed the release of 80 Kosovo Albanian political prisoners who had been held for the last three years in Serbian prisons. SRSG Michael Steiner, who went to Dubrava Prison in western Kosovo to greet the prisoners as they were released from the facility there, said that their release means getting rid of “one of the last burdens of the war.”
SRSG Michael Steiner also emphasized that only those who had been unfairly convicted would be released. “I have made it clear that those who have committed crimes will remain in prison in Kosovo to serve out their terms. Those who have not committed crimes will be released now. It is a good day for Kosovo and shows that cooperation and talks can bring results from Belgrade. I commend Belgrade on its action.”
The 80 prisoners were part of a group of 146 prisoners transferred over the administrative boundary from Serbia to Kosovo late yesterday afternoon. They were released because of legally deficient convictions or based on the context in which the crimes for which they were charged were committed.
Thousands of Kosovo Albanians waited outside Dubrava Prison to greet the released men. Many families were reunited for the first time in three years.
The release of the prisoners came after months of intense negotiations between UNMIK and Serbian authorities in Belgrade.
