“This ruling is a legal milestone”

ef. In its 20 May edition, Current Concerns reported on the ruling of the Serbian court in Pančevo¹. This is the first ruling in Serbia to establish a causal link between exposure to depleted uranium, DU, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 and the tremendous rise of serious cancer cases among Serbians. This judgement is the result of the untiring efforts of Serbian lawyer Dr Srdjan Aleksic, who has been working for many years to obtain evidence of this causality that can be used in court.
  Within 10 months, May 2024 to March 2025 – the duration of the litigation – the court in Pančevo has granted the claim against the Serbian state in behalf of a client suffering from lung cancer. During the 1999 war, he was deployed by the Serbian army as a reservist and served in Pančevo, a city in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia, where a petrochemical plant and oil industry facilities are located. NATO bombed these facilities with depleted uranium munitions. Doctors subsequently found depleted uranium and heavy metals – substances that are extremely harmful to health in Zoran Karišić’s body. As a result, he developed lung cancer and has more recently been diagnosed with colon cancer. Several thousand people with cancer or their relatives have contacted Aleksic’s law firm hoping that the court will recognise their cancer as a consequence of NATO bombing with DU ammunition and that they will receive appropriate compensation.
  Current Concerns has reported repeatedly on Aleksic’s “long journey”². In this and the following article in this issue, readers will find a roundup of facts about DU and the history of suppressed studies and evidence related to DU.
  Current Concerns spoke with lawyer Srđan Aleksić about the verdict, which is now available in written and translated form.

Current Concerns: Dr Aleksić, first of all, congratulations on this ruling! Could you briefly outline the main points of the ruling for our readers?
Srđan Aleksić: Thank you sincerely. This ruling is a legal milestone – the first court decision in Serbia that officially establishes a causal link between exposure to depleted uranium during the 1999 NATO bombing and the development of severe cancer in a specific individual.
  My client, Mr Zoran Karišić, was conscripted as a reservist during the war and stationed in Pančevo, near petrochemical and oil facilities that were directly targeted by NATO using DU munitions. Scientific and medical tests later confirmed the presence of depleted uranium and heavy metals in his body, which are known carcinogens. He developed lung cancer, followed by colon cancer –a grim consequence of toxic exposure.
  The court recognised that the Serbian state failed in its duty to protect him, during and after his deployment. This decision is not just about compensation. It is an acknowledgment of truth – a long-awaited recognition that the consequences of war extend far beyond the battlefield and into the bodies of those who were left behind.

Accountability

What is so special about this ruling?
For me, this ruling is more than a professional success: It is the crown of my career. After decades of work in the field of human rights and justice, and after initiating dozens of legal actions, this case stands apart. I have spent the last ten years focused on this issue. It required enormous perseverance, courage, and belief in something that many said could never be proven.
  What makes this ruling so special is that it is not just a victory for one man – it is a precedent of national and international importance. It shows that courts, even under pressure, can recognise the truth when it is presented with clear, science-based evidence. But beyond the legal implications, this case affirms something even deeper – that justice, though slow, is still possible, and that the voice of the injured can pierce through the silence of institutions.
  Furthermore, this decision addresses the responsibility of the state not only toward its citizens’ health, but also toward environmental protection. It implies that future governments – regardless of political colour – will have to reckon with the legal consequences of environmental neglect and military contamination. It’s a warning to all who believe that toxic legacies can be buried with time. They cannot.

What does this ruling mean for other countries?
This ruling has far-reaching consequences beyond Serbia’s borders. After the successful litigations in Italy, [Italian lawyer Angelo Fiore Tartaglia has assisted the Italian soldiers who were deployed for peacekeeping missions in the Balkans during the 90ies and were affected by the “Balkan syndrome”; he succeded in 500 litigations up to now.] we are now the second country to obtain a favourable court decision linking depleted uranium to cancer in a soldier. Attempts have been made in other countries, but most ended without justice. This verdict, however, breaks that chain of silence and offers new hope.
  To my international colleagues: this is not the end, but the beginning. I hope this ruling gives you the strength and arguments needed to pursue similar cases in your own jurisdictions. The suffering caused by DU weapons is not a local problem – it is a universal human tragedy. And it demands a universal legal response.
  This decision has already inspired me to look ahead – to take this issue to international legal fora. Whether through the European Court of Human Rights, the International Criminal Court, or legislative petitions to the UN and EU, I believe the time has come to push for a complete international ban on depleted uranium weapons. This is not only about justice for the victims of the past – it is about the future. We owe it to our children to leave them a world where such weapons are no longer tolerated.

What does the ruling mean for you personally?
This case has been a deeply personal journey. I dreamed of this outcome for years. And as with any dream that becomes a mission, I often faced moments of doubt, fear, and exhaustion. There were times when the obstacles seemed insurmountable – when silence, denial, or political pressure threatened to drown the truth. But I never gave up.
  I am first and foremost grateful to God, who gave me the strength to endure. Then to the people around me – my team, the scientists, doctors, colleagues from Italy and beyond, and most of all, the victims and their families, whose pain gave this case its moral clarity. And yes, I am also grateful to myself – for not walking away when it would have been easier to do so.
  This ruling is not the end of my mission. It is the beginning of a wider fight – a fight for every person whose life was silently ravaged by toxins, whose suffering was dismissed or ignored. Now, 26 years after the war, we are beginning to see the outlines of justice. This case proves that no entity is untouchable and that no question is too dangerous to ask if one is armed with facts, law, and moral conviction.

What does this ruling mean for your original goal of holding NATO accountable?
This ruling takes us one step closer to achieving that goal. While we may not yet be able to directly hold supranational organisations such as NATO legally accountable, we can – and must – hold member states responsible for their participation in actions that have had serious consequences for human health and the environment.
  In this historic case, I was not alone. I was joined by my Italian colleague, Attorney Angelo Fiore Tartaglia, whose decades of experience in precisely this type of litigation proved invaluable. In Italy, he has successfully represented victims of depleted uranium exposure and obtained over 400 rulings in favour of Italian soldiers and civilians. Based on that expertise, we established an international legal team in Serbia, headquartered in Niš, which today serves as a regional centre for the pursuit of justice.
  Attorney Tartaglia is also officially registered with the Serbian Bar Association, allowing us to represent clients jointly in courts throughout the country. Our goal is not only to offer legal support within Serbia, but also to expand this legal battle to other Western Balkan countries that were heavily affected by NATO bombings and subsequent contamination by heavy metals and depleted uranium.
  Our vision is to unite victims from Italy, the European Union, and the western Balkans, and to represent them with a unified legal strategy before national and international bodies. This is no longer merely a national issue – it is a global legal and humanitarian struggle for recognition, accountability, and a permanent ban on such weaponry.
  Work on this front is already under way – carefully, systematically, and with solid legal grounding. For now, I cannot reveal all the details – but let us leave something for our next conversation. I hope that by then, we will be discussing concrete international steps and broader justice that knows no borders.
  What matters most is this: The doors have been opened. The silence has been broken. No one is untouchable. And once truth finds its voice it never goes quiet again. 

Thank you very much for this touching interview. •

¹ https://www.zeit-fragen.ch/en/archives/2025/nr-11-13-mai-2025/abgereichertes-uran-historisches-urteil-in-serbien
² You can find all articles related to this topic published in Current Concerns here: https://www.zeit-fragen.ch/en/search?tx_solr%5Bq%5D=Aleksi%C4%87