[A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 010

[kosova at jps.net]

Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter,
No. 010, February 14, 2000

This report highlights the developments on the prisoner issue for the week
of February 06, 2000.

==========================================
A-PAL STATEMENT:
==========================================
A SPECIAL A-PAL REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
1,600 Prisoners' Human Rights are being Grossly Violated

	The UN handbook on International Human Rights Standards for Law
Enforcement, which apply to all cases, as well as armed conflict and states
of emergency, reports the prisoner violations (listed below).  Veton Surroi
feels they should not be called "prisoners" but rather "hostages" since
their situation follows no legal conduct code, whatsoever.
	Please note that the ICRC has not visited the Sremska, Mitrovica prison
since August, 1999, while the released prisoners report that the conditions
are so appalling and that the prisoners hardly have enough food to survive.
A 13 year old Kosovar is still in detainment, as well as Nait Hasani, who
has shrapnel bits in his leg and is in urgent need of medical care and ill
Avni Memija, whose arm has been amputated.  They were wounded at the Dubrava
Massacre, May 22, 1999.

==========================================
THIS WEEK’S TOPICS:
==========================================
* UNMIK:  List of Human Rights and Code of Conduct
* Rreman Olluri: Narrative about Plerrat Isufi
* KosovaPress: Please find and release Ukshin Hotin
* Humanitarian Law Center Communique: Fear and violence main reasons for
leaving Kosovo
* CNN: Still missing: Albanians seek relatives in Serbian jails
* Agence France-Presse: Trial opens in Serbia of nine Kosovo Albanians
accused of terrorism
* KosovaPress: In Peja, large protest demanding the solving of the problem
of Mitrovica
* KosovaPress: Gravesite found
* KosovaPress: The Albanian political prisoners are continuing to be kept in
the Serb jails
* KosovaPress: Large protest demanding the release of the political
prisoners from the Serb jails
* ICRC: Handover at Merdare
* IPS: Ethnic Albanians Languish In Serb Prisons
* Information Center Of The Serb National Council: Press Release
* ANEM/IFEX: Deputy prime minister warns of execution of journalists
* FreeB92 News: Journalists to file criminal charges against Seselj
* Human Rights Watch: Serbian Deputy Minister Threatens Independent Media
With Violence
* KosovaPress: The protests for the release of the Albanian prisoners from
the Serb jails are continuing

==========================================
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
==========================================
	"The exchange of those six men only proves that this country is in total
legal chaos," Nebojsa Covic of the opposition Democratic Alternative party
said last week in Belgrade. "What was the organ of state that enabled such a
release and exchange, were the Albanians tried, sentenced...if not, how did
they end up in jail at all?"
	Barbara Davis, UN High Commission for Human Rights representative in former
Yugoslavia, February 10:  "ethnic Albanians in Serb prisons are in a kind of
legal vacuum". The UN resolution 1244 that followed, put the UN in charge of
Kosovo, but recognised Yugoslav and Serbian sovereignty, thus leaving those
people in legal vacuum. There is no one to intervene in their behalf."
	Natasa Kandic, head of the Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC) in Belgrade,
February 10: “At least 10 of the prisoners are minors. Among them are Sabri
Musliu (aged six) and his sibling Semsi (15) and a nine-month old baby in
Pozarevac prison, born to Igbale Xhafaj (21), who was also arrested in
Kosovo and transferred to Serbia.”

==========================================
WEEK’S REQUESTED ACTION:
==========================================
	Write briefly to these European Parliament members and request a Special
Prosecutor Investigation into the Albanian prisoner situation, with the
authority to refer cases such as the 1,600 detainees kept on warrants to the
Hague for investigation.  Attach the list of violations below with your
correspondence(s).
	Please forward any replies to kosova at jps.net for the Association of
Political Prisoners web site.  We have attempted to correct the e-mail
addresses resulting in delivery failures.

* The European Court of Human Rights, Council of Europe in Strasbourg,
France: e-mail < webmaster at courtl.coe.fr > or  telephone + 33-3-88-412018
* Doris Pack: Chairperson-Southeast Europe Deleg. < dpack at europarl.eul.int >
* Arie Oostlander  < Aoostlander at europarl.eu.int >
* Emma Bonino < e.bonino at agora.stm.it >
* Elmar Brock: Chairman Human Rights < ebrok at europarl.eu.int >
* Bart Staes < bstaes at europarl.eu.int >
* Patricia McKenna < mckennap at iol.ie >
* Heidi Hautala < hautala at vihrealiitto.fi >
* Ole Krarup < ole.krarup at jur.ku.dk >
* Daniel Cohn-Bendit < dcohn-bendit at europarl.eu.int >
* Cecelia Malmstrom < cecelia at liberal.se >
* Hans_gert Poettering < hpoettering at europarl.eu.int >
* Per Gahrton < pgahrton at europarl.eu.int >
* Heidi Ruhle < hruehle at europarl.eu.int >
* Elisabeth Schroedter < eschroedter at europarl.eu.int >
* Staffan B. Linder < sbl at moderat.se >
* Gunilla Carlsson < gcarlsson at europarl.eu.int >
* Olivier Duhamel < oduhamel at europarl.eu.int >
* Olivier Dupuis < o.dupuis at agora.stm.it >
* Marialiese Flemming < mflemming at europarl.eu.int >
* Karl Heinz Florenz < kflorenz at europarl.eu.int >
* Michael Gahler < mgahler at europarl.eu.int >
* Vasco Graca Moura < vgm at mail.telepac.pt >
* Marco Pannaella < m.pannella at agora.it >
* Mihail Papayannakis < papagiannakis at syn.gr >

==========================================
FULL REPORTS AND ARTICLES BEGIN HERE:
==========================================

Human Rights are a legitimate subject for international law and scrutiny.
This List of Human Rights and Code of Conduct was Obtained from UNMIK's
Human Rights Office in Prishtina.

POLICE INVESTIGATIONS
*  Everyone has the right to security of person
*  The right to a fair trial
*  To be presumed innocent until proven guilty
*  No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with privacy, home or
family
*  No pressure physical or mental shall be exerted on suspects in order to
obtain information
*  Torture and degrading treatment is absolutely prohibited
*  No one shall be compelled to confess against himself

ARREST
*  Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person and freedom of
movement
*  No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention
*  Anyone arrested shall be promptly informed of the charges against him
*  Anyone who is arrested has the right to a trial within a reasonable
period of time or be released
*  Detention pending trial shall be the exception not the rule
*  All arrested or detained persons have the right to a lawyer
*  A record of every arrest shall be made including the reason, time, date
of judicial appearance, identity of arresting officer, place of custody, and
details of the interrogation
*  The arrest record shall be communicated to the detainee and his lawyer
*  The family shall be notified promptly of the arrest and place of
detention
*  No one shall be compelled to confess or testify against himself.
*  Interpreters shall be provided if needed

DETENTION
*  Pretrial detention is the exception
*  All persons shall be treated with dignity
*  All shall be given a fair trial
*  No detainee shall be subject to torture or cruel and inhuman treatment
including threats
*  Detained persons shall be held only in officially recognized places and
their families and lawyers are to receive full information
*  Juveniles are to be separated from adults and unconvicted from convicted
persons
*  Detainees have the right to contact from the outside world, to visits
from family and lawyers and privacy during these visits
*  Detainees shall be kept in humane facilities, designed to preserve
health, given food, water, shelter, clothing, medical care, exercise, and
items for personal hygiene
*  The religious and moral beliefs of the detainees shall be respected
*  Every detainee has the right to have his detention reviewed for its
legality
*  The rights and status of women and juveniles is respected
*  No one shall take advantage of a detained person to compel him to confess
or incriminate himself

USE OF FORCE
*  Non-violent means shall be used first
*  Restraint is to be exercised in the use of force
*  All officers are to be trained in the use of non-violent means

STATES OF EMERGENCY
*  Exceptional measures  must not be inconsistent with other requirements of
international law
*  Exceptional measures must not discriminate on the basis of race,
language, or social beliefs
*  No exceptions are permitted with regard to the right to life, the
prohibition of torture, and other cruel and degrading treatment, or the
right to freedom of thought, consciences, and religion

ARMED CONFLICT
*  Humanitarian law applies in all situations of armed conflict
*  Principles of humanity shall be safeguarded in all situations
*  Persons suffering the effects of war must be aided without discrimination
*  Acts prohibited under all circumstances include: murder, torture,
corporal punishment, mutilation, hostage-taking, collective punishment,
cruel and degrading treatment
*  No one may be forced to renounce protection under international law
*  Protected persons shall at all times have resort to a protecting power or
neutral State and to ICRC

JUVENILES
*  All human rights apply to children
*  Children shall not be subjected to torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading
treatment
*  Children shall be kept separate from adult detainees
*  The use of physical force on children is to be exceptional, used only
when all other measures have failed
*  Parents are to be notified of arrest, detention, transfer, sickness, or
injury

POLICE VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS
*  Law enforcement officials shall respect and protect human dignity and the
human rights of all persons
*  Law enforcement agencies shall be held accountable to the community as a
whole
*  Law enforcement officials who believe a human rights violation has
occurred shall report the matter
*  Provisions shall be made for the processing of complaints against law
enforcement officials made by members of the public
*  Investigations into violations shall be prompt, competent, thorough and
impartial
*  Superior officers shall be held accountable for abuses if they know of
their occurrence and do not take action to prevent them
*  Obedience to superior orders shall not be a defense for violations
committed by the police
*  Law enforcement officials shall at all times respect and obey the law.
*  They shall report violations which violate principles of human rights.
They shall not commit any act of corruption. They shall uphold the human
rights of all persons.
*  All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

==========================================

Narrative about Plerrat Isufi, age 16, in Pozharevac Pententiary, since June
10, 1999
Reported by released prisoner, Rreman Olluri, released from Pozharevac in
December, 1999.

	The worst part was when we were all taken from Lipjan prison in Kosova to
Serbia by bus. It was on June 10th. We didn't actually know the war was
over, because the guards were cheering so much, we weren't sure who had won
On the bus ride, we were tortured for over 12 hours, even the children. Some
boys were only fourteen years old. We were given no food or water. They beat
us with clubs and insulted us. At the entrance to Pozharevac, when we got
there it was 11:30 pm and very dark. A line of guards beat us some more with
clubs. Most of us had been taken from our homes. We didn't know what crime
we had committed or what they would do with us. We thought we might be
executed.  Forty men and boys were put in one room of about 35 square
meters. We could hear people screaming from torture. When we  had handcuffs
on, they were very tight and made our wrists bleed.
	In my room was Plerrat Isufi is 16 years old, also from Gllogoc, but he was
taken from his uncle's house in Prishtina, because his house had already
been burned. The police took him into the street and did a paraffin test
there. They said right away that he was a terrorist. He is a tall boy, but
very weak and in poor health. He was arrested without shoes and his feet and
legs were very cold. He doesn't speak very much.
	One time the ICRC came to the prison in the summer sometime. And then
Plerrat asked them, "Why am I here? Do you know? I am a high school
student."
	The ICRC told him that they didn't know. Plerrat was not released in
November like the other minors in our pavilion. The first week of January,
2000, Plerrat's family received a letter delivered by ICRC. Plerrat wrote
that he needed food, that he never had enough to eat and was always very
hungry. He said he didn't dare write more than that.
	The other boys, Shemsi and Sabri Musliu, who were released from Pozharevac
on November 17, 1999, worry constantly about Plerrat, the one they left
behind. They fear he will die in prison.
Serb prison authorities revealed in January that there are ten more minors,
three in Leskovac, one in Sremska Mitrovica who is 13 years old, Plerrat,
and five others. They are all subjected to torture, insults, and threats,
deprived of food and blankets, and kept in cells with large numbers of
adults, not in juvenile facilities. None seem to have a lawyer.

==========================================

KOSOVAPRESS
Please find and release Ukshin Hotin

February 07, 2000

Dibër, February 7 shkurt (Kosovapress)-Haki Torte, a 97 years man from Dibra
town, has sent an open letter to Bill Clinton, United Nations Organization,
Un Secretary General Kofi Annan, Tony Blear, European Council, International
Red Cross Committee, International Forums of Human Right's and Freedoms, and
to all of those who can eventually help in the finding and the release of
Ukshin Hotit and other Albanian missing persons and prisoners who are still
kept in the Serb jails.

Honored Misters,

	I am the oldest alive person of Dibra, a town that stretches between
Albanian and Macedonia. Sometimes when walk through the center of the town
it does not happen to meet any people of my generation. It was very hard for
me to live such a long time and to see all the sufferings through which my
people went through.
	Since the time I was grown enough to understand who were my parents, to
recognize them, I was the witnesses of all the suffer and pain of my people,
through years and decades, caused by the Serb conqueror. In spite of the
hard weight of the years, which I'm holding in my shoulders, during the last
war in Kosova I stand all the day along in front of television, the war that
was imposed by Serbs who did genocide towards the innocent civil Albanian
population in Kosova, towards our brothers and sisters. By starting the
NATO's bombardment, You, misters have been those, who knew exactly what was
going on, you were those who wanted to help this people who were in
desperate need for you. Thanks to your engagement, the people of Kosova
survived. You forced the enemy to leave Kosova, that enemy whom I know very
well from the time I was very young. At that time, it was the year 1912, the
Serb criminals forced us to leave our homes located in Dibra town, and to do
to Tirana. We lived there for six years, to escape from the Serb
paramilitaries hands who could not differ the grown people from the babies.
It was enough to be an Albanian, so that you could get killed immediately by
them.
	After six years we returned back to our homes. The hole town has been
burned. I can remember very well only the ashtrays of everything what we
used to have before. From 26 thousands of Albanian residents, remained only
six. So, you could see only smoke and blasé and thousands of victims killed
by Serbs. In that war the Albanian women have fought, too. All fought
together, because the Serbs wanted to go on occupying the territories, to go
and get the sea of Durrwsi( city in Albania) because that was the wish of
the Russian cars.
	The same barbaric methods have been used in the last war in Kosova.
Atrocities, massacres, burnings, the violated deportation, the same
expelling of Albanians from their homed in which they have lived for
centuries. This was more than enough for the countries of Europe and the
world to understand, a hundred years later what was going on. And NATO, made
the Serb beasts go out from Kosova. Since their first coming in Balkan, the
Slavic- Serbs killed Albanians and expanded " their " territories by
occupying other lands from Albanian people who were here from the beginning
of the human's history. I have here a copy of a map, which my son who is
journalist have found in Russian encyclopedias. This map shows the borders
of Serbia in 1987, it was only Belgrade with it's district which was
represented in that map of Serbia. In my entire life I have never prayed,
begged anybody for anything, except to God. But, today I am begging you to
find and release Ukshin Hoti and other Albanians who are kept in the
horrifying prisons of Serbia.
	I used to know Mr. Ukshin Hoti, as far as he was my son's friend, Rexhepi,
who is journalist by profession. During 1970, he has been several times our
guest, the honored guest of Dibra Town. From what I've understood during the
time I stayed with him I found out that he is very smart, very modest and
always with the smile on his face. Even as a guest, he spent the time
reading. Everybody could realize that that person could not hate anybody, on
the contrary during the conversations we shared together, at him, I saw a
very opened man always worried with a big concern about the issue of
Albanian people. He used to be very closed person to everybody. Even you see
him for the first time , someone creates the impression that he or she has
known him for a long time. He was right here in my heart and I loved him as
he was one of my children.
	The wise man Ukshin Hoti was close to everybody. He was an excellent
student while he graduated from the Political Sciences faculty of Zagreb. He
told me that he could not finish the doctor's studies because the professors
of Zagreb and Belgrade created an un-passing obstacle for him. Later on, in
1994, I have heard that he was arrested by the Serb police. My family and me
were very worried when we saw him beaten in the Serbian television. In that
time I could not sleep for nights and days. I was very disturbed for his
destiny. I followed his fanny trial from he was sentenced to 5 years in
prison. Yes…, they imprisoned the angle only because he wanted freedom for
all. He fought for the values of humanism.
	During the war, Krusha e Madhe, his hometown has been burned to ashes. The
Serb militaries and paramilitaries has killed Ukshin's father in front of
his house. They killed his brother Ragip, too, but in other circumstances-in
the honor field, as a KLA fighter, struggling for freedom. Now Ukshin's
family members who remained alive such as his mother, two of his sisters
Mirvete and Resmie, and his youngest brother are very concerned about the
destiny of him. It was written and it was spoken that Mr. Ukshin Hotin was
released on May 17 1999, one day before he finished the serving and
suffering sentence in prison. Since the day of his release nobody knows
anything about him.
	So, I, as the oldest person in this area, following the attempts of the
people that are undertaking in Kosova, as well as in Albania, I take the
courage to write to Mr. Clinton, to Mr. Anan, to Mr. Blair, to the Red Cross
Committee and to other Human right's forums, appealing to them to do
everything they can for the release of Ukshin Hoti and other Albanian
Political prisoners that are still being kept in the Serb jails through out
Serbia.
	Taking such steps ahead, and the contribution for the release of all of
those who are kept as war hostages in the Serb prisons is the same as to
heal a little bit the opened wounds of the family of Mr. Ukshin Hoti and
other families who are very worried about the lovers, who are being held
under the permanent tortured while some others are being brought home in
coffins. Please, in the name of Humanity, in the name of democracy, please
help me die in peace, make me having fulfilled my last desire for this life.
I know that you can do miracles. With what you did recently for Kosova's
people, you told the world that You can make people survive. In the end of
this century, You stopped the ethnic cleansing. The Albanian people will
never forget you for what you did for them. You are those who can help us
release the prisoners again. Please put an end to the suffer of more than
7000 families who have their lovers in the Serb jails. Use our authority and
help us. I wish you good health and success in your human work!

Dibër, February 7, 2000. Haki Torte-Dibër
http://www.kosovapress.com/english/shkurt/7_2_2000.htm

==========================================

HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE
Fear and violence main reasons for leaving Kosovo

February 07, 2000

	By the end of January, displaced persons from Kosovo had submitted to the
Humanitarian Law Center 1,327 complaints against the violation of their
property rights.  The HLC started receiving these complaints on 4 October
last year, in the expectation that an ombuds office would be established in
Kosovo with a mandate to consider complaints lodged by individuals against
the violation of property rights.
	Twenty percent of the complainants said they were made to leave their
apartments or houses under threat of death or were forcibly evicted by
unidentified ethnic Albanians, who were most frequently armed and wearing
Kosovo Liberation Army uniforms.  This group of displaced said they were
subjected to physical and psychological abuse even before being thrown out
of their homes.  Many called the Kosovo Force or the UN Mission in Kosovo
police for help but neither were able to provide them with adequate
protection.
	Eighty percent of the displaced said they left their homes and property and
fled to Serbia or Montenegro out of fear of reprisals, being murdered or
abducted, lack of confidence in KFOR, and a feeling of personal insecurity
after the withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army and
Serbian police force from Kosovo.

==========================================

CNN - Special Report
Still missing: Albanians seek relatives in Serbian jails

February 07, 2000

By Steve Nettleton
CNN Interactive Correspondent

PRISTINA, Kosovo (CNN) -- The war in Kosovo has only just ended for Halil
Matoshi.
	Matoshi and hundreds of other Kosovar Albanians remained imprisoned in
Serbia when Yugoslav forces withdrew from the province in June 1999
following NATO's 11-week bombing campaign. Their fate was left undecided by
the agreement between Belgrade and NATO that ended the air strikes and paved
the way for an international peacekeeping force to enter
Kosovo.
	Matoshi was never charged with a crime. Neither were many of his fellow
captives. He was never allowed to plead his case in court. Then on January
28, after more than eight months of torture and beatings, Matoshi was
released. He still does not know why.
	Although he has returned to Kosovo, he not yet a free man, he said.
	"We were just hostages, and we still are, because I am still there. I
cannot be freed from that reality," Matoshi said.

Many more unaccounted for

	Matoshi's release is an exception. More than 1,800 Kosovar Albanians are
known to be held in Serbian prisons, according to the Council for the
Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms in Pristina. But another 3,600
Albanians are unaccounted for, the council said, and the number still in
jail may be greatly underestimated.
	"A number of them may be dead," said the council's spokesman, Ibrahim
Makolli, acknowledging that dozens of burial sites in Kosovo have not yet
been inspected by forensic experts. "But we don't believe all of them are in
mass graves."
	Nearly 500 Albanians have been released since the end of the war, Makolli
said, and they tell consistent stories of torture and of shortages of food
and hygiene.
	The prisoners are given no or little legal assistance, and those who
actually go to court are usually sentenced for terrorist acts in sham
trials, said Fred Abrahams of Human Rights Watch.
	"The trials ... are replete with procedural violations. People don't have
access to lawyers, they don't have access to the files against them, they're
not able to present witnesses in their defense," he said.

'I was ready to die'

	For Matoshi, a journalist and painter, his story of horror began on May 21,
1999, when a squad of 70 to 80 Serb police swept into his village south of
Pristina.
	Officers dressed in camouflage uniforms stormed through his front gate and
searched his house, demanding to know where he kept any money or weapons.
Finding nothing of interest, the police told Matoshi to put on some clothes
and leave with them.
   "I was ready to die. Because I thought that Serbia does not need any more
jailed Albanians," Matoshi said. "My wife brought me pants and a sweater. I
didn't want to put them on. I had just sports clothes on, thinking that they
would kill me immediately. I was thinking, why should I bring new clothes
with me, because they are going to kill me? So I went just as I was."
	The police escorted Matoshi outside.
	"As soon as we reached the yard, they made me face the wall. They put a gun
behind my head. The other [police], they were five or six yards away from
the guy with the gun, they were saying, 'Shoot him, shoot him.' All I could
think about was how my head would receive the bullet. That is what I was
waiting for at that moment. And I didn't think about anything else because I
was ready. I was just glad that my children, who were crying, and my parents
were not seeing that."
	But the Serbian police did not shoot him. They took Matoshi to a makeshift
police station in a Kosovar Albanian house. There he was asked to sign a
document he was not allowed to read.
	"From that moment on, I was in their hands," he said.

'They counted us by hitting us'

	Matoshi and many of his neighbors were taken outside and kicked and beaten
repeatedly by police. They were then ordered to squeeze into a small armored
jeep.
	"They put 24 of us in there. The first line had to lie down; the rest were
piled up on top of them. The jeep was closed, and because it [was] armored,
the air was cut off. We were scared we were going to suffocate.  They told
us they would take us to the border of Albania and kill us."
	Instead, the police drove them to the Kosovo town of Lipljane, where they
forced the prisoners to walk through a corridor of officers who beat them as
they passed.
	"They counted us by hitting us, one, two, three, four, five. Then the guard
said, `Oh, I made a mistake, I have to start again.' And he started beating
us again."
	After hours of torture, the Albanians were too weak to stand. They were
dragged two-by-two and tossed into a dark cell.
   "There were a lot of people lying in that room. They didn't move at all,
even though we were crawling on top of them. We thought that they were dead.
They didn't move at all. We thought that we were climbing on top of dead
people. But they were just beat-up prisoners, lying unconscious."

'We saw death as our savior'

	Matoshi and the other prisoners were kept in the Lipljane jail for three
weeks, receiving smaller and smaller meals as time passed.
	Ten to 20 Albanians were taken out every day and tortured, their screams
echoing across the cellblock.
	Anti-aircraft guns mounted around the jail went into action at night to
fire at NATO warplanes.
	"We started praying that a NATO bomb would fall on us and end everything.
So it would just stop our suffering. We, at the time, saw death as our
savior, not life," Matoshi said.
	On June 10, the day NATO peacekeepers entered Kosovo, Matoshi and his
fellow inmates were bused to a prison in Pozarevac, a town in Serbia. Their
treatment improved, but Serbian authorities took another two months to
inform the Red Cross of their status.
	"It was very difficult for us because from the day he was taken, we had no
news," said Matoshi's wife, Ilirjana. "We heard rumors he was in Lipljane,
but how could we believe them when we had all these reports of people being
killed?"
	She received confirmation from the Red Cross in early August that her
husband was still alive. After repeated efforts, Ilirjana managed to visit
Matoshi twice, in October and in December.
	"After seeing him, I knew he would come back someday," she said. "Maybe
after 10 years, maybe after 20 years, but I knew he would be here. I always
had hope."

'Our souls were just broken'

	His wife may have had hope, but Matoshi's spirits sank to new lows, he
said.
	"In the last three or four months, despair started setting in, because we
felt abandoned by all sides" -- by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, by
NATO, and by the Kosovar Albanian political leadership that seemed powerless
to help them.
	Finally, in late January, a guard called Matoshi's name and asked him how
long it would take him to get his things ready.
	"I said I need 10 minutes. I didn't really need 10 minutes, because I
didn't have anything. But I was glad because I had 10 minutes to say goodbye
to my 60 friends in the room. And each and every one of them who was saying
goodbye to me, with tears in their eyes, told me at the door, 'Halil
Matoshi, please do something for us.' Because they as well as myself, our
souls were just broken."
	Greeted at the gates of the jail by a Red Cross representative, Matoshi
first went to Belgrade, then to the Kosovo border, where his family awaited
him.
	"At first I thought he might not come," said Ilirjana. "I thought the Serbs
might play a game and bring him to the border and go back. When I saw him, I
couldn't believe it was really him."

'I will not take vengeance'

	When news of his return to Kosovo spread, relatives of other jailed
Albanians arrived seeking news of their loved-ones.
	"It was very disturbing," Matoshi said. "Many people came to me and showed
me pictures of their relatives who are missing. I didn't know if they were
alive or not. And it was difficult, because when they showed those pictures
to me, I didn't have anything to say to them. I said only that we should
hope together."
	The fate of his fellow inmates has preoccupied Matoshi since he left jail.
He said the international community should send an envoy to negotiate their
freedom, or consider buying their release from the Yugoslav government.
	   But revenge is not on his mind, he said.
	“A chance has been given to us to overcome the Balkan conscience, where in
each and every moment someone has to take vengeance on someone else. I have
suffered from Serbs, but I would not take vengeance on all of them. “
	"But it is difficult for people who lost families. How can we convince
them? “
	"I will not take vengeance. I don't even think about it. But I can't also
live beside these criminals. I would feel frightened to sit down at the
table with criminals, be they Serbs or even Albanians."

==========================================

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Trial opens in Serbia of nine Kosovo Albanians accused of terrorism

February 07, 2000

NIS, Yugoslavia, Feb 7 (AFP) - Nine Kosovo Albanians went on trial in Serbia
on Monday accused of terrorism, in the latest in a series of trials of
suspected former members of the pro-independence Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA).
	The nine are accused of taking part in attacks on police and of monitoring
the movements of the Yugoslav army in northern and central Kosovo in late
1998 as members of the KLA guerrilla force.
	The KLA, regarded as a terrorist force by Belgrade, was officially
demilitarised last September after the United Nations took over the
administration of the Serbian province.
	One of the nine defendants was not in court Monday, but it was not
explained why he had not been brought to the court in the southern Serbian
town of Nis from the prison where he is being held in the western town of
Sremska, Mitrovica.
	The hearings will continue on Tuesday.
	A total of 1,300 ethnic Albanians are held in Serbian prisons, mostly
accused of being KLA members, according to the non-governmental Humanitarian
Law Centre in Belgrade.
	More than 170 ethnic Albanians have been convicted in the past three months
and sentenced to jail terms ranging from three to 15 years.
	The Centre said more than 230 other defendants have been released since
mid-June, when Belgrade transferred some 2,050 prisoners from Kosovo to
Serbian jails when it was forced by NATO air attacks to withdraw its forces
from the province.

Story from AFP   Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet)
http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/du/Qyugo-kosovo-justice.RdV2_AF7.html

==========================================

KOSOVAPRESS
In Peja, large protest demanding the solving of the problem of Mitrovica

February 10, 2000

Pejë, 10 shkurt (Kosovapress) - Today at 12.00 in the center of the city of
Peja is organized a large protest by the motto "Mitrovica is our land that
will not be soled ". This protest have was organized by the students of the
high economic-commercial school of Peja, appropriately by the student's
Union of the school.
	In this protest have taken part thousands of citizens of the city of Peja
and its district. The participants of the protest held transparences in by
which they expressed the anger they feel about the problems such as the
problem of Mitrovica is and for the issue of the political prisoners and
those who were kidnapped from the Serb jails.

Commander KFOR-Statements in Mitrovica
 (...)
	Demonstrations A number of demonstration were held in Kosova yesterday. In
Prizren 5,000 people gathered to protest for a solution to the Mitrovica
problem. They also demanded the release of Albanian prisoners in Serbia. The
leaders handed over a letter for Dr. Koushner to the regional UNMIK
representative. The crowd dispersed peacefully. Also in Ferizaj, 3,000
Albanians gathered to protest the recent events in Mitrovica. The crowd was
peaceful marching.

http://www.kosovapress.com/english/shkurt/10_2_2000.htm

==========================================

KOSOVAPRESS
Gravesite found

February 10, 2000

Prishtinë, February 10 (Kosovapress) - KFOR and UNMIK police report that a
gravesite with eight to ten bodies has been discovered near Mirash in
Multinational Brigade East. KFOR United Arab Emirates troops are guarding
the site around the clock until ICTY officials take over the case.

==========================================

KOSOVAPRESS
The Albanian political prisoners are continuing to be kept in the Serb jails

February 10, 2000

Gjilan, 10 shkurt (Kosovapress) - Today, Ahmet Aliu, teacher by profession,
has been released from the prison of Vranja. It is known that during the
serving sentence in the Serb jail, he was charged for being a KLA member.
Another Albanian, named Feim Vllasaliu, yesterday was sentenced to 18 months
in prison. Recently the Albanian prisoners Ahmet Demiri and Ejup Salihu from
Gjakova town, have been sentenced to 4 years in prison.

==========================================

KOSOVAPRESS
Large protest demanding the release of the political prisoners from the Serb
jails

February 10, 2000

Suharekë, February 10 (Kosovapress) - The citizens of Suhareka town, today
were out in the streets and demanded the release of the political prisoners
who are still kept in the Serb jails through out of Serbia. The protest was
organized by the representatives of all Albanian political and The Red Cross
of Kosova who presented this issue as unique like it is. Thousands of
protestors appealed on the International Community and especially at UNMIK
representatives who are supposed to be the implementers of 1244 UN Security
Council Resolution, to do more for the release of those prisoners who are
continuing to be under the permanent torture.

==========================================

ICRC - Update
Yugoslavia / Kosovo: Handover at Merdare

February 03, 2000

	It was a scene that could have come straight from a novel by John Le Carré:
the icy roadway gleaming white under a canopy of stars in a cloudless sky,
temperatures edging the wrong way past minus 10 degrees, soldiers in combat
uniform carrying automatic rifles, a line of vehicles standing empty by the
roadside while their occupants, huddled in small groups, peered anxiously
towards the checkpoint, their breath condensing in the frosty air and mixing
with the smoke of fast-burning cigarettes.
	This was Merdare, a crossing point into Kosovo, at 5.30 p.m. on 28 January
as another desperately cold winter night was falling. The groups of
civilians, both children and adults, were waiting for their first,
eagerly-anticipated glimpse of relatives coming from the other side of the
boundary line: 22 men who had just been released from Serbian prisons.
	The British soldiers manning the checkpoint were friendly, but vigilant:
blocking the road were two busloads of Serb civilians leaving Kosovo to
visit relatives in Serbia, or perhaps leaving for good as the province had
become increasingly dangerous for them in the past half year.
	At last the buses moved on, opening the way for incoming vehicles, first
among them three ICRC Land Cruisers. A murmur of excitement arose from the
waiting crowd, some of whom had been standing there for nearly eight hours.
No longer able to restrain themselves, people surged forward as the vehicles
pulled up.
	Alexandra, head of the ICRC team, reassured the eager relatives that the
necessary formalities - one last check of the lists and the signing of
release forms - would be completed as quickly as possible so as not to delay
further the moment of freedom that everyone gathered there had been dreaming
of for months.
	Soon the men began to pour from the vehicles and, for those whose families
were present, received that first embrace.
	The dozen or so men whose relatives were nowhere to be seen climbed back
into the waiting vehicles and began the hour-long journey to Pristina.
There, outside the ICRC office, another crowd of perhaps a hundred had
gathered, scrutinizing each vehicle as it turned into the car park. After a
quick coffee and a cigarette, and the chance to see a doctor if they wished,
the men moved into the reception hall and began to search the throng for
their relatives, some of whom were looking almost panic-stricken at the
thought that their husband, brother or father might not, after all, be in
the group.
	The last man to emerge was the oldest, a grandfather: almost blind, a
simple black cap on his head, his shabby jacket buttoned up against the
cold. In a scene that moved everyone, even ICRC delegates used to witnessing
such events, he was met by his small granddaughter who ran straight into his
arms. While the men who had been claimed by their loved ones quickly
dispersed, one forlorn family stood there facing bitter disappointment. All
they had left was the hope that, one day soon, he too would come home.
	This release brings to more than 400 the number of detainees who have been
returned to their families by the ICRC since June 1999. About 1,600
detainees are currently still being visited by ICRC delegates in Serbia. The
ICRC is trying to ensure that they are treated humanely, that their
conditions of detention are decent and that they can keep in touch with
their families through Red Cross messages.

http://www.icrc.org/icrceng.nsf/c1256212004ce24e4125621200524882/96f4e77d598
429de4125687a005099fd?OpenDocument

==========================================

IPS
Politics-Yugoslav: Ethnic Albanians Languish In Serb Prisons

February 10, 2000

By Vesna Peric-Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Feb 10 (IPS) - Eight months after the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (NATO), ended its bombing campaign against Serbia, the fate of
thousands of Kosovo Albanian prisoners, remains undetermined.
	Political analysts say most of the ethnic Albanians, referred to as
'hostages' and 'political prisoners' by human rights groups, and
'terrorists' by Serb authorities, were detained in Kosovo during NATO's
March to June air campaign last year.
	They were reportedly transferred to Serbia before the United Nations
administration took over and human rights activists say most are imprisoned
without charge.
	The International Crisis Group (ICG) has accused Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic of trying to upset UN rule in Kosovo by keeping those
people in Serbian jails.
	"Belgrade appears to have little interest in releasing these prisoners, who
have effectively become hostages in ... Milosevic's efforts to keep Kosovo
destabilised, jeopardise the success of the international mission there, and
demonstrate that Kosovo remains under his rule," the ICG said in a report
last month.
	Officially the Serbian Justice Ministry says there are around 2,000 ethnic
Albanians being held in eight jails in Serbia and that each case will be
handled "in accordance with the law".
	However ministry sources say most of those arrested are being charged with
terrorism. This means presumed membership in the Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA), still regarded by Belgrade as a terrorist group. KLA fought for
Kosovo's independence against Serb police and the Yugoslav army since 1998.
Under UN auspices, it was disbanded last September.
	The Red Cross office in Belgrade says 1,960 ethnic Albanians are still in
Serbian prisons. According to the organisation, Serb authorities have so far
released two groups of prisoners, 166 last June and 54 last October. At the
end of January, another group of 49 Albanians was released.
	Natasa Kandic, head of the Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC) in Belgrade, says
at least 10 of the prisoners are minors. Among them are Sabri Musliu (aged
six) and his sibling Semsi (15) and a nine- month old baby in Pozarevac
prison, born to Igbale Xhafaj (21), who was also arrested in Kosovo and
transferred to Serbia.
	The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Belgrade reportedly
called for the immediate release of four categories of prisoners as soon as
the United Nations administration took over Kosovo last June. These were
women, minors, the elderly and the sick.
	Barbara Davis, UN High Commission for Human Rights representative in former
Yugoslavia, told IPS that "ethnic Albanians in  Serb prisons are in a kind
of legal vacuum".
	That is in part because agreements signed between NATO peacekeepers and the
Yugoslav government to end the air campaign contains no reference to those
people.
	"The UN resolution 1244 that followed, put the UN in charge of Kosovo, but
recognised Yugoslav and Serbian sovereignty, thus leaving those people in
legal vacuum. There is no one to intervene in their behalf", she adds.
	Among those who were tried and sentenced to 12 years in prison for
"terrorism" and helping KLA was physician Flora Brovina, one of Kosovo's
leading poets and human rights activists.
	The trial, held last December in the Serbian town of Nis, was described as
"Stalinist" by human rights lawyer Nikola Barovic. Ajri Begu, husband of
Flora Brovina, told IPS at the time that his wife would be used as a
"bargaining chip, a prominent hostage to be traded by Milosevic government
for concessions".
	Brovina has not been traded so far, but, under the obscure circumstances,
three Kosovo Serbs were exchanged for three Kosovo Albanians released from
Serb prisons, on Jan 29.
	The trade off, arranged by a private Serbian detective agency "OZNA" and
widely publicised in the pro-government media, prompted a strong reaction
from many legal experts in the country. They questioned the rumours that
large sums of money were paid by families of the exchanged and the fact that
such a trade off is highly illegal.
	"The exchange of those six men only proves that this country is in total
legal chaos," Nebojsa Covic of the opposition Democratic Alternative party
said last week in Belgrade. "What was the organ of state that enabled such a
release and exchange, were the Albanians tried, sentenced...if not, how did
they end up in jail at all?"
	Natasa Kandic, head of HLC, says she has tried to pursue rumours that some
families of Kosovo Albanian political prisoners have bought the release of
their next of kin for a price of 50,000 German marks (approximately 28,000
US Dollars).

http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/feb00/16_49_044.html

==========================================

INFORMATION CENTER OF THE SERB NATIONAL COUNCIL
Press Release

Gracanica, February 13, 2000

COMMUNIQUE

	After the tragic recent incidents in Mitrovica, in which a number of
civilians on both sides were either killed or wounded, there occured the
exodus of more than 600 Albanians from the north part of the city.
	Serb National Council which has strongly protested during the last 8 months
against the expulsion of more than 200.000 Serbs and other non-Albanians
which were exposed to the terror and pressures of the ethnic Albanian
extremists after the war, takes this opportunity to make a strong protest
against the exodus of ethnic Albanians. The SNC requests from UNMIK and KFOR
to secure peaceful and free life for all inhabitants of Kosovo and Metohija
and protect their cultural heritage and property.
	The Council requests from the International community to prevent and stop
any kind of ethnic violence in Kosovo and Metohija.
	SNC reiterates that the issue of Mitrovica cannot be resolved out of
context from the overall situation in the province. As much as the northern
part of Mitrovica must be free and safe for all ethnic Albanians, the
southern part of the city and all other cities and villages in Kosovo must
equally be free for displaced Serbs who want to go back to their homes. With
great regret we must say that for the  Serbs living out of their isolated
rural enclaves there are no freedom and basic human rights - the right to
live, work and move freely. The Serbian people, its cultural heritage and
the private property are still exposed to everyday terror and destruction, 8
months after the end of the war.
	SNC also insists that with the problem of ethnic Albanian political
prisoners in central Serbia the problem of more than 600 Serbs who have been
abducted since the end of the war  has to be resolved too. Human rights and
freedoms in Kosovo must not be separated on Serb and Albanian rights. The
freedom must exist for all, and not for one ethnic group only. The rule of
law and order must be established as soon as possible, especially the normal
functioning of the judicial system. Beside Serbs who are responsible for the
war crimes against ethnic Albanians, Kosovo Albanians responsible for war
and post-war crimes against civilian non-Albanian population must also be
arrested and brought to justice.
	We sincerely hope that the international community together with local
political representatives will be able to find the rightful solution and
protect the basic human rights and freedoms for all inhabitants of Kosovo
and Metohija according to the UNSC Resolution 1244.

Information Center of the Serb National Council, Gracanica

==========================================

ANEM/IFEX
Deputy prime minister warns of execution of journalists

February 11, 2000

SOURCE: Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
(ANEM/IFEX) - The following is a 10 February 2000 ANEM press release:

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER WARNS OF EXECUTION OF JOURNALISTS

BELGRADE, February 10, 2000 - The Association of Independent Electronic
Media (ANEM) expresses dismay at today's statement by Deputy Serbian Prime
Minister Vojislav Seselj accusing journalists from the independent media of
the murder of Yugoslav Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic. Seselj, who is also
the president of the Serbian Radical Party, made the accusation at a
scheduled press conference. ANEM rejects with disgust this allegation that
journalists have perpetrated terrorist action in this country and also
expresses its gravest concern at Seselj's warning of executions.
     In an unprecedented verbal attack, laced with open vilification and
extremely serious threats, Deputy Prime Minister Seselj repeated a number of
times "the gloves are off," and announced that the state would use all means
at its disposal to do away with independent journalists. In addition to
invoking the Constitution and other legislation, he also warned of the
possibility of summary executions. Repeating his claims of treason,
comparing journalists with murderers and describing them as being worse than
criminals, Seselj openly called for the public lynching of independent
journalists, a call to which no journalist can remain indifferent. 	Accusing
journalists of being accomplices in the murder of Pavle Bulatovic, Seselj
threatened that, in the case he were executed, many journalists would suffer
the same fate. The deputy prime minister's threats were addressed to all
employees of and contributors to independent media. In reply to a question
from a journalist as to whether the recent spate of murders of senior state
officials in Belgrade had put him in fear of his own life, the deputy prime
minister replied "It's you who should be afraid."
     ANEM notes with regret that our society has sunk to a state where a
senior government official can, albeit in a passionate state, make such an
unbalanced, irresponsible and frightening statement. In ANEM's view, this
statement is extremely dangerous because the force of the state stands
behind Deputy Prime Minister Seselj. Journalists of the independent media do
not represent any terrorist organisation and are noted for having no weapons
but words. Despite the absurdity of the accusation that independent
journalists were involved in the murder of Defence Minister Bulatovic, ANEM
emphasises that this is still the most ominous allegation heard in Serbia to
date.
     ANEM further believes that even if this statement from Vojislav Seselj
(like those recently made by Serbian Information Minister Aleksandar Vucic)
were merely intended to intimidate journalists, Seselj has gone too far with
this threat and has overstepped the limits of social behaviour towards
journalists from some media. This statement heralds the concrete
introduction of open dictatorship in the country.
     ANEM demands that the Yugoslav and Serbian presidents and all state
institutions declare themselves in public on this statement and react in
accordance with their duty. ANEM calls on the authorities, if they are in
agreement with today's statement from Vojislav Seselj, to openly proclaim
that there is no freedom of speech in this country, rather than claiming
that such freedom exists while at the same time threatening journalists and
others from the independent media with execution. In this way, journalists
would at least know the rules of the game and would not need, although
blameless, to live in fear of being set upon and killed in some dark alley.
This is the fate Seselj's statement implies may await them, although they
are only exercising their own right to provide - and the public's right to
receive - professional and objective news and information.

==========================================

FreeB92 News
Journalists to file criminal charges against Seselj

February 11,  2000

BELGRADE, Friday - The Association of Independent Journalists in Vojvodina
announced today they would bring criminal charges against Deputy Serbian
Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj over his threat of execution for independent
journalists yesterday. Seselj, who is leader of the far-right Serbian
Radical  Party yesterday accused journalists at a press conference of being
involved  in the murder of Yugoslav Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic, and
warned them  of executions.
     The president of the Serbian Parliament's Security Committee, lawyer
Slobodan  Nenadovic told B292 today that the public prosecutor was obliged
to bring  charges if there were evidence of the criminal acts of treason and
being an  accessory to murder, as Seselj alleged. If the allegations were
false, added  Nenadovic, the accuser would qualify legally as having
committed slander and  politically as a coward.
     The Association of Independent Electronic Media described Seselj's
statement  as a proclamation of the establishment of blatant dictatorship in
the  country. The Association called on the Serbian and Yugoslav presidents
to  declare themselves publicly on the position of the deputy prime minister
and  act accordingly.
     Former Interpol Vice-President Budimir Babovic told media that the
police and  judiciary should react to Seselj's threat, saying that the
threat of  execution was a matter for police and the law.
     Federal Information Minster Goran Matic told a press conference a few
minutes  ago that he agreed with Seselj, adding that part of the Yugoslav
media was  being used to destabilise the country. Certain newspapers, said
the minister,  had no respect for the authorities in this country but only
for Madeleine  Albright and Robin Cook. This, he said, put them on the other
side of the  line from those citizens for whom their country was important.
Asked whether  he agreed with Seselj that some journalists were terrorists,
Matic said he  did.

No reaction to NATO "provocation": Yugoslav Army

BELGRADE, Friday - The head of the Third Yugoslav Army, Vladimir Lazarevic,
said today that the Army would not react to NATO military manoeuvres planned
for Kosovo next month. Lazarevic, speaking to Belgrade news magazine NIN,
said that the manoeuvres could represent an attempt by NATO to provoke the
Yugoslav army.

==========================================

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Serbian Deputy Minister Threatens Independent Media With Violence

February 11, 2000

(New York, February 11, 1999)-Human Rights Watch today condemned senior
Serbian officials who this week openly threatened violence against Serbia's
non-state affiliated media.
     In a press conference on February 10, the Deputy Prime Minister of
Serbia, Vojislav Seselj, directly accused Serbia's independent journalists
of being "traitors," presumably for their critical stance on government
policies. He added that he considered them "accomplices" in the recent
murder of Yugoslav Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic, who was killed in a
Belgrade restaurant on February 7.  The killers have not been found.
     "Such threats suggest that the Serbian government may use Bulatovic's
murder as a justification to further crack down on domestic dissent," said
Holly Cartner, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central
Asia Division.
     The Serbian government has long hindered the work of independent
journalists.  Since October 1998, non-state affiliated media outlets have
been fined high penalties thirty-three times for "publicizing untruths which
violate the rights of the individual," under Serbia's draconian Public
Information Law.  In five of these cases, Seselj or the party of which he is
president, the Serbian Radical Party, brought the charges.
     On April 11, unknown individuals murdered Slavko Curuvija, the editor
of Dnevni Telegraf and  Evropljanin magazine, who had been openly critical
of the government. A commentary on  state-run TV news three days before his
death accused him of supporting the NATO bombing.
     In an exchange with a journalist from the Belgrade-based radio station
B2-92, Seselj threatened violence against the press and accused Serbia's
independent journalists of working for a "treacherous medium."  In response
to a question, the Deputy Prime Minister stated, "Now the gloves are off.
Anyone who works for the Americans must suffer the consequences.  What
consequences?  The worst possible."
     According to B2-92, Yugoslav Minster of Information Goran Matic said
today in a press conference that he agreed with Seselj's comments, adding
that some elements of the Serbian media were working to destabilize the
country.  The radio also reported that the Association of Independent
Journalists in Vojvodina today announced it would bring criminal charges
against Seselj for his threats.

Excerpts of Seselj's threats against the media, provided by B2-92, are
presented below:

Press Conference of Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj
BELGRADE, Thursday, February 10, 2000

	B2-92: What measures will the state take against state terrorism from
the West?
	Seselj: Our response will be adequate, based on the Constitution and the
law, with the use of every instrument we have at our disposal for the
defense of our country.
	B2-92: Against whom?
	Seselj: Against all who are instruments of Western countries. Against them
all. Perhaps against your paper as well. You're from Novosti, right?
	B2-92: B2-92.
Seselj: Ah! From B2-92! What's that? I've not heard about that. Is it
registered? Minister, is there anything like that? Against all those who act
on instructions from the West, who receive money from the Americans and
their allies to act against Yugoslavia. In an adequate way. You are going to
experience this adequate way in practice. The gloves are off. Now it's
crystal clear: he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword, and all of
you should bear that in mind. Don't think that we're going to let you kill
us off like rabbits, or that we'll be coddling and caring for you like
potted plants. Be careful! You from B2-92 and the other treacherous outlets.
You can't really believe that you'll survive if we're executed. You're very
wrong. Any more questions?
	B2-92: Since this thing happened with Mr Bulatovic - this tragedy and
crime - are you personally afraid, bearing in mind what you have said about
the state terrorism currently being carried out by other countries? You're a
prominent politician.
	Seselj: You should know by now that I am afraid of nothing. Absolutely
nothing!
	B2-92: A few weeks ago, rumor had it that you'd been injured in an
accident.
	Seselj: Well you can see that I'm not hurt! Why would I be afraid? It's you
who should be afraid. You work for a treacherous medium.
	B2-92: It's not a treacherous medium.
	Seselj: Ah! It's not a treacherous medium! All right! You can prove
afterwards that it isn't.
	B2-92: After what?
	Seselj: After something. You'll see what. The gloves are off. You kill
statesmen off like rabbits here, thinking you're safe. You're making a
mistake. You're making a big mistake. Now the gloves are off. Anyone who
works for the Americans must suffer the consequences. What consequences? The
worst possible. You're working against your own country; you're paid
American money to destroy your country. You're traitors, you're the worst
kind! There's nothing worse than you! You're worse than any kind of
criminals!
	B2-92: That's not true, Mr Seselj.
	Seselj: It's very true. It's completely true. You're traitors because you
take money from the Americans and you always have. You're the same, the ones
who took  money to kill the Defense Minister and you who are paid to spread
propaganda  against your country. You're the same, the same criminals. I'm
quite certain about that because they submit official reports about how much
money they give you. And you're the same.
	B2-92: Are you looking among journalists for the murderers?
	Seselj: We're looking for the murderers among those of you who work for
foreign intelligence services. You're accomplices in the murder. You're the
same. You journalists think you're some kind of sacred cows? Some of you are
cows, all right, but not sacred. You're murderers. You're murderers of your
people and  your country, potentially. Yes, those of you working for the
Americans: you from Danas, you from B92, you from Glas Javnosti, from
Novosti, you from Blic. You're traitors to the Serbian nation. You're
deliberately working in the interests of  those who were killing Serbian
children. You're doing it deliberately. You've sold your souls. That's what
you are!

For further information, contact:
Bogdan Ivanisevic (212)216-1282
Fred Abrahams (212) 216-1270

==========================================

KOSOVAPRESS
The protests for the release of the Albanian prisoners from the Serb jails
are continuing

February 11, 2000

Gjakovë, February 11 (Kosovapress) - Hundreds of Albanians protested in
Gjakova in the streets of the city, demanding the release of the Albanian
political prisoners who are still kept in the Serb jails through out Serbia.
The protestors. Holding the transparences in their hands, appealed to the
International Community to do more for the release of their brothers and
sisters who are kept in jails for one and only reason - because they are
Albanins. According to the Organizing Council of the protests, the protests
will be held regularly, every Friday, until the families will have back
their lovers returned home.

http://www.kosovapress.com/english/shkurt/11_2_2000_2.htm

==========================================

Additional updates of the Kosovar political prisoners, including those
sentenced, missing and released, may be found at:
http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-database.htm
http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-report0037.htm
http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-report0038.htm
http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-report0041.htm

Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at:
http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm

Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 010