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A trial over one of the worst war crimes of the 1990s Kosovo conflict opened Friday in Pristina, with 21 Serb officials being tried in absentia over killings that helped prompt NATO intervention.
The killings in the southern Kosovo village of Racak, known as Recak in Albanian, in January 1999 triggered international outrage after Serbian forces were accused of killing 42 civilians.
The incident was later used to partly justify a U.S.-led NATO bombing campaign that ended the conflict between Serbia and ethnic Albanian guerrillas seeking independence.
Serbian officials, including current President Aleksandar Vucic, have repeatedly denied that a massacre took place, instead alleging that those killed were Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) fighters.
Presiding Judge Violeta Namani Hajra opened the trial, noting the absence of the defendants and saying proceedings would continue even without pleas from the accused.
Prosecutor Ilir Morina read out a summary indictment against the men and said an international arrest warrant had also been issued.
The defendants are charged with murder, torture, inhumane treatment, destruction of property and deportation of civilians to Albania.
The accused include former police official Obrad Stevanovic, intelligence chief Radomir Markovic and special police operations commander Goran Radosavljevic.
The court had earlier demanded that they "appear and surrender" to authorities in Kosovo, but none did.
Lawyers for the accused were appointed by the bar association.
Stevanovic's representative said he would do his best to defend his client despite his absence.
"There was no other way to try the accused because they are outside the country, but try them in absentia," lawyer Agron Curri said.
"All charged have the right to a defense," he added.
According to an indictment seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP), the men are accused of taking part in or planning the attack, which included shelling before Serbian forces entered the village and searched homes.
The indictment also alleges that the victims were "unarmed" and "executed at close range."
"The killings did not take place in combat but were deliberate, planned and systematic executions, clearly indicating the criminal nature of the operation," the indictment says.
Serbia has never admitted to the massacre in Racak, insisting that those killed were armed guerrilla fighters.
The killings became a turning point in the war, leading to NATO strikes targeting Serbia, then ruled by Slobodan Milosevic.
Earlier this year, authorities also arrested five Kosovo Serbs over their alleged involvement in the killings, with a separate trial pending.
At the time of the arrests, Serbia's office for Kosovo condemned them as part of what it called an "anti-Serb policy."
After Serbian troops withdrew from Kosovo, an international peacekeeping force was deployed there.
Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but Belgrade has never recognized its former province's independence.
More than 13,000 people were killed during the Kosovo conflict, most of them ethnic Albanians.
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