[A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 005

[kosova at jps.net]

Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter,
No.005, January 10, 2000


This report highlights the developments on the prisoner issue for the week
of January 2, 2000.

==========================================
A-PAL STATEMENT:
==========================================
	The early days of January 2000  have brought mixed news as well as a new
round of demonstrations in Kosova. While there have been some welcome but
unexpected releases, one prisoner died and another was sentenced to 13
years.
	Twenty new prisoners were identified in Nish.  Albin Kurti is believed to
have been moved from Pozharevac to Nis, where he awaits trial.  The European
Union's foreign affairs ministers will discuss the prisoner issue. And there
were two hunger strikes in Europe.
	Weekly updates by the Council for Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms are
making it easier to identify specific activity regarding individual
prisoners (http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-reports.htm)

==========================================
THIS WEEK’S TOPICS:
==========================================
* Humanitarian Law Center Communique: Kosovo Albanians Acquitted In
Pozarevac
* REUTERS: Serbia drops charges against four Kosovo Albanians
* FREE SERBIA: Hunger strike for Albanians
* KOSOVAPRESS: The Hunger Strike Was interrupted
* AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE: EU To Discuss Fate Of Kosovars Jailed In Serbia
* KOSOVAPRESS: Protests For the Release of The Political Prisoners are
Continuing
* KOSOVAPRESS: One More Albanian Political Prisoner have been Released from
Zajeçari prison
* KOSOVAPRESS: It is Doubtful that in Çaçak Prison has Many Albanian
Prisoners
* KOSOVAPRESS: A prisoner was brought dead from Prokuple prison
* FREEB92 DAILY NEWS: Albanian prisoners released
* KOSOVAPRESS: Message-request for the release of the political prisoners
* ALICE MEAD: Albin Kurti’s Upcoming Trial
* KOSOVAPRESS: Today, Rrahman Olluri has been released from the prison of
Nish
* SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES: Serbian draft resisters forgotten
* THE AUSTRALIAN: Serb aid worker to get asylum
* AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE: Aid Worker, Jailed as Spy, Is Released in Yugoslavia
* FREE SERBIA: Demand for releasing of Ristic and Maki
* ReliefWeb: Secretary-General pleased by 31 December release of aid workers
in custody of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
* FREE SERBIA: Process against OSA members started

==========================================
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
==========================================
	Secretary-General Kofi Annan , January 5:   The Secretary-General was
pleased to learn of the release form prison on 31 December 1999 of Branko
Jelen, the remaining CARE aid worker under custody by the Government of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on charges of passing on secret information.
His release is a welcome start to the new year and a sign of encouragement
to the humanitarian community, whose aim is to assist all in need around the
world.
	Shukrie Rexha, the president of the Organizing Council, January 4:
Tonight's protest, in the last hour of this century, even in this organizing
form, is sending a message to the following year, putting this issue in the
first place, as the primary - urgent one to be solved.  Tonight, when the
whole world is celebrating, thousands of Albanians, mainly youngsters, are
being tortured in the Serb cold cells of the criminal Serb Regime. For every
passing hour, they fight for life - simply because they are Albanians.
	Shpetim Bushati, January 7: "Your [Ibrahim Egriu] intentions reflect
eye-openess of the highest morale of your personality and the true
unselfishness of yours, since man cannot be liberated at the battlefield
only, but also during peace time when the interest of our land and nation
calls for it.  This act of yours sends a strong message to the sensible
opinion of the world proper for the liberation of the many thousands of
prisoners and kidnapped by the fascist serb regime in Kosova."

==========================================
WEEK’S REQUESTED ACTION:
==========================================
	The European Union Foreign Affairs Ministers will discuss the prisoner
situation on January 24-25.  Call or email your European Parliamentarian or
foreign affairs minister to let them know that international organizations
must take action on this crucial issue.
 - Two hunger strikes were held: One in Brussels and the other, in Oslo
 - Large demonstrations were held in Prishtina on New Years Eve and in
Gjakova the following week.
	Sign the Petition supporting the Release of the Kosovar Political Prisoners
[http://www.khao.org/appkosova/app_online.htm]
Note: If you did sign the petition during the week of December 19, 1999, we
ask that you resign the petition.  Due to technical issues, we may not have
received your signature.

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

HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE
Kosovo Albanians Acquitted In Pozarevac

January 06, 2000

	Judge Nikola Vazura of the Pozarevac District Court acquitted four Kosovo
Albanians charged with terrorism for lack of evidence.  After 17 months in
custody, the four men were taken over by the International Committee of the
Red Cross and returned to their homes.
	Ekrem Veselaj, Haziz Krueziu, Eshref Mazreku and Hilmi Perteshi, all from
Suva Reka Township, were arrested on 6 July 1998 and charged with
participation in an attack on a column of police vehicles at Donje Krusice
village, Kosovo.  At the trial, three of the defendants stated that they
were stopped and arrested without cause at a police checkpoint.  The fourth
was taken into custody at the Prizren hospital where he was receiving
treatment for a broken leg.
	The Court found that the results of the "paraffin glove" test done during
the investigatory proceedings did not prove conclusively that they had fired
at members of the Serbian police force.
	The Humanitarian Law Center welcomes the ruling of the Pozarevac Court,
which was rendered solely on the basis of legal principles and standards.
It urges all courts in Serbia to demonstrate equal professionalism in
adhering to the law and justice, and to disregard attempts to exert
political influence on courts of law.

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

REUTERS
Serbia drops charges against four Kosovo Albanians

January 06, 2000

BELGRADE, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Four Kosovo Albanian men, held in Serb jails
since July 1998 on terrorism charges, were freed on Thursday after the case
against them was dismissed, a human rights lawyer said.
     ``I was very surprised. It was a rare case really because they were
released of all the charges,'' said Radovan Dedijer, a lawyer from
Belgrade's Humanitarian Law Fund, which attends the trials of some 2,000
Kosovo Albanians now jailed in Serbia.
     ``Normally they issue a conviction at least to cover the time already
spent in jail,'' Dedijer said by telephone.
     The four men were escorted back to Kosovo by the International Red
Cross, the fund said.
     They were arrested on July 6, 1998 and accused of participating in an
attack on a column of Serb police vehicles in the Kosovo village of Donja
Krusica.
     Police were targeted by separatist Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas
during a year-long conflict with the security forces which preceded last
year's NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia that forced Serb police and
troops from the province.
     The defendants denied the charges, saying police picked them up at
random. One said he was arrested while in hospital.
     The fund praised the decision by the court in Pozarevac, home town of
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Dedijer said the judges were Serbs
from the Kosovo town of Prizren.
     It also appealed to other courts in Serbia not to let politics
influence their decisions.
     Dedijer said dozens more trials were due in the coming weeks, but that
it was difficult to predict which if any of the defendants would be freed.
     One case soon to come to court involves 155 men from the western Kosovo
town of Djakovica who human rights activists say were picked from refugee
columns during the air strikes, when hundreds of thousands of Albanians fled
a Serb campaign of terror.

Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited
http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a2188LBY091reulb-20000106&qt=Kosovo&sv=IS
&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486

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

FREE SERBIA
Hunger strike for Albanians

January 04, 2000

	Already for eleven days in Bruxelles, three founders of Alliance of
Albanians in world, Simon and Mikel Kuznini from Zagreb and Ramiz Zekoli
from Bruxelles, are striking with hunger asking for releasing of Albanian
prisoners jailed in Serbia, SENSE reported.
	According to data announced by Belgrade's Found for humanitarian right
there are about 2000 Albanians from Kosovo in prisons in Serbia and Bernard
Koushner said that are missing between 4000 and 6000 persons from Kosovo.
Representatives of Red Cross and humanitarian organizations visit prisoners
in Serbia but it's assumed that some prisoners could be in military prisons
where Red Cross wasn't allowed to enter till now.
	Three Albanians had started the strike day before Christmas in one church
in Bruxelles. They are visited by doctors regular and they didn't have any
health problems till now. But now, after 11 days of strike, their medical
condition comes to critical phase. For now they have received telegrams of
support from Albanians organizations and appeals to stop starvation so they
shouldn't in jeopardize their health.

© Copyrights Free Serbia, 1999.
http://anon.free.anonymizer.com/http://www.xs4all.nl/~freeserb/news/e-utorak
04januar.html

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

KOSOVAPRESS
The Hunger Strike Was interrupted

January 09, 2000

Oslo, January 9 (Kosovapress)
	After the consultation between the president of the World Albanian League,
Mr. Simon Kuzhnini and the strikers in Malma, Sweden who were on strike for
six days, yesterday in the Cathedrale "HYLLYE" has been interrupted the
hunger strike. Those who were taking part in the strike have been Mr.
Ibrahim Egriu, president World Albanian League of the Scandinavian countries
and three members of its chairmanship.They have been in strike for six days
because about 7.000 Albanian people are still kept in the Serb jails
throughout Serbia.

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

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
EU To Discuss Fate Of Kosovars Jailed In Serbia

January 05, 2000

BRUSSELS, Jan 5, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse)
Ethnic Albanians in Belgium won a promise Wednesday that the fate of several
thousand Kosovars languishing in Serbian prisons will be discussed by EU
foreign ministers, representatives said.
     The pledge was made as 200 ethnic Albanians demonstrated peacefully
outside EU headquarters and three Kosovo Albanians went into the 13th day of
a hunger strike in a Brussels church to draw attention to the prisoners'
plight.
     Stephan Lehne, an aide to EU foreign policy high representative Javier
Solana, was quoted as telling a delegation of Kosovars that, given
Belgrade's isolation, there was a limit how much pressure could be brought
to bear.
     "But they will do all they can, and study the issue at a coming meeting
of (foreign) ministers," said Gani Azemi, a Belgian-based associate of
veteran Kosovo political leader Ibrahim Rugova who participated at the
meeting.
     The delegation, supported by Belgian Green Euro-MP Bart Staes, was also
to meet Wednesday with officials from Portugal, which has just taken over
the six-month rotating presidency of the 15-country European Union.
     An estimated 2,000 to 5,000 ethnic Albanians are still behind bars in
Serbia, seven months after NATO air strikes ended Belgrade's control of
Kosovo and put the Balkan hotspot under U.N. administration.
     EU foreign ministers are scheduled to meet next January 24-25.

(c) 2000 Agence France Presse

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

KOSOVAPRESS
Protests For the Release of The Political Prisoners are Continuing

January 09, 2000

Gjakovë, January 9 (Kosovapress)
	During this Friday, the citizens of Gjakova have organized a large protest,
demanding the release of the political prisoners who are still kept in the
Serb jails. About 1.500 Albanian citizens from |Gjakova municipality have
been captured by the Serb police , militaries and paramilitaries during the
NATO bombardment. A number of those citizens have been executed while
another number of those men and women were tortured badly and after while
they have been sent to the Serb jail throughout Serbia. Through this protest
the citizens of Gjakova is showing and at the same time making pressure to
the International Community that without the release of their friends,
brothers and sisters there will be no human breathing of freedom in Kosova.

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

KOSOVAPRESS
One More Albanian Political Prisoner have been Released from Zajeçari prison

January 09, 2000

Gjakovë, January 9 (Kosovapress)
	Five days ago, from the prison of Zajeqari have been released another
political Albanian prisoner. The prisoner named Nexhat Ibrahimi from
Prizreni, has been arrested during the NATO bombardment. During the
suffering sentence he has stayed in the same room with two brothers who
were also prisoners, from Brekoci, the district of Gjakova. Their names are
Valdet and Muhamet Leka.

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

KOSOVAPRESS
It is Doubtful that in Çaçak Prison has Many Albanian Prisoners

January 09, 2000

Podujevë, January 9(Kosovapress)
	According to some witnesses who have travelled from Sanxhaku region, in the
prison of Çaçaku are being kept a large number of Albanian prisoners. Due to
these sources in the prison are locked also the Albanian women. Until now
the public opinion has not been informed about this case.

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

KOSOVAPRESS
A prisoner was brought dead from Prokuple prison

January 06, 2000

Suharekë, January 6 (Kosovapress)
	Today in Suhareka, a prisoner was brought dead by the help of International
Red Cross. The prisoner Muhamed Basha was sixty years old, the poor old man
died from the serb tortures at the prison in Prokuple.

http://www.kosovapress.com/english/janar/6_1_99_1.htm

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

FREEB92 DAILY NEWS
Albanian prisoners released

January 06, 2000

POZAREVAC, Thursday - A court in the central Serbian city of Pozarevac today
released a group of Albanians who have been held for seventeen months on
charges of terrorism. The four were released into the care of the
International Red Cross, who arranged transport for them to Kosovo.
	The four men were arrested on July 6, 1998 after being accused of taking
part in an attack on a convoy of police vehicles in Kosovo. The Pozarevac
District Court today ruled that there was insufficient evidence against the
men.

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

KOSOVAPRESS
Message-request for the release of the political prisoners

January 04, 2000

Prishtinë, January 4, (Kosovapress)
	On the New Years night, at December 31, 23.15 hrs, The Organizing Council
of the protests have organized a large protest, demanding the release of the
political prisoners. Tens of thousands of protestors have requested the
release of the political prisoners who are still kept in the Serb jails
throughout Serbia. The message was read by Shukrie Rexha, the president of
the Organizing Council.
	"We are gathered here tonight, in the last hour of this year, to express
our concern for our brothers and sisters, who are still kept in the Serb
jails, under the permanent torture.
	Tonight's protest, in the last hour of this century, even in this
organizing form, is sending a message to the following year, putting this
issue in the first place, as the primary - urgent one to be solved.
	Tonight, when the whole world is celebrating, thousands of Albanians,
mainly youngsters, are being tortured in the Serb cold cells of the criminal
Serb Regime. For every passing hour, they fight for life-simply because they
are Albanians.
	Even tonight, they are waiting, instead in-humanity, to win humanity and to
go out through the iron doors of the jail. They are kept and isolated there,
and those who are keeping them there are negating every humanitarian law and
Convention for human rights.
	Even tonight, they have the right to hope the ending of such an absurd game
with their life.
	UN Security Counsel Resolution 1244 stands in value as the real instrument
of UNMIK. Precisely, this Resolution obliges the serious engagement of the
International Community over this issue. Thousands of Albanians life are in
question here. The International Community is responsible for their safety.
	It is necessary to act urgently, to make pressure to the Serb criminal
Regime demanding the unconditional release of all Albanian Political
prisoners who are being kept as hostages.
	We are deeply convinced that this is the pre-conditional factor for the
successful operations of the International Community in Kosova, and for the
installation of the law and order. This is also the pre-conditional factor
to end the ethnic discrimination in the area.
	We, also demand from the International Community, to make pressure to the
Serb Regime and give information for 4000 Albanians, who have been arrested
by the Serb police Militaries and paramilitaries. Until now nobody knows
anything about their destiny.  Honored the participants of the protest! The
family's and people's concern is reasonable.  Such a reason is obligating
us.
	For a sublime question such as the prisoners issue is, it is necessary to
act together, as Albanians and only then we will have the guaranteed
success.
	Tonight 's message-request, is our last message for this year, on the last
protest organized during this passed year, protest full of wounds and pain
for us.
	I would like to join my feelings to your feelings, and even in an such
un-ordinary way to congratulate the prisoners, the changing of the years, to
wish them being released soon and coming back to their families and to
return the meaning of the life here".

http://www.kosovapress.com/english/janar/4_1_99_2.htm

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

ALICE MEAD
Albin Kurti’s Upcoming Trial

January 05, 2000

Dear Friends of Albin--

	I have been asked by Albin's brother to let you know that Albin was
transfered to Nis Prison two weeks ago. And it is believed that the
authorities are preparing for his trial there. We recently experienced the
trial and sentencing of Dr. Brovina a few weeks ago, so we have some idea
what to expect from that. So far, no one knows what the official charges are
against Albin. But in the summer a Serb paper stated that he was being held
for acts of terrorism, as evidenced by his meetings with Holbrooke, whom he
never met, and Hill. In addition, he was supposedly charged with providing
First Aid information. We do know that Albin was severely tortured when he
was first arrested last April.
	In most of the cases so far, forced confessions are being used as the main
evidence for conviction. Sentences range from 3 years to 20 years in other
trials. The family does not want the kind of widespread publicity that Flora
Brovina went through, but of course wish ardently for his release and
believe absolutely in Albin's innocence of these ludicrous charges.
Therefore, we should all do our utmost to make his situation known to
western  officials at all levels and to Serb human rights groups. We are all
aware of the scrupulous moral decisions and the personal sacrifices that
Albin made in his efforts to bring justice to Kosova. If the Brovina trial
is any indication, it will be very difficult for Albin to obtain a fair
trial in Nis.
	For details and articles on Albin's background and his political and peace
work, Wolfgang Plarre maintains a meticulous web site at:
www.bndlg.de/~wplarre/Suche-Kurti.htm.  A biography of Albin written by his
brother is on the Assoc. Political Prisoners web site at:
www.khao.org/appkosova.htm.  We urge all of you to contact officials in
foreign affairs and human rights at every level in your country and to urge
them to use every means possible to provide basic human rights for Albin.
	Please do not begin a widespread media campaign at this point. The family
does not want Albin to have a trial in that kind of atmosphere.

Sincerely,

Alice Mead
Kosova Action Network
Association of Political Prisoners

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

KOSOVAPRESS
Today, Rrahman Olluri has been released from the prison of Nish

January 06, 2000

Lipjan, January 6 (Kosovapress)
	Mr. Rrahman Olluri who was born in the village of Rufc i Ri, the district
of Lipjani, today has been released from the prison of Nish.
	Rrahman Olluri was arrested by the Serb police on May 8. In the moment of
his arrest he was at his home, in his village and for eight months he has
been serving his sentence to Serb jails of Pozharevci and Nishi.
	Before his arrest Mr. Rrahman Olluri has been a KLA activist, and during
the war he has given a great contribution, so that today we could be free.
At that time, he was KLA logistic member and for eight months he has been
maltreated in a permanent way. He said to a Kosovapress correspondent that
soon he will give information about the health and state of some of his
friends who remained in the prison of Pozharevci.

http://www.kosovapress.com/english/janar/6_1_99.htm

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

SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Serbian draft resisters forgotten

January 3, 2000

By Veronique Mistiaen

Thousands of young men who fled Serbia rather than take part in the war in
Kosovo now find themselves stranded in Hungary, facing long prison sentences
if they go home but denied refugee status in Hungary or any other NATO
country.

BUDAPEST - Thousands of young men who fled Serbia rather than take part in
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's war in Kosovo now find themselves
stranded in Hungary, facing long prison sentences if they go home but denied
refugee status in Hungary or any other NATO country.
     Many have been held since the Kosovo campaign in Debrecen, a former
Soviet army base made up of rows of dilapidated barracks surrounded by
barbed wire, where they spend their days sitting on iron beds in dank rooms
staring into space.
     This so-called "reception center," housing about 1,000 asylum seekers
from around the world, is just one of the camps holding the Serbian
deserters and draft resisters, some accompanied by wives and children.
Others survive in overcrowded and inadequate private accommodations in
Hungary.
     In the words of Amnesty International, they are "the forgotten
resisters" of the Kosovo war.
     "Throughout the conflict in Kosovo, NATO member states made repeated
calls to those serving in the Yugoslav military to resist their leadership,"
said Brian Phillips of Amnesty, one of the few organizations campaigning on
their behalf.
     "Now the men who . . . heeded these calls and the prompting of their
conscience, find themselves in urgent need of protection. But the
governments who issued the calls to resistance appear to take little
interest in the uncertain future facing these men."
     Lorenzo Pasquali, deputy representative for the U.N. High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) in Budapest, said no one is sure how many Yugoslavs are
living in Hungary, although newspapers have quoted figures up to 20,000.
Amnesty and other human rights organizations estimate their numbers in the
thousands.
     Typical of these men is Goran, a 28-year-old Serbian technician who
fled when military police came to deliver his draft papers on March 31,
1999, a few days after NATO started bombing Serbia.
     "I knew the risks. Milosevic had declared a state of war and the
borders were closed," said the tall, dark-haired man, who asked that his
last name be withheld to protect his family. "But I didn't agree with his
senseless policies. I had always opposed him. I wasn't going to serve in his
war."
     Goran said he grabbed a change of clothes, a piece of bread, his
passport and some meager savings and took off through roads, fields and
woods across what refugees call the "green border" into Hungary.
     "I felt so optimistic. I thought my worries were behind me" when he
crossed the border, Goran said. But he was soon picked up by Hungarian
border police and sent to two refugee camps before ending up at Debrecen.
There, he was told his application for asylum had been denied for lack of
evidence.
     Today, he feels utterly abandoned. "I know I did the right thing by
refusing to fight in the war. I don't regret it, but it costs me so much. I
have no job. I miss my friends and family. I am afraid," he said.
     Hunched on his bed, slowly sipping tea from an old yogurt pot, he
continued: "In the eyes of my people, I am a traitor and a lot would never
forgive me. . . . If I go home, I'll go to jail. But it seems that everybody
expects us to be sent back and doesn't care."
     His main hope is to emigrate to the United States, where an uncle in
Texas is willing to sponsor him, but he says that so far the U.S. Embassy
has been of little help.
     The Yugoslav Lawyers Committee for Human Rights says men like Goran
have good reason to fear returning to Yugoslavia. Special laws imposed
during the Kosovo campaign provide for jail sentences of up to 10 years for
draft dodging, and up to 20 years for leaving the country to avoid a
recruitment call-up.
     Amnesty International has determined that at least several hundred
draft evaders are already imprisoned in Yugoslavia, most of them serving
five-year sentences, and as many as 23,000 more cases are before the
military courts.
     Even without the threat of imprisonment, return would be difficult for
many. "My grandfather told me, 'If you come back, I'll kill you, and if I
don't, someone else will,' " said Sinisa Prole, 26.
     He and eight friends who used to plan anti-Milosevic demonstrations and
write political pamphlets at a cafe they called the "Bastion of Freedom"
live together in a cramped two-room apartment on a busy boulevard in
Budapest.
     All are now despised in the small mining town 35 miles north of
Belgrade where they once lived.
     Both UNHCR and the Council of Europe have said that "refusal to take
part in a war condemned by the international community because of serious
violations of international humanitarian law should be considered grounds
for granting asylum."
     Yet no European country including Hungary has been willing to grant
refugee status to the Yugoslav draft dodgers.
     Under pressure from UNHCR, Hungary has given one-year renewable permits
to some 1,200 draft evaders and other asylum seekers. The U.N. refugee
agency is now lobbying to win them the right to work and go to school.
     Other draft evaders are in Hungary on tourist visas while they await a
decision on their status or are in the country illegally. Hungary so far has
not deported anyone and is unlikely to do so "at this stage," Mr. Pasquali
said.
     "We're not asking for special favors. We have skills; we'll work," said
Snezana Bozickovic, 30, who fled with her husband and son. She said her
family is prepared to go to any Western country where people can speak
English.
     Not all draft evaders, however, want a new life abroad. Sveta Matic,
26, an active member of the student opposition in Belgrade who was arrested
many times, dreams only of going home.
     "I want to go back to Serbia. I don't care if we don't have
electricity, if I have to wait until I am 40, if I [go back as] a simple
worker. I want to be part of building a new democratic Serbia," he said.

All site contents copyright © 1999-2000 News World Communications, Inc.
http://www.washtimes.com/world/News3-20000103.htm

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

THE AUSTRALIAN
Serb aid worker to get asylum

January 03, 2000

By foreign affairs writer ROBERT GARRAN

	The decision to free Yugoslav aid worker Branko Jelen came directly from
President Slobodan Milosevic, and seemed aimed at winning favour with the
UN, Care Australia said yesterday.
     Mr Jelen, the Yugoslav colleague of Australian aid workers Steve Pratt
and Peter Wallace, walked free from Pozarevac prison in the southern Serbian
city of Nis late on Friday, and could start a new life in Australia as early
as this week.
     Care Australia spokesman Antony Funnell said the Australian Government
had promised to grant residency status to Mr Jelen, his wife and two
children, who would almost certainly face persecution if they remained in
Yugoslavia.
     Mr Jelen had been a program manager for Care in Pristina when he was
arrested, along with Mr Pratt and Mr Wallace, just before the start of the
NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.
     All three men were accused of spying for NATO, charges they and Care
Australia denied, and Mr Jelen was kept in jail after the release in
September of the two Australians.
     On New Year's Eve, Mr Jelen travelled with Care officials from Nis to
Budapest and, if his trauma counsellor and his doctor give the all-clear, he
and his family could travel to Australia late this week.
     Mr Funnell said the decision to free Mr Jelen came directly from Mr
Milosevic.
     "Unless it came directly from Milosevic it just wasn't going to happen.
There were too many bit players who had their own agendas and who were
causing problems," he said. "It probably seemed to Milosevic to be a good
time to get rid of him and show some good faith with the UN and agencies
like us.
     "On top of that, he was in pretty bad condition. Overall, it was a lot
worse on him just because he was one of them.
     "Towards the end, he was getting extremely depressed, so that may well
have scared the Yugoslav authorities.
     "They were starting to get a bit worried that he may not last the whole
journey."
     He said the visit to Belgrade in late November by Care Australia
chairman Malcolm Fraser had been instrumental in winning Mr Jelen's release.
     Mr Fraser called on Mr Milosevic, but by Christmas the hopes for his
release had begun to fade.
     "At that point, the internal political fighting, particularly with the
factions in the military, was full on," Mr Funnell said.
     Care's case was helped by the fact it was one of the few agencies
providing aid in Yugoslavia, Mr Funnell said.
     Mr Fraser's criticisms of NATO's approach before and after the war in
Kosovo may also have put Care in good standing.
     Mr Fraser maintained his criticisms at the weekend. "For everyone at
Care, this is a joyous way to start the new year. Branko should never have
been imprisoned," he said. "Like Steve Pratt or Peter Wallace, he was the
victim of a senseless conflict, which only compounded the tremendous
suffering of hundreds of thousands of people in the Balkans."

The Australian
http://news.com.au/news_content/national_content/4133040.htm

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

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Aid Worker, Jailed as Spy, Is Released in Yugoslavia

January 2, 2000

BELGRADE, Serbia, Jan. 1 -- The government has freed a Yugoslav employee of
the aid organization CARE who had been in prison since May on spying
charges, aid workers and officials said today.
     Branko Jelen, 34, an employee of CARE's Australian branch, was freed
late Friday. He and two Australians who also worked for the aid group were
convicted in May of spying against Yugoslavia during the 78-day bombing by
NATO over Kosovo. The two Australians, Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace, were
freed four months later after President Slobodan Milosevic issued a pardon.
     A CARE spokesman and officials in Australia said that Mr. Jelen had
been granted asylum there and would travel to Australia with his wife and
two children as soon as he was fit.
     "He has been though an ordeal," the spokesman, Antony Funnell, said
from Sydney. "He was detained in early April, and his health is not the
best. He will spend a couple of days with the counselor and doctor to make
sure he is fit to travel."
     He added that Mr. Jelen would be "coming out here to live."
     "From our perspective we would prefer that he get here sooner rather
than later," Mr. Funnell said.
     Malcolm Fraser, a former prime minister who is CARE's chairman in
Australia, said Mr. Jelen should never have been jailed.
     "Like Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace, he was a victim of a senseless
conflict which only compounded the tremendous suffering of thousands of
people in the Balkans," Mr. Fraser said in a statement.
     "With the last of the humanitarian aid workers now free, it is time for
Western nations to take up the United Nations' recent call for a full
resumption of humanitarian assistance to Yugoslavia in order to meet the
serious need for aid within that country," he added.
     Mr. Fraser attributed the release to the diplomatic efforts of CARE's
staff and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer of Australia, and to
international pressure from figures like Kofi Annan, the United Nations
secretary general, and George Papandreou, the Greek foreign minister.

Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com/00/01/02/news/world/yugo-release.html

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FREE SERBIA
Demand for releasing of Ristic and Maki

January 04, 2000

	Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (IAJS) announced today
that the General secretariat of president of Republic Serbia has passed on
the demand of IAJS for releasing of Nebojsa Ristic, editor of TV "Soko", to
court which had judged him, Fonet reported. IAJS had sent the demand for
releasing to president Milan Milutinovic. In announcement IAJS said that,
according to current procedure, act of General secretariat means that
president of Republic has asked for case for decision.
	New Democracy has also sent a letter to Milutinovic in which they are
sugesting him to use his constitutional rights and release Bogoljub
Arsenijevic - Maki, leader of Civil resistance from Valjevo, Nebojsa Ristic,
chief editor of TV "Soko" from Sokobanja and all others political prisoners
that are "only guilty because they think that this country has incapable and
undemocratic government which should be changed".

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RELIEFWEB
Secretary-General pleased by 31 December release of aid workers in custody
of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

January 05, 2000

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for
Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

	The Secretary-General was pleased to learn of the release form prison on 31
December 1999 of Branko Jelen, the remaining CARE aid worker under custody
by the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on charges of
passing on secret information. His release is a welcome start to the new
year and a sign of encouragement to the humanitarian community, whose aim is
to assist all in need around the world.

http://wwwnotes.reliefweb.int/files/rwdomino.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004
c8ad5/d08eab3f12ac2ec58525685d00786e39?OpenDocument

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FREE SERBIA
Process against OSA members started

January 06, 2000

	The investigation against seven citizens of Krusevac started today on
Military court in Belgrade, Radio B2-92 reported. The charges are
unification for enemy activities and preparing terrorist actions, foundation
of Serbian liberation army (OSA) and preparing assassinations on many
oppositions and regime personas.
	Some Belgrade media reported after failed assassination on SPO leader Vuk
Draskovic that OSA took responsibility for this action. Borivoje Borovic,
one accuser's lawyer and also lawyer of Vuk Draskovic said that OSA was
really founded, but not as a terrorist organization but as a organization
which supposed to help Kosovo Serb after Yugoslav army withdraw.
	He said that all arrested OSA member completely denied any connection with
Draskovic assassination attempt. - When they heard about the assassination
on Draskovic, they took responsibility because advertising reasons. They
wished to attracted attention on there's organization. But now, it is proved
without any doubt that they don't have anything with this or any other
assassination in Yugoslavia. - Borovic said.
	Kosovo Albanian Endjulu Prekaj sentenced to a 13 year prison term
Five-member court council of Military court in city of Nis convicted on
December of 31st Kosovo Albanian Endjulu Prekaj to a 13 year prison term
because unification for enemy activities, Danas dally reported. Judge
Radomir Mladenovic said that accused - Court rejected to interrogate
witnesses which would confirm that Prekaj was conscripted by force to KLA,
against his free will. Indictment is saying that the gun has been founded
when Prekaj was arrested, but that gun was not registered anywhere (after
the arrestment) or nether shown. "Paraffin glove" was never used to proof
that the gun was used at all - Djordje Kalanj, Prekaj's lawyer said.

© Copyrights Free Serbia, 1999.
http://anon.free.anonymizer.com/http://www.xs4all.nl/~freeserb/news/e-cetvrt
ak06januar.html

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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

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

Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 005