From kosova at jps.net Mon May 1 11:12:18 2000 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 08:12:18 -0700 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 021 Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 021, May 01, 2000 This report highlights the developments on the prisoner issue for the week of April 23, 2000. ========================================== A-PAL STATEMENT: ========================================== They bore photos of prisoners and brandished banners which read "What is the UN doing?" and "Free our loved ones". KOSOVARS STAGE MASSIVE PROTEST FOR PRISONER RELEASE Some 10,000 mainly ethnic Albanians demonstrated peacefully in Prishtina on 26 for the release of the at least 2,000 Kosovars believed to be held in Serbian jails. Local Albanian activists say that the number of prisoners is closer to 7,000. Demonstrators told reporters that they believe that people such as student leader Albin Kurti and human rights activist Flora Brovina are being held simply because they are ethnic Albanians (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 March 2000). The protesters appealed to the international community to do more to free the prisoners. PM ? 2000 RFE/RL, Inc. An ethnic Albanian protester stands behind a wire fence with his hands manacled in front of a banner that says "Release our beloved ones" as they protest in the main roads of Kosovo's capital Pristina on Wednesday, April 26, 2000. Around ten thousand ethnic Albanians from all around Kosovo jammed the main roads of Pristina Wednesday demanding the unconditional immediate release of all ethnic Albanian prisoners held in Serb jails. (AP) ========================================== WEEK OF APRIL 23 TOPICS: ========================================== * REUTERS LIMITED: Kosovo Albanians Protest Over Prisoners in Serbia * UNMIK - Developments: Kouchner demands release of Albanian prisoners in Serbia * UNITED NATIONS: UN Kosovo envoy says issues of detainees and missing persons need to be addressed * UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: Human Rights Field Operation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia * KOSOVAPRESS: Over 40 joined the hunger strike * UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL: Foreign journalists visit jailed ethnic Albanians in Yugoslavia * AFP: Imprisoned ethnic Albanian leader vows fight for Kosovo will continue * AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE: Hundreds of Kosovo Albanians march again for prisoner release * FREESERBIA: OSCE to set up Kosovo war crimes court * UN INTERIM ADMINISTRATION MISSION IN KOSOVO (UNMIK): Security Council delegation arrives in Kosovo amid continuing protests over missing persons: * GROUP 484: Report on the trial of the so-called "Djakovica group * REUTERS LIMITED: Kosovo Albanians urge U.N. action on prisoners * FREEB92 DAILY NEWS: Security Council delegation meets demonstrators * AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE: UN delegates question Kosovo leaders about prisoners' fate * GROUP 484: Report on the Trial of Luan Mazreku and Bekim Mazreku * GROUP 484: The Trial of Albanian Students * Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren: MEMORANDUM about the systematic violations of human rights in post war Kosovo * KOSOVAPRESS: Three prisoners released from Serbian prison * FREESERBIA: Supreme Court cancels the sentence to Bogoljub Arsenijevic - Maki ========================================== QUOTES OF THE WEEK: ========================================== International administration spokesman Jay Carter said that, despite its illegality, the aims of the protest were supported by all international representatives in Kosovo. Protest spokesman Shukri Klinaku told media that the protest, which began yesterday morning was not limited in time and would last until the prisoners were released. The troops of the NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR had allowed the protestors to control all access into the city as long as they allowed KFOR vehicles and UN police to pass, a British army spokesman said. "The issue of the prisoners is the most sensitive wound," Mehmetali Rexhepi, one of the organisers of the demonstration, told a crowd in front of the town's National Theater at the start of the protest. One of the demonstrators, Hajrije Limaj, 60, who held a photo of her 28-year-old son, told how he was arrested three and a half years ago by the Serbs and sentenced to eight years in prison for "subversive activities". "Even though we're freed of Serb oppression we continue to cry," she said. "I hope that these demonstrations will change something and that the United Nations, which is doing nothing about this problem, will get more involved," she said. Luanda Vokshi, a 19-year-old economics student whose uncle, a prominent doctor, disappeared a year ago in Mitrovica, said: "Unless the missing and the imprisoned can come back there can be no peace in Kosovo." Ismet Salihu, professor of law at Pristina university, argued that most of the Albanian prisoners in Serbia are held for political reasons and that the Serb authorities' charges against them are bogus. ========================================== WEEK?S REQUESTED ACTION: ========================================== IFEX- News from the international freedom of expression community Appeal hearing set for Flora Brovina April 28, 2000 SOURCE: Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), International PEN, London (WiPC/IFEX) - On 9 December 1999, Flora Brovina, a Kosovo Albanian poet, pediatrician and women's rights activist, was sentenced to twelve ears in prison. International PEN continues to call for Brovina's release. An appeal hearing is due to take place on 16 May 2000. BACKGROUND: Brovina has been held since April 1999 on conviction of "terrorism". International PEN believes that the charges against her are unfounded and that she is detained for her strong support for Kosovo independence and against Serb human rights abuse. It is calling for her release. On 21 January, Rajko Danilovic, Brovina's defence lawyer, filed an appeal to the Serbian Supreme Court against the twelve-year sentence served against his client in December. The appeal calls for the Supreme Court to either acquit Brovina, or to order her release on bail pending a retrial on the grounds that there had been serious violations of due process during the trial hearings. One of the irregularities cited in the appeal was that the conviction was based on evidence obtained from Brovina under interrogation. Another is that material that had not been made available to the defence prior to the trial was read out at the court. The lawyers sees these as being in breach of the Serbian Code of Civil Procedure. Other complaints by the defence are that the court perceived any Kosovo Albanian institution's activities as "seditious" with the objective of Kosovan secession. These included such organisations as the League of Albanian Women, of which Brovina was a senior member and whose activities the defence points out are non-partisan and solely dedicated to the promotion of women's rights. Similarly all protests and demonstrations held in Kosovo were seen as "hostile acts" against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Brovina had been influential in a number of protests in the late 1990s against Serb human rights abuses. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Send appeals to the president: - referring to PEN's concern that Brovina is held in violation of her right to non-violent freedom of expression and association - expressing the hope that these concerns will be taken into consideration by the court on 16 May and that she will soon be released APPEALS TO: His Excellency Slobodan Milosevic President of Yugoslavia Savezna Skupstina 11000 Belgrade Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Fax: + 381 11 636 775 For those meeting difficulties with this contact number, try: Zivadin Jovanovic Minister of Foreign Affairs Fax: + 381 11 367 2954 PEN also recommends that letters of protest be sent to the Serb embassies in your own countries. Please copy appeals to the source if possible. For further information, contact Sara Whyatt, at the WiPC, International PEN, 9/10 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7AT, U.K., tel: +44 171 253 3226, fax: +44 171 253 5711, e-mail: intpen at gn.apc.org ### It is hard to know where to begin to comment on the state of justice in Serbia. Brutal attacks on innocent people, the near shutdown of the independent media, round-ups of Serb students, and group trials conducted without evidence continue to proceed without comment from the international community. Ultimately it is the UN Security Council who oversees the implementation of peace and justice in the world. They have remained silent. No one has singled out the Ministry of Justice as a major force for implementing repression in Serbia. Amnesty International has initiated no world-wide protests as these few valiant human rights activists battle oppression single-handedly, without protection from anyone. Feel-good NGO groups may give people like Natasa Kandic, Sevdie Ahmeti, Teki Bokshi, Husnija Bitic, and Kosovarja Kelmendi public pats on the back and pass out awards, and journalists make sure, when making the rounds in Belgrade and Prishtina, to check in with their activist "friends," but this is the same type of lazy, self-congratulatory "friendship" that sent hundreds of thousands of Bosnians to their death, while we all watched on TV. HERE ARE THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF THIS BRUTAL AND INHUMANE SYSTEM. GET BRAVE. SKIP THE EMAILS. PICK UP THE PHONE AND FAX or TALK TO SOME OF THESE FOLKS. Think of Mr. Bitic's cracked skull, the idiotic charges against Flora Brovina, the endless hours of torture. The extortion. Slobodan Milosevic--President of FRY- fax: 011-381-11-636-775 Vlajko Stoijiljkovic--Minister of Int. Affairs -- 011-381-11-3617-508 Zoran Sokolovic-- Federal Minister of Internal Affairs-- 011-381-11-361-7730 Zivadin Jovanovic--Fed. Minister of Foreign Affairs-- 011-381-11-367-2954 ========================================== FULL REPORTS AND ARTICLES BEGIN HERE: ========================================== REUTERS LIMITED Kosovo Albanians Protest Over Prisoners in Serbia April 26, 2000 By Shaban Buza PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - Kosovo Albanians downed tools on Wednesday and staged a mass protest to demand the release of compatriots held in Serbian prisons. At least 10,000 people, silently waving banners, had gathered in the provincial capital Pristina by mid-morning and more were arriving by the minute. All but essential services were shut down. The organizers say rallies will be held daily throughout the Yugoslav province, which is under U.N. administration and secured by NATO peacekeepers, until the prisoners are freed. They say 7,000 of their people are in Serbian prisons or missing since last year's conflict. Serbia says it now has 965 Kosovo Albanian prisoners. Last year, the International Committee of the Red Cross put the figure at 2,000. International human rights groups have called on Serbian authorities to free the detainees, including prominent humanitarian doctor Flora Brovina and student activist Albin Kurti, saying the charges against many of them are bogus. Demonstrators massed before the National Theater in Pristina as U.N. police diverted traffic and a British army helicopter whirred overhead. Some protesters held up photographs of imprisoned or missing loved ones. IMPASSIONED DEMANDS Others carried banners: "U.N. -- What Are You Doing For Us?," "Free My Daddy from Nis Prison" and "Find the Missing." They warned there could be no peace in Kosovo until the prisoners were released. Kosovo Albanians say many civilians who were killed in the conflict were buried in anonymous graves. The Serbian police know where to find them, they say. Serbia opened two prisons to the media last weekend in a bid to show the justice system was fair. A partial amnesty was expected to be declared on Thursday, Yugoslavia's Constitution Day. But it was unclear how many prisoners would benefit. Brovina and Kurti were sentenced to 12 and 15 years respectively for "activities related to terrorism." "One minute for our prisoners is like one year. The holding of our people in Serbian jails is unreasonable just like the regime of (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic," said Isa Gashi, in a group of demonstrating bauxite miners. He said two of his cousins had been missing since their arrest by Serbian forces in April 1999, shortly after NATO launched air strikes on Yugoslavia that eventually halted Belgrade's indiscriminate anti-guerrilla rampage. "None of my relatives are missing or in prison. But I came to join this protest to support the demands for the freedom of our compatriots," said Ylber Makolli, 31, one of Pristina's 260 bus drivers who suspended their runs to join the rally. "We appeal to UNMIK (U.N. administration) and the ICRC and all Kosovo political factors to use their influence to get these people freed," said Riza Gllasoviku, 45, a miner. ? 2000 Reuters Limited. http://news.excite.com/news/r/000426/05/news-yugoslavia-kosovo ========================================== UNMIK - Developments Kouchner demands release of Albanian prisoners in Serbia April 24, 2000 The head of UNMIK, Bernard Kouchner, on Friday demanded the immediate and unconditional release of human rights activist Flora Brovina and other Albanians that are being held in prisons in Serbia. Speaking at a rally in Pristina to mark the first anniversary of the arrest of Brovina, Kouchner expressed his admiration for her as a fighter for human rights of women and children. Brovina was one of the many Albanian political prisoners who were transferred from Kosovo to Serbia by withdrawing Serbian troops. http://www.un.org/peace/kosovo/news/update.htm ========================================== UNITED NATIONS UN Kosovo envoy says issues of detainees and missing persons need to be addressed APRIL 26, 2000 The situation of detainees and missing persons and return of displaced persons were serious issues that needed to be addressed with the Security Council delegates visiting Kosovo beginning tomorrow, the head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Dr. Bernard Kouchner, said today. He was briefing the Kosovo Transitional Council, which will hold a special session on Friday with the Council delegates. Dr. Bernard Kouchner said that it was his hope that the special session will result in "a fruitful exchange of views" and will help the Security Council better understand the reality of Kosovo today. The issue of missing persons affected today's attendance at the KTC meeting, with all but one of the Serb observers absent on the advice of the security forces, following demonstrations against continuing detainees in Serbia. During their visit the Security Council members will meet with local leaders, including the two community leaders in Mitrovica, Dr. Bajram Rexhepi, President of the local branch of Kosovo Democratic Progress Party (PPDK) and Mr. Oliver Ivanovic, President of the Executive Board of the Serb National Council. They will also meet with Bishop Artemije in Gracinica, and will meet with families of missing persons during a visit to Gjakova. http://www.un.org/peace/kosovo/news/kosovo2.htm#Anchor19 ========================================== UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Human Rights Field Operation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia NEWS RELEASE: April 26, 2000 "A certain number of sentenced persons" pardoned by President Milosevic Belgrade , 27 April, 2000 - Early this morning the office of President Milosevic of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia announced that "a certain number of sentenced persons" had been pardoned. This morning the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Special Rapporteur for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Mr Jiri Dienstbier requested the names of the individuals who had been pardoned. The authorities responded to the request within 30 minutes and advised that the names will not be officially announced until Tuesday, 2 May 2000. In a letter to the Federal Government today, Special Rapporteur Mr. Jiri Dienstbier and Barbara Davis, the OHCHR Chief of Mission have asked for information on the precise dates and times of release of all pardoned individuals. ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS Over 40 joined the hunger strike April 26, 2000 Klin?, April 26 (Kosovapress) - Today at the Klina town joined over 40 persons to the hunger strike. They started the hunger strike with a goals to release the prisoners on the Serbia jails and to find the missing persons. The strikes especially are members of the families who have the relatives in prisons. Frome Klina are 25 prisoners and 106 missing persons, and for their fate still is nothing known. The strike will continue 24 hours. http://www.kosovapress.com/english/prill/26_4_2000_2.htm ========================================== UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Foreign journalists visit jailed ethnic Albanians in Yugoslavia April 23, 2000 By Stefan Racin BELGRADE, Yugoslavia, April 23 (UPI) -- Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic took foreign and domestic journalists Saturday on a tour of the prisons for men and women in Pozarevac, giving them a chance to talk to Kosovo Albanians jailed on charges of terrorism and conspiring to subvert the state. The prisoners the journalists saw included Flora Brovina, a doctor, writer and leader of Albanian women and Albanian student leader Albin Kurti. The two prisoners were tried and imprisoned for 12 and 15 years respectively after being arrested in Pristina during NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia last year. Both told the journalists they were imprisoned unjustifiably. Kurti, held in the notorious "Zabela" prison, brushed aside a question from the minister and ignored the Serbs in the party. But he said in English to the foreign correspondents: "I was sentenced for my political convictions and stance and for my political activities. I was sentenced only because I am Albanian." Brovina, 50, who is ill with a serious heart complaint, agreed to talk to Jankovic and the other visitors in her prison cell. She had submitted a plea for pardon and her case comes up for review before the Serbian Supreme Court on May 16. In answer to a question from the minister asking what she expected from the review, Brovina said: "I don't know what to expect. I expected justice at the trial," but a just trial would have led to her freedom, she said. There has been increasing pressure on the Serbian authorities for her release from both the international community and human rights activists in Serbia, who consider her innocent of any wrongdoing. Her supporters have said that Brovina was fulfilling her duty by treating people wounded during fights in last year's war. Many observers have said the minister's approach is a sign she would be soon set free. Brovina said she had no complaints about her treatment in the prison and that she received mail and visits by her husband. "Everyone behaves well, we can read books and we get Serbian-language newspapers," Brovina said. The minister said the Pozarevac prison held five Albanian women and the "Zabela" jail 248 Albanian men. He said there a total of about 960 Albanians in Serbian prisons. Story from UPI / STEFAN RACIN Copyright 2000 by United Press International (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/az/Uyugoslavia-prisons.Rvmt_AAN.html ========================================== AFP Imprisoned ethnic Albanian leader vows fight for Kosovo will continue Poyarevac, Yugoslavia April 23, 2000 An ethnic Albanian student leader jailed on terrorist charges in Yugoslavia insisted this weekend that the struggle for an independent Kosovo would continue. Albin Kurti, 25, was jailed last month for 15 years by a Serbian court which found him guilty of having been a member of the now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which Belgrade regards as a terrorist group. "Only an independent Kosovo could guarantee stability in the region. Only in an independent Kosovo, would Albanians feel free, safe and able to realise their rights," Kurti told reporters touring his prison Saturday. Kurti was speaking to a group of foreign and local reporters, escorted by Serbian Justice minister Dragoljub Jankovic, who were visiting a prison in Pozarevac, the hometown of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Together with some 2,050 more ethnic Albanians jailed by the Serb police, Kurti was transferred from the province to Serbia proper with the withdrawal of Belgrade's forces from Kosovo last June. Kosovo is now administered by the United Nations. "Serbia does not control Kosovo anymore and that is good," Kurti said. He warned: "The way towards the independence has not been over yet." Speaking in English, Kurti refsued to answer questions from Serb journalists or officials of the Serbian justice ministry. During the trial, Kurti denounced Serbian state institutions, refused to accept a court-appointed lawyer and said he did not recognize "Milosevic's justice." Speaking to reporters in a prison yard, dressed in a pale jeans and dark blue shirt, with his characteristic curly hair shaved off, Kurti insisted he would not appeal against his sentence. "I do not recognise the state of Serbia and its system and laws, and as a result, I am not going to ask for any kind of mercy or appeal," Kurti said. He refused to talk about "facilities or conditions" in prison, insisting this would "miss the point." All the Albanians "are held in an unjust way ... just because they are Albanians," he insisted. Kurti insisted he had been jailed because of his "political activity" and not terrorism. He said he was a "political prisoner," just as were another 248 Albanians jailed in Pozarevac. Jankovic said 979 prisoners brought from Kosovo were still being held in Serbian prisons. All but 15 or 20 of them were ethnic Albanians, he said. Asked about the violence against Serbs in Kosovo that has followed the air strikes, Kurti said all those who had committed war crimes should be tried no matter they were Serbs or Albanians. "All those who were war criminals should go to an international court," he said. His words were echoed by another prominant Kosovo Albanian prisoner, Flora Brovina, 52, sentenced by a Serb court to 12 years for "terrorist activities." "Revenge leads nowhere ... I just wish the situation would calm down in Kosovo. People must drop revenge and reconcile with one another and everyone should go back to their homes, to their land," Brovina said. Unlike Kurti, Brovina and her lawyers have lodged an appeal. She will appear on May 16 in front of Belgrade's Supreme Court. "During the trial, I kept waiting for justice to be done to me, but justice being done would have meant that I didn't end up in prison," she said, speaking in Serbian rather than her Albanian mother tongue. Brovina was accused of associating with and helping the KLA, but she denied the charges, saying her work was purely humanitarian. "I am a doctor and a poet. I have committed no terrorist acts. I only care for sick children," she added. Copyright ? 2000 AFP. http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/article.html?s=asia/headline s/000423/world/afp/Imprisoned_ethnic_Albanian_leader_vows_fight_for_Kosovo_w ill_continue.html ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Hundreds of Kosovo Albanians march again for prisoner release April 27, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, April 27 (AFP) - Some 300 Kosovo Albanian schoolchildren marched through central Pristina Thursday in a second day of protests demanding the release of ethnic Albanians held in Serb jails. The schoolchildren, carrying banners with photos of missing persons and Albanian flags, marched down central Mother Theresa street to join a group of 100 protestors at a central junction which had been blocked for 24 hours. Dozens of demonstrators spent the night at the junction, which was totally blocked by people on ground sheets and wrapped in blankets early Thursday. One of the protestors, a student, said he would spend the night on the streets. "We want our fathers and brothers back," said Korab Shala, 16. "We will stay here until something happens." Agron Xhemajli, president of the Citizens' Protest Council which helped organise the demonstration, said: "We'll continue until we have a result, until the UN, the only ones who can do something about this, make a step toward us." "They are the only ones who can put pressure on the Serbian government," he said. The organisers had cut back the number of people out on the streets, he said, but reserved the right to block the whole city again. The protest focused on the Mother Theresa junction Thursday, a day after UN police and NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR had allowed thousands of protestors to control all access into the city as long as they allowed official vehicles to pass. The sit-down demonstration briefly flared into violence Wednesday as a Russian army officer tried to pass one of the outer barricades. The crowd apparently mistook the man for a Serb and overturned and burned his car, although the officer escaped unhurt, a KFOR official on the scene said. Serbian authorities say they were still holding 1,000 prisoners while one Belgrade-based independent human rights organisation, the FHP, estimated the number at 1,300. "The issue of the prisoners is the most sensitive wound," Mehmetali Rexhepi, one of the organisers of the demonstration, told a crowd at the start of the protest Wednesday. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/cg/Qkosovo-demo.R4Lc_AAR.html ========================================== FREESERBIA OSCE to set up Kosovo war crimes court April 26, 2000 Kosovo's international authorities will set up a war crimes court in June to ease pressure on a shaky new judiciary swamped by a postwar crime spree, a senior official said in an interview. The OSCE court will focus on atrocities during the 1998-99 conflict between Kosovo's separatist majority ethnic Albanians and Serbian security forces, but hand cases up to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague on request, he said. "The system is now completely overwhelmed by cases. So we plan to convene a Kosovo war crimes court in June to address serious ethnic crimes," said Rolf Welberts, human rights chief for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission in Kosovo. Attorney General of the International Tribunal for ex-Yugoslavia, Carla Del Ponte, applied for a visa to enter FRY. Paul Risley, spokesman for the Prosecutors Office, stated for Beta agency that the Attorney General applied for visas two weeks ago for herself and her deputy, Graham Bluit. The applications were received by the Yugoslav embassy in the Hague, but a reply is not expected, said Risley. The Attorney General said earlier this year that she wanted to visit FRY in order to gather statements from Serbian war crime victims, so that the guilty may be punished. Reasly stated that a trip to FRY also depends on analyses of security matters concerning such a visit. The former Attorney General, Louise Arbour, was denied a Yugoslav visa at the end of 1998, while she had to turn back at the Yugoslav - Macedonian border crossing at the beginning of 1999. Authorities from Belgrade terminated relations with the Hague Tribunal in May 1999, when Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and four high-ranking Serbian Government officials were indicted of war crimes in Kosovo. http://anon.free.anonymizer.com/http://www.xs4all.nl/~freeserb/news/2000/04/ e-26-04-2000.html ========================================== UN INTERIM ADMINISTRATION MISSION IN KOSOVO (UNMIK) Security Council delegation arrives in Kosovo amid continuing protests over missing persons: April 27, 2000 Protests by Kosovo Albanians over missing Albanians in Serb prisons entered their second day as the Security Council delegation to Kosovo arrived today. Restaurants and businesses were closed in support of the protest in Pristina last night. Some roads entering Pristina were blocked but this did not hamper the movement of Council members, according to a UN spokesman in New York. Yesterday, the demonstration included the stoning of a UN bus carrying Kosovo Serbs, but there were no injuries, the spokesman said. The eight-member Security Council delegation, led by Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh, began their three-day visit today with meetings at UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) headquarters in Pristina. Tomorrow, the delegation will participate in a special session of the Kosovo Transitional Council (KTC). http://www.un.org/peace/kosovo/news/update.htm ========================================== GROUP 484 Report on the trial of the so-called "Djakovica group Nis District Court April 18th - 21st 2000 On April 18th 2000 began a public trial of the so-called "Djakovica group" - 144 Albanians, citizens of FRY, accused of terrorism. The defendants can be found here: http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-report0053.htm The trial is attended by numerous defense attorneys - each defendant is represented by at least two defense attorneys, and a number of defendants even by more. 112 defendants are represented by the Humanitarian Law Center defense attorneys. According to the indictment, in April and May of 1999, during the state of war in Djakovica, the defendants organized terrorist acts in order to imperil the constitutional order and security, killing one policeman and two YA soldiers, and wounding a number of people. After the terrorist group was routed in May 1999 by the Serbian Ministry of Interior police forces, the defendants laid down their weapons and tried to hide in Djakovica and, after the situation calmed, illegally escape to the Republic of Albania. However, the police located and arrested them. After the hearing of some 80 defendants, the trial of "Djakovica group" will resume on May 8th with hearing of the remaining 65 Albanians, accused of terrorism during the state of war. The trial of Albanians from Djakovica has no precedent in the court practice of former Yugoslavia, beginning with 1945. Never has such a large group of people been put on trial, and generally and unselectively charged with the same, allegedly carried out, actions. The first day of the trial passed in checking defendants' personal data. The court made a decision to separate proceedings of the 137. defendant, because he was a juvenile during the carrying out of the criminal act and at the time of the indicting. All defendants confirmed that they were familiar with the indictment, denied its statements and pleaded not guilty. The term for bringing the defendant to the investigative judge (Yugoslav Penal Code) has been violated by all defendants. By the decision of the Court Council president, accepted by all the trial participants, the first 30 defendants were brought, but the court managed to interrogate only 20. The majority of the defendants chose to remain silent during the trial, but, during the main hearing, changed their minds and gave statements in Serbian or Albanian. It is indicative that the defendants' statements were almost identical: - The arrests took place between May 10th and 12th 1999. Citizens of Djakovica were summoned for a routine check of personal data, after which the men fit for military service were separated from others and taken to several different facilities. According to their statements, the number of arrested was between 100 and 300 people. After the collective centres in Djakovica, the defendants were brought to Pec and Lipljan, and before being taken to Nis, Pozarevac and Sremska Mitrovica prisons, they spent some time in Dubrava where some of them were wounded and killed in the bombing. - Almost all defendants stated that, in the period between the beginning of the bombing on May 24th 1999, and the day of the arrest, they never left their homes (not even for shopping). They claimed they felt safe in the presence of the Yugoslav Army and took a YA major's warning not to leave their houses for safety reasons, generally. Nobody stated that their movements were restricted. The defendants stated that they were never searched during the arrest, as well as their homes. The police only checked their IDs and never stated the reason for their arrest. According to the statements of various attorneys, the accused were treated correctly while in prison, they were never tortured or mistreated. We have estimated that the defendants are physically well, apart from several cases of illness, and these were also treated correctly. Group 484 Volunteer Centre for Direct Protection of Human Rights ========================================== REUTERS LIMITED Kosovo Albanians urge U.N. action on prisoners April 28, 2000 By Shaban Buza PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, April 28 (Reuters) ? Ethnic Albanians took to the streets in Kosovo for a third day on Friday demanding the release of compatriots in Serbian jails and urging the United Nations to do more to resolve the problem. Thousands of demonstrators staged a peaceful rally outside the headquarters of the U.N.-led admininistration in the provincial capital Pristina where top U.N. envoys on a fact-finding mission were meeting local leaders. Soldiers of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force and armed U.N. police kept a wedge of demonstrators well back from the entrance to the building. Inside, a U.N. Security Council delegation on a three-day trip to Kosovo took part in a meeting of Kosovo's multi-ethnic transitional council, which is headed by United Nations administrator Bernard Kouchner. One banner carried by the protesters read: "There will be no peace in Kosovo without the release of Albanians from Serb jails." "U.N. -- what you are doing?" said another. Kouchner, KFOR commander Lieutenant General Juan Ortuno and the head of the U.N. team, Bangladesh's ambassador to the world body, later addressed the protesters. "We are very concerned about this and we believe that missing persons, not only in Kosovo, but elsewhere in the world need our attention," Bangladesh Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury told the crowd. "We are listening to you, we are hearing from you and when we go back...we will be able to take some action...," he said. PROTESTS ACROSS KOSOVO One-hour rallies were held also outside U.N. buildings in other Kosovo towns. Organisers say protests will be held daily throughout the Yugoslav province, which is under U.N. administration and secured by NATO peacekeepers, until the prisoners are freed. They say about 7,000 of their people are in Serbian prisons or missing since last year's conflict. Serbia says it now has 965 Kosovo Albanian prisoners. Last year, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) put the figure at more than 2,000 prisoners. An ICRC official released new figures on Thursday, saying 820 Kosovo Albanians had since been freed and 1,279 were still jailed. Among the remaining prisoners were nine women and nine people under 19 years of age. Many Kosovo Albanians think missing people are in prisons in Serbia but their names are not in the published lists. They also say that Serb police know where others have been were buried. Lutfije Behrami, a 42-year-old woman from the town of Vucitrn, held a photo of her 17-year-old son and 54-year-old husband during the rally in Pristina. "The international community has to do more, they have to find our loved ones dead or alive," she said. "It's been almost one year that we've had no information about them." On Thursday, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic declared an amnesty for a "certain number of prisoners" to mark the Yugoslav Statehood Day, the official news agency Tanjug said. But it was unclear how many prisoners would benefit. ? Copyright Reuters Limited. http://www.excite.co.uk/news/news_story/european/reuters_european_news_20000 428151518_1.txt ========================================== FREEB92 DAILY NEWS Security Council delegation meets demonstrators April 28, 2000 PRISTINA, Friday - The UN Security Council delegation to Kosovo today met representatives of Albanian demonstrators in Pristina. The Kosovo capital has been brought to a standstill for three days by protesters demanding the release of Albanians held in Serbian prisons. Protest representative Shukri Klinaku said after the meeting that the UN delegation had said they would brief the Security Council on the Albanians' demands. In other news from Kosovo, KFOR today reported that the body of an elderly Serb woman was found on Wednesday night in Gnjilane. KFOR spokesman Frank Benjaminson also told media that an elderly Romany had suffered serious head injures in a bomb attack in Gnjilane yesterday. http://www.freeb92.net/archive/e/ ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE UN delegates question Kosovo leaders about prisoners' fate April 28, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, April 28 (AFP) - Delegates from the UN Security Council demanded answers Friday from local Kosovar leaders about the fate of prisoners being held in Serbia. The delegation attended a special meeting Friday of the Kosovo Transition Council (KTC), presided over by UN administrator Bernard Kouchner. "We met with the KTC and the issue of detained persons has been a matter of discussion for some time," said delegation chief Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, Bangladesh's ambassador to the United Nations. The delegation, which includes the UN ambassadors from Russia and China, is conducting a two-day fact-finding mission in the province to review the United Nations mission there, six weeks before its mandate is due to expire. Several thousand protesters gathered outside the UN mission headquarters during the KTC meeting, demanding the release of some 2,000 ethnic Albanians being held in Serbian prisons, where they were taken last June when Yugoslav forces left the province. "When we go back to New York, we'll be reporting to the Security Council, and I'm confident they'll be able to take some useful actions," Chowdhury said. The delegates, who arrived in Kosovo on Thursday night, are expected to visit the Kosovar police academy in Vucitrn, northern Kosovo, before meeting with local leaders in the ethnically divided northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica. Before arriving in Kosovo, the Russian and Chinese ambassadors met Wednesday in Belgrade with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Other members of the UN delegation include the UN ambassadors from Argentina, Canada, Jamaica, Malaysia and Ukraine. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/du/Qkosovo-un-prisoners.Ro_p_AAS.html ========================================== GROUP 484 Report on the Trial of Luan Mazreku and Bekim Mazreku NIS DISTRICT COURT April 12th and 20th 2000 The trial of the accused Luanu (Muharem) Mazreku and Bekim (Abdulah) Mazreku resumed at the Nis District Court. Luan Mazreku and Bekim Mazreku are being charged with conspiring to commit enemy activities, in connection with terrorism, because they became members of the "Lumi" terrorist gang, belonging to the KLA, in March 1998, and committed the following: Luan Mazreku: - attacked members of the Serbian Interior Ministry (MUP) and the Yugoslav Army (YA) in the Dulja, Lapusnik and Orahovac area, and then, together with Bekim and members of the KLA, committed the kidnapping of Agim Tachi and Faik Bitichi in Suva Reka, bringing them to Malisevo where Luan participated in the torture and mutilation of the kidnapped Agim, and dug out graves and buried the above mentioned and two other persons of unknown identity; - participated in the attack on Orahovac, during which several dozens of citizens were kidnapped, and, together with persons kidnapped in other towns, brought to the village of Klecka, Lipljan Municipality, where they were tortured and where he raped a Serbian girl 12-15 years of age, and cut off an ear off an 8-year-old boy, and then, together with Bekim and 18 other members of the gang, participated in the mass execution of the tortured and mutilated individuals. Bekim Mazreku: - together with the first accused Luan and several other members committed the kidnapping of Agim Tachi and Faik Bitichi in Suva Reka, whom they brought to Malisevo, where they were tortured and murdered, and Bekim participated in the digging out of graves and burying of the mentioned two and two more persons of unknown identity. - in July 1998, in the village of Klecka, he participated in the torture of citizens kidnapped in Orahovac by raping a number of female individuals of Serb nationality, and then, in the group with the first accused Luan and 18 other members, participated in the mass execution of the tortured and mutilated individuals. Both men accused pleaded innocent to the charges, and stated that they were tortured by the police during the pre-trial proceedings. In respond to the motion of the defense that medical exams be performed on the accused, the council stated that a decision on that matter would be made subsequently. The trial of Mazreku brothers resumed in the Nis District Court April 20. A court expert and the president of the Pristina Forensic Medicine Institute, Slavisa Dobricanin, gave his testimony. Firstly, he spoke of the exhuming of 4 bodies in Malisevo. The record of it was in the Pristina Institute, so he made his testimony relying on his memory. Their task was to exhume 4 bodies, whose whereabouts were obtained from Luan Mazreku by the court, Mazreku claiming that bodies of Serbs, he himself buried, were on that location. The investigative procedures resulted in discovery of 4 graves made 3-4 days earlier. The fact that the graves were made then was established according to the earth conditions, on which there were pieces of green, still fresh grass, and the, also still fresh, wooden boards in the ground on which the bodies lay. Corpses wearing black KLA uniforms were found in the graves, in different stages of decomposition. The corpses were 4-20 days old. No corpses of Serb nationality were found in the graves. The bodies were identified and a record was made which was forwarded to the investigative judge. The court expert then spoke of the crime committed in Klecka. He said that partly scorched, scattered and partly buried remains of human bones were found in the vicinity of a limekiln, and partly in the limekiln on Mt. Klecka on August 28th 1998. Aside from the bones, there were some garments of clothes, which were used for identification. Among the bones, there were bones of adult persons, as well as bones of 2 children 5-15 years of age. The bones showed traces of fracture, exposition to high temperatures and bullet wounds. All bones were taken to the Institute, and this is supported by photo-documentation. A team of Finnish forensic experts gained samples in order to use them for DNA identification, but the results of these procedures were not known to the expert. The expert considers that there is a specific connection between the crimes in Malisevo and Klecka. While answering the prosecutor's questions about the graves in Malisevo, the expert stated the following. The corpses were in different stages of decomposition, and it was the expert's opinion that they were older than the graves, that they were brought there, that they were not buried before and that they were brought in from open space. Having in mind that the identification was performed, the defense inquired about the names of the deceased, which the expert had no knowledge of. The expert could not give specific description of injuries concerning the Malisevo case, but he stated that firearm was used for the victims' killing and that there were no traces of mutilation. While answering the question whether he was present at the site on Mt. Klecka, he stated that Suzana Matejic was present the first day, and that he arrived the day after, and that all opinion on the bones comes directly from the photo-documentation and video recordings. Furthermore, he stated that corpses could be completely burned at the temperature of 1.800 degrees centigrade in a matter of hours. Answering the defense question of how many bodies there were on the site, the expert told the court that there were at least 6-7 bodies, 4 being adults and 2 children. The question whether the corpses were torched one by one or together followed, and the expert answered that the corpses were not whole, but previously cut into pieces, and that piles of these pieces were made in preparation of the burning. This was what caused some bones to be more and some less burnt, and parts of bones were found prepared for the burning, but not burned at all. He was not aware whether a temperature of 1.800 degrees centigrade could be achieved in the limekiln with the use of some fuels. The expert further stated that the bones were evidently human and not of animal origin, and that brains were not found in the skulls because none of these were whole. The court accepted the prosecutor's plea of Slavisa Dobricanin being also examined as a witness. While asked who was present at the scene of the crime in Malisevo, the witness stated that he, Suzana Matejic, Budimir Vucic, Luan Mazreku with court security officers and Jovica Jovanovic, Deputy Prosecutor, were present. The witness does not remember the date, but it was then that the accused Luan himself told him that there they would find bodies of four Serbs who were harassed, murdered and buried there. Luan did not have any visible injuries at that point in time, but he showed signs of confusion when instead of Serb bodies, the corpses in KLA uniforms were dug out. Luan was persistent in claiming that he personally buried the Serbs there. Answering the question whether he knew Luan, the witness said that he saw him at the funeral in Malisevo. He was also asked how was it the case that he fails to remember the name Luan, but remembers the questions addressed to him and his replies, and the witness answered that that all happened a long time ago and that he remembers well the facts related to his expertise, especially concerning this case. The examination was then concluded. The court then stated that it was not possible to question the commander of the Suva Reka police precinct because he failed to show up at the court hearing in spite of his promise and that the court summons would be sent to him again. The prosecution then moved for technical conditions to be established in order for two video tapes to be played at the next hearing: the first one dealing with the investigation proceedings performed on Mt. Klecka and the second one involving a part of a TV show broadcast on RTS (Serbian Broadcasting Corp.) showing Luan and Bekim, providing evidence on their psycho-physical conditions at that time. The prosecutor added that the sound from that tape should not be audible in order for the report of the journalist, the show's author, not being heard. The defense then suggested that, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the reports and opinions of the Finnish forensic experts working on the Klecka case should be obtained ex officio, and that, through the International Red Cross, the list of people missing from the Orahovac Municipality should also be acquired. In regard to these requests, the court made the following resolution: 1. The court grants prosecution motion to show videotapes at the next hearing. 2. The court denies defense motions regarding the Finnish forensic experts and the International Red Cross list of missing persons from the Municipality of Orahovac. Due to the time elapsed, the court came to a decision that the next hearing would be held on May 9th at 10.00 a.m. Group 484 Volunteer Center for Direct Protection of Human Rights ========================================== GROUP 484 The Trial of Albanian Students Belgrade District Court April 26, 2000 The trial of five Albanian Belgrade University students and one person tried in absentia (the indictment enclosed at the bottom) resumed today. Attorney Husnia Bitiqi, recovering from injuries, still represents the defendant Shkodran Derguti. Ljiljana Arsic and Zoran Jovicic, witnesses during the search of Dragoslava Aleksic's apartment, in which 4 hand-grenades, a notebook including a list, KLA insignia and some military papers were found, were heard. Witnesses' statements differ, as well as the statements of the previous witnesses, Valentina Petrovic and Dragoslava Aleksic. Ljiljana Arsic changed her testimony several times, particularly after facing Valentina Petrovic. After Jovicic's testimony, she changed it once again, coordinating it with his statement, meaning that they confirmed that the police found the evidence, but failed to agree about where the hand grenades were taken out from, and none of the witnesses remembers where the notebook was. - next hearing shall be attended by a graphologist, who will establish if the handwriting in the notebook belongs to any of the defendants and if the handwriting with which some of the names were added to the list is different from the rest of the notebook, and by an Albanian interpreter, who will establish if there is a letter Sh (S with a stroke) in Albanian, because the defendants names in the notebook were written using that letter. - it is to be established if the hand-grenades found in the vase really fit into it and could be taken out of it At the next hearing, the recording of "Aktuelnosti" program, broadcast during the bombing, in which some of the defendants recognized the statements of the indictment, will be shown. The court decision about the rest of the proposals will be made later. The six, Zef Paluca, 39, and students of Belgrade University Petrit and Driton Berisha, 26, Driton Meqa, 27, Skodran Derguti and Abdulah Isam, both 31, are charged with terrorism and sabotage. All but the sixth charged, Zef Paluca, a jeweler who is being tried in absentia, appeared in court. They were arrested during NATO bombing, accused for planning terrorist actions in Belgrade region, founded a group, a part of KLA, and Petrit Berisha is also accused for the murder of 2 policemen in Kosovo, and co-operator in the murder of 5 policemen and massacre of one police commander. If found guilty, they will be sentenced to 20 years in prison, a maximum sentence under the Yugoslav Penal Code. They were arrested during the Martial Laws, and the prosecutor wanted the trial to be according to it, but the defenders proved that it can not be so, because Martial Law is over now. All of them said that they confessed the charges under the police tortures, and said that non of what they confessed was true. Group 484 Volunteer Centre for Direct Protection of Human Rights ========================================== Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren MEMORANDUM about the systematic violations of human rights in post war Kosovo April 28, 2000 Today, Apr 28, on the meeting of the Kosovo Transitional Council the members of the special delegation of the UN Security Council were given the text of the MEMORANDUM about the systematic violations of human rights in post war Kosovo. Serb delegation led by Bishop Artemije, Fr. Sava, Dr Rada Trajkovic, Randjel Nojkic and Dragan Velic energetically demanded freedom for Kosovo Serbs and more concrete meassures to stop the post war violence organized by extremist Kosovo Albanians. Bearing in mind the postulates of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948) which determines the basic rights and freedoms of every human being regardless of ethnic or religious background; the principles stated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as well as the Security Council Resolution 1244, which requires protection and promotion of human rights of all ethnic groups in Kosovo, the safe and free return of all refugees and displaced persons as well as the ensuring of public safety and order with full protection and freedom of movement of all inhabitants the Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohia is issuing the following Complete Memorandum may be found here: http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-report0054.htm ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS Three prisoners released from Serbian prison April 29, 2000 Prishtin?, April 29 (Kosovapress) - Last Friday, three prisoners were campaigned by the International Community Red Cross to Kosova from Serbian jails. One prisoner was released from Leskoci prison and the other two prisoners released from Mitrovica e Sremit. They are one from Podujeva and two are from Peja region. ========================================== FREESERBIA Supreme Court cancels the sentence to Bogoljub Arsenijevic - Maki April 26, 2000 The Supreme Court of Serbia canceled a first degree sentence to three years imprisonment given by the Municipal Court in Valjevo to Bogoljub Arsenijevic - Maki. The decision was made after a public session of the Supreme Court on April 5, but neither Arsenijevic nor his family or solicitors have been given this information, report Belgrade daily papers Danas and Glas javnosti, quoting unofficial sources from the court in Valjevo, which has neither confirmed nor denied the statement. If this is the outcome of Maki's appeal to the court, then the whole story returns to square one and Maki will have a new trial. Arsenijevic escaped from the Clinic for Facial Surgery in Belgrade on March 8, and has been on the run ever since. At the moment he is in Belgrade, where he communicates with reporters from independent media. http://anon.free.anonymizer.com/http://www.xs4all.nl/~freeserb/news/2000/04/ e-26-04-2000.html ========================================== 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 Very useful statistics and update from ICRC on missing persons from Kosova can be found at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/60c532db df49f6878525688f006f80d4?OpenDocument Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 021 From kosova at jps.net Tue May 9 22:46:14 2000 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 19:46:14 -0700 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 022 Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 022, May 08, 2000 This report highlights the developments on the prisoner issue for the week of April 30, 2000. ========================================== A-PAL STATEMENT: ========================================== The UN Security Council sent members to visit Kosova this week. Led by Ambassador Anwaril Karim of Chowdhury of Bangladesh, they were overwhelmed not only with the size of the task of rebuilding Kosova, but by the grief of the families of missing and detained persons. Besides the large demonstrations in the streets of Prishtina and Gjakova for the release of prisoners, 46 Albanians started a hunger strike to protest the continued detention of the 1,000 Albanian prisoners. RELEASE THE KOSOVAR POLITICAL PRISONERS FROM SERBIA NOW! ========================================== WEEK OF APRIL 30, 2000 TOPICS: ========================================== * AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE: UN Security Council says fate of missing persons top issue in Kosovo * FREEB92 DAILY NEWS: Security Council must deal with imprisoned Kosovars: delegation head * UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL: Hunger strikers seek release of Albanians * KOSOVAPRESS: And students are in hunger strike * RADIO 21: Citizens Council for Protests continue with Hunger Strike * UNMIK: Civilian administration * KOSOVAPRESS: All they are on jails, they are our blood * KOSOVAPRESS: Alain Cole has ensured that ICRC will pledge to release prisoners * KOSOVAPRESS: Seven persons released from prison of Pozharevci * KOSOVAPRESS: The hunger strikers refuse medical control * KOSOVAPRESS: Nine hunger strikers are decedent for their demands * AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE: Kosovo Albanian receives emotional welcome after year in Serb jail * Radio 21: Citizen's Council for Protests Stop 9 day Hunger Strike * AFP: Serbian court sentences 14 Kosovo Albanians for terrorism * UNITED NATIONS: Report of Special UN Security Council Mission to Kosovo * UNITED NATIONS: Security Council Mission Focuses on Kosovo's Missing * WOMEN IN BLACK: Trials in Serbia * NEW YORK TIMES: U.N. Delegation Winds Up Visit to Kosovo * AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE: UN Security Council team end mission to Kosovo * HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER: Satirist Boban "Bapsi" Miletic On Trial * FREESERBIA: Otpor activists and a lawyer injured in a street fight in Pozarevac * INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: State Department on Harassment of Student Opposition in Serbia ========================================== QUOTES OF THE WEEK: ========================================== Mr. Chowdhury said there was a strong need for a high-level figure to be appointed to deal specifically with that issue. "It is something that is burning continuously, and this aspect needs special attention," he said. Mr. Chowdury said he was moved by the sight, and that the council could not maintain its credibility if it failed to address the issue. May 5, the spokesman of this hunger strike Besim Morina, said that their health state is becoming more worse, there were two medical intervention, and one of the strikers was released by the doctor recommend. The strikers were asked when they are going to stop it. The answer was it would be stopped when our demands are realized. May 6, "I have news from the others who were with me in prison," Bejta told the waiting villagers. But I've forgotten everything, it'll come back later." He confined himself to just a few words on his detention: "Even cows wouldn't be treated like that." ========================================== WEEK?S REQUESTED ACTION: ========================================== We must support the demonstrations in Prishtina and the hunger strikers with our emails to show the Security Council that this is an International Issue, a Violation of International Law, and give our utmost support. Please Contact: Ambassador Anwaril Karim Chowdhury/ Bangladesh Ambassador Robert Fowler/ Canada Ambassador Richard Holbrooke/ Usa Ambassador Sergei Lavrov/Russia Ambassador Shen Guofeng/China As well as ambassadors from Jamaica, Mexico, Ukraine, Argentina, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. ========================================== FULL REPORTS AND ARTICLES BEGIN HERE: ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE UN Security Council says fate of missing persons top issue in Kosovo May 01, 2000 UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (AFP) - The credibility of the UN Security Council depends upon its handling of the problem of people missing from Kosovo, the leader of a council mission to the province said Monday. "The issue of missing persons and detainees emerged again and again," the ambassador of Bangladesh, Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, said after returning from a two-day visit to Kosovo with seven other ambassadors. "It broke our hearts to see hundreds of families gathering with photographs of their near and dear ones who are missing, for 10 or 12 months," he told a news conference, and added: "The council cannot maintain credibility unless we address this issue." In a report to the council, Chowdhury said the ambassadors had "noted the strong support of the different ethnic communities for the appointment of a special envoy for detainees and missing persons." While in Kosovo, he had vowed to bring the plight of some 1,200 ethnic Albanians held in Serbian jails to the attention of the UN Security Council. On Saturday, in the western Kosovar town of Djakovica, the ambassadors were told that about 1,200 local ethnic Albanians were still missing since the conflict. A crowd of 200 to 300 ethnic Albanians greeted the delegation in front of the town hall, carrying photographs of missing relatives or persons imprisoned in Serbia. Chowdhury's report said "the lack of an effective and unbiased rule of law in Kosovo was a recurring theme at many of the meetings" the ambassadors had with UN officials and community representatives. It blamed the lack of physical security and freedom of movement for the refusal of Kosovo's Serb community to take part in municipal elections which the UN administrators plan to hold later this year. But, the report said, "all ethnic communities expressed a desire to live together in peace" -- a claim which Chowdhury repeated to reporters. Unless one had visited Kosovo, he said, "it is not possible comprehend the enormity of the task facing the UN mission (UNMIK)" which took over the running of the province after NATO warplanes chased Yugoslav forces out last year. UNMIK's mandate comes up for renewal by the Security Council on June 10 and Chowdhury said the people of Kosovar were waiting for it as a signal and "a confidence-building measure." Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/ct/Qun-kosovo.RO4H_Ay2.html ========================================== FREEB92 DAILY NEWS Security Council must deal with imprisoned Kosovars: delegation head May 02, 2000 NEW YORK, Tuesday - The head of a UN Security Council delegation which visited Kosovo last week has called on the United Nations to appoint a special envoy to investigate the issue of Albanians detained by Serbian authorities. Anwarul Chowdury told media in New York today that the Council must deal with the issue in order to preserve its credibility and could not ignore about 1,200 Albanians imprisoned in Serbia. http://www.freeb92.net/archive/e/ ========================================== UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Hunger strikers seek release of Albanians May 01, 2000 By LULZIM COTA TIRANA, Albania, May 1 (UPI) -- Forty-eight ethnic Albanians, some of them women, on Monday began the fourth day of a hunger strike in Pristina, demanding that their relatives be released from Serbian prisons, the British Broadcasting Corp., reported. Hunger strikers hoped to pressure the international community and Albanian parties in Kosovo to increase their efforts to get thousands of Albanians released, said Shukri Klinaku, a hunger strike leader. He said the hunger strikers also hoped investigations would be undertaken into other Albanians' disappearances. The strikers expressed skepticism about a promise given by a U.N. Security Council delegation that visited Kosovo last week. The delegation promised to report their requests to the international body. This was the first hunger strike since June 1999, when NATO troops entered Kosovo. There was no reaction by the United Nations or by Kosovo Albanian parties. However, the strikers seemed resolute. "I decided to join the hunger strike until all Albanian prisoners are released and until the destiny of the missing people is known," said Violeta Shala, whose two brothers disappeared last year. Belgrade authorities said there are 965 Kosovo Albanians in Serbia's prisons; the international Red Cross has put the number at 2,000; and Albanian human rights organizations say some 5,000 Albanians are in Serb prisons. Some 6,000 Albanians disappeared during the conflict, according to experts with the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Story from UPI / LULZIM COTA Copyright 2000 by United Press International (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/cx/Ukosovo-strike.RWeN_Ay1.html ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS And students are in hunger strike May 03, 2000 Prishtin?, May 3 (Kosovapress) - Yesterday afternoon about 5 p.m. at the entrance of Philology Faculty, one group of students of Prishtina University started their hunger strike. Their demands are to release all the Albanian prisoners which are held on the Serbian jails. The spokesman of this strike, student Besim Morina, said that this strike we have organized in an independent way and without any political goals. We support this method of strike and to sensibilise the international community, and they should know that the prisoners which are taken as hostages during the war, they are a hard wound for us. Our strike will continue till our demands are realized. http://www.kosovapress.com/english/maj/3_5_2000_2.htm ========================================== RADIO 21 Citizens Council for Protests continue with Hunger Strike May 04, 2000 The 9 members of the Citizens Council for Protests are continuing with the hunger strike. Other citizens have joined them on their 7th day. The hunger strike is being widened in many other towns of Kosova supporting the initiative. The hunger strikers in Prishtina said today only concrete steps will make us stop our hunger strike. The release of thousands of Albanians from Serbian prisons is demanded. http://www.radio21.net/english/e4_5_00a.htm ========================================== UNMIK Civilian administration May 03, 2000 Kouchner hopes for speedy appointment of special representative for missing persons: The head of UNMIK, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, today said that he hoped that the visit of the Security Council last week in Kosovo would speed up the appointment of the special envoy on detainees and missing persons. Briefing the KTC about the visit, Dr. Kouchner said that the appointment of the special envoy would help put pressure on Belgrade regarding detainees held in Serbian prisons. Dr. Kouchner also said he had met twice with people protesting for action on detainees and missing persons, led by Mr. Shukri Klinaku of the LKCK party. He had also arranged a meeting between them and the Security Council delegation and regretted the resignation of Mr. Klinaku from the KTC over the issue. http://www.un.org/peace/kosovo/news/update.htm ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS All they are on jails, they are our blood May 04, 2000 Prishtin?, May 4 (Kosovapress) - The Kosova Albanians can not enjoy their freedom while the Albanian prisoners are in Serbian jails and while nothing is known about the missing persons, these are words of one of the members of this hunger strike who is 79 years old. He added when I heard about the hunger strike in Prishtina, I decided to join them. I have seen by myself the ?etnic Serbs in Gjakova, when they took from their houses thousands of Albanians, among them I have bee too. They released me as I was the oldest in the group. Now, I hope that our demands will be heard and understood to the civilized world, including here and our Kosova political leaders. If their children were on the Serbian jails, what they would do? There is no need to forget that all the prisoners who are in Serbian jails, they are our blood, ended the old man Haxhi Miftari. http://www.kosovapress.com/english/maj/4_5_2000_1.htm ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS Alain Cole has ensured that ICRC will pledge to release prisoners May 05, 2000 Prishtin?, May 5 (Kosovapress) - The chief of ICRC, mission in Kosova, Mr. Alain Cole, has ensured on Thursday the group of hunger strikers that they will pledge about the release of prisoners and about the missing persons. He stressed that ICRC currently will visit the prisoners in Serbia jails, to provide them a human treatment and better conditions. More than 700 prisoners have been campaigned by the ICRC to Kosova. Also he added that our efforts are going on to find out the fate of 3000 missing persons. One book will be published soon by the names of missing persons from all the municipalities of Kosova. By the end he stressed that he is very concerned about the families who still do not know anything about their dearest kin. http://www.kosovapress.com/english/maj/5_5_2000_1.htm ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS Seven persons released from prison of Pozharevci May 05, 2000 Prishtin?, May 5 (Kosovapress) - Yesterday late, ICRC campaigned seven prisoners to Kosova who were released by the prison of Pozharevci. Five of them were from Vushtria and the other two from Mitrovica. ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS The hunger strikers refuse medical control May 05, 2000 Prishtin?, May 5 (Kosovapress) - Today is the eighth day of hunger strike demonstrated by the nine members of City Council Protestors. The strikers refused their medical control, even their health looks much worse. Also students of hunger strike are now for the fourth day on strike, as we know their demands are to release all Albanians from the Serbian jails. As we are informed by the spokesman of this hunger strike Besim Morina, said that their health state is becoming more worse, there were two medical intervention, and one of the strikers was released by the doctor recommend. The strikers were asked when they are going to stop it. The answer was it would be stopped when our demands are realized. http://www.kosovapress.com/english/maj/5_5_2000_.htm ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS Nine hunger strikers are decedent for their demands May 06, 2000 Prishtin?, May 6 (Kosovapress) - Today is the ninth day, where hunger strikers are very decedent on their demands. As it is known their demands are to release all the Albanian prisoners from Serbia jails and to find the missing persons. Apparently their health seems getting worse and worse, as we got announced by the escorts around they do not want anyone getting close to them even from their families. The only way it is that journalists can contact to them at 2 p.m. Also at the other place in Prishtina, students hunger strike is on the fifth day of their protest. They say we know that the release of prisoners is on the Milosheviq`s hands, but UNMIK and IAC, they are doing nothing including this process. Even they see a reason to visit us. Mostly we are surprised by our political representatives. They said we know very well who is in Prison there we have some high levels such as Albin Kurti who represents the Union Students. And Ukshin Hoti simbolise the state of Kosova, and we know what we are in strike for. http://www.kosovapress.com/english/maj/6_5_2000_.htm ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Kosovo Albanian receives emotional welcome after year in Serb jail May 06, 2000 MERDARE, Yugoslavia, May 6 (AFP) - Almost 50 people showed up on this northern crossing point on the Kosovo-Serbia boundary to greet Sylejman Bejta as he returned from almost a year in Serbia's jails. His two daughters, wife, his cousins, family and friends awaited the 35-year-old on Thursday, their excitement giving way to silence, tears before they took turns in throwing themselves into his arms. Arrested on May 2 last year by Serbian police in his northern village of Smrekovnica, Bejta was first imprisoned a few kilometers away, and was later transferred to a prison in the northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica. Along with some 2,000 other Kosovo Albanian prisoners, he was then moved to Serbia shortly before NATO troops arrived in Kosovo last June. He was held in Pozarevac, some 60 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of Belgrade, where he was sentenced to a year in prison for "terrorist activities." His family however deny he had any links with the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which fought Belgrade for more than two years. While in prison he received only a few letters, delivered by the Red Cross, from his family who -- unlike the relatives of other prisoners -- were never allowed to visit him. On May 3 his prison term ended. His family and friends waited at the crossing for two hours, their cars parked all along the narrow road leading to Merdare, a silent and deserted village in the northern hills of Kosovo. They had turned up the day before too after Bejta's lawyers warned them he was about to be freed, but he did not come. "It was too late yesterday to bring him to the border," said Aribani Ibachi, prisoner coordinator for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Despite the warnings of British peacekeeping troops to stand back from the boundary, the crowd edged forward, desperate to catch a glimpse of him. "For them, as long as he hasn't crossed, he's still in prison, perhaps even dead," said Ibachi. "There he is, I saw him," cried one of the cousins, breaking into sobs. Some 50 metres (yards) away Bejta stepped out of the ICRC car that led him to the border, accompanied by six other ethnic Albanians released from Serb jails. Bejta, carrying two plastic bags, waved back as they urged him to hurry, before each of them took turns in throwing themselves into his arms. "It is a rebirth," said one of his relatives. "We didn't think we'd see him alive again." "I have news from the others who were with me in prison," Bejta told the waiting villagers. "But I've forgotten everything, it'll come back later." He confined himself to just a few words on his detention: "Even cows wouldn't be treated like that." Although some 800 ethnic Albanians have been released, 1,200 remain in prison across the boundary despite frequent protests in Kosovo for their release. The head of Kosovo's UN mission, Frenchman Bernard Kouchner, has demanded their immediate and unconditional release. The ICRC has said that first and foremost there must be fair trials in Serbia and decent conditions in the jails. Story from AFP / Claire Snegaroff Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/ce/Qkosovo-prisoners.Rsa__Ay6.html ========================================== Radio 21 Citizen?s Council for Protests Stop 9 day Hunger Strike May 06, 2000 20:27 CET The 9 members of the Citizen's Council for Protests have stopped their 9 days long hunger strike today in Prishtina. The hunger strike had started on 26th of April as a protest to release thousands of Albanians held in Serbian Prisons and about the fate of thousands disappeared persons. The Council President, Shukri Klinaku, said Albanian politicians should be more active on this matter. http://www.radio21.net/english/e6_5_00a.htm ========================================== AFP Serbian court sentences 14 Kosovo Albanians for terrorism May 04, 2000 BELGRADE, May 4 (AFP) - Fourteen Kosovo Albanians were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 20 months to 12 years on charges of terrorism by a court in the southern Serbian town of Nis, the pro-government daily Politika reported Friday. The fourteen, all from the area around the southern Kosovo town of Suva Reka, were arrested last spring during the NATO bombing campaign and accused of "committing attacks on the Yugoslav army and police units," the daily said. It added that the defendants "admitted they had to join" the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), considered terrorists by Belgrade. Milazin Korteshi and Argon Morina were sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, Aslam Lumi and Rasim Krueziu got 11-year sentences, while Dxavid Korteshi and Gazmend Batiqi received eight-year prison terms. A further eight defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 20 months to two and a half years, the daily said. Last June, Yugoslav authorities transferred more than 2,000 prisoners, mainly Kosovo Albanians, to Serbia as its troops pulled out of the province to make way for NATO-led peacekeepers. Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic said last month that 979 prisoners brought from Kosovo were still being held in Serbian prisons. All but 15 or 20 of them were ethnic Albanians, he said. About 500 prisoners have been released, but more than 250 have received heavy prison sentences in trials criticized by international human rights groups, the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre has estimated. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/ac/Qyugo-kosovo.RTNx_Ay4.html ========================================== UNITED NATIONS Report of Special UN Security Council Mission to Kosovo (Eight-member U.N. delegation visits Kosovo April 27-29) United Nations Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh led an eight-member delegation to Kosovo April 27-29 to monitor the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1244 and 1160; observe the operations of the U.N. Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and gain a greater understanding of the situation on the ground; and convey a strong message to Kosovo communities on the need to reject violence and to build a stable and secure society. Following is the report of the Special Security Council Mission: http://www.khao.org/appkosova/appkosova-report0055.htm ========================================== UNITED NATIONS Security Council Mission Focuses on Kosovo's Missing (Leader suggests appointment of special U.N. envoy) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent May 03, 2000 United Nations -- Returning from a two-day mission to Kosovo, the head of a special Security Council delegation said May 1 that the issue of missing persons and detainees is a humanitarian one that must be addressed immediately by the council if the United Nations is going to remain credible. Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh, head of the mission, said that wherever the eight-member delegation traveled, from U.N. headquarters to Kosovo grave sites, "the issue of missing persons and detainees came back again and again." "It broke our hearts to see hundreds of families gathering with the photographs of their near and dear ones who are missing for ten, twelve months," the ambassador said. "It is a great humanitarian issue which needs our attention." "The council cannot maintain a credibility unless we address this issue....(of) all missing persons irrespective of where they came from or who they are, irrespective of their ethnicity. This issue needs our attention and we must do something about it," Chowdhury said. The mission has suggested that the council consider appointing a special envoy for detainees and missing persons in Kosovo, he noted. Concerned about the problems being faced by the U.N. Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), the council sent a delegation of its members to observe operations and gain a greater understanding of the situation on the ground. Another main objective of the mission was to bring a message to the communities of Kosovo to "please reject violence, please try to build a secure and safe society because multi-ethnic community is the only hope for Kosovo, the best hope for Kosovo," Chowdhury said at a press conference after the delegation briefed the entire council in closed session. Three areas need attention, the ambassador said. "One is missing persons and detainees -- that has to be attended immediately. The second is the question of security and the violence, and the third is the question of the refugees, displaced persons, and returnees." Those three core issues "affect the broader issues of economic recovery, municipal elections, the building of administrative structures," he said. The ambassador, who was the president of the Security Council in March, said that the rare visit of Security Council members to a U.N. operation "was very useful." "Without such a visit to see the U.N. operations it is not possible to comprehend the enormity of the task that the U.N. is facing in Kosovo," Chowdhury said. "It is absolutely impossible for us sitting in New York to get the idea. The United Nations is doing a magnificent job in the circumstances," he said. "The Security Council, I am sure, when it adopted resolution 1244 had no clue that the UNMIK will be that pervasive, that wide-ranging, that broadly spread out all over Kosovo." "The U.N. is running Kosovo for all practical purposes now," he said. Another Security Council mission, headed by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke, is leaving May 1 for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the site of another major U.N. peacekeeping operation. Also meeting with journalists, Holbrooke said the two council missions "show the emerging centrality of the Security Council as an organization which doesn't just sit in New York and talk, but follows up." "That is our goal. We believe in the importance of the Security Council and we think that we are evolving towards a useful process which, while it puts great physical pressures on the 15 members of the Security Council, has increasing value in conflict resolution and conflict prevention," he said. "The drama of these back-to-back missions [to Kosovo and the DRC] -- the two most explosive places on Earth -- should tell the world how important all the members of the United Nations consider the Security Council," Holbrooke said. Chowdhury said the mission was "very impressed by a clear desire of the communities to try to work to live peacefully together, to live with each other. It is a difficult process. Reconciliation and healing of wounds do not take place overnight." "In Kosovo, the best hope is the younger generation who is looking ahead to a bright future as a part of Europe, the tremendous opportunities for them. Why should they let it go? I think this is dawning on them. And the international community is there to help them," he said. In addition to Chowdhury, other members of the mission were Ambassador Arnoldo Listre of Argentina; Ambassador Michel Duval of Canada; Ambassador Shen Guofang of China; Ambassador M. Patricia Durrant of Jamaica; Ambassador Hasmy Agam of Malaysia; Ambassador Sergey Lavrov of Russia; and Ambassador Volodymyr Yel'chenko of Ukraine. In its written report to the council, the mission said that despite a steady improvement in the overall level of violence and criminality, attacks against minorities continue and special measures of protection must constantly be maintained. Inadequate physical, social and economic security remains a major concern, the mission report said. "Lack of freedom of movement, access to education, health care, social services and employment hampers the return of internally displaced persons, primarily Serbs and the Roma, and significantly impedes the integration of ethnic minorities into public life." The mission called "unfortunate" the fact that all factions of the Kosovo Serb community have chosen not to participate in the upcoming municipal elections because of security concerns. Substantial efforts by UNMIK and the NATO-led peacekeepers (KFOR), "backed up by the strong support of the international community, are essential to encourage and create the conditions for Serb participation, including those who are displaced outside Kosovo," the report said. ========================================== WOMEN IN BLACK Trials in Serbia May, 2000 PART ONE Trial in Nis, April 18, 2000: a group judgement for 145 Albanians from Gjakova, Kosovo Never in the post-war period (from 1945 until now) has there been such a large number of people judged at the same time; the security forces in front of the Nis court and inside the court were numerous and rigorous; the information about the accused were read for three hours. This occurred during the first day of this marathon trial's investigation. After waiting an hour, they let us pass into the courtroom and seated us in the last row; in front of us observers were two rows of policemen, in front of them the accused-145 men of ethnic Albanian origin, between the ages of 18 and 55; in front of them were thirty lawyers, with Serbian and Albanian names. The names of four streets were repeated continuously: Radomir Terzic, Hasim Boksi, Bajram Curi, Jovan Jovanovic, again Radomir Terzic (there are more arrested from this street). Names of Serbian and Albanian streets, all the accused of one name, the Albanian. More than fifty of the accused were born after 1970, two are minors (at the moment of arrest), an accused between the age of 40-45 years is almost blind, another could hardly stand because of being sick. Hearing the names of the streets where those accused live and from where they were taken, it is obvious that the police and army made various raids in the same neighborhood; better said, in these four streets they caught them, neighbors carrying them, pals of the neighborhood . . . As one of the defenders said after the first day of the trial, "for the ethnic Albanians there are no vigilant laws-eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth is the only law vigilant." Among the accused are more workers, technical experts, and artisans, but there are also teachers and professors. Observing this farce, I asked myself: what will all this serve when the sentences are pronounced, depending on political needs, on the regime, on their secret games, or also on lucrative financial transactions. The first day of the trial for this group, which was accused of the penal crime of having associated for hostile and terrorist aims, ended shortly before 13h. It continued on April 19th and lasted the whole week. Sadly, I could not attend the trial for more than a day. It is very difficult to observe so many trials in this country. Someone said a few days ago that "Serbia has become an endless courtroom." Stasa Zajovic, Women in Black, April 2000. PART TWO The most prestigious human rights organization in the F.R. of Yugoslavia gave a communication about the trial against the group from Djakovica(Gjakova): TRIAL WITHOUT PRECEDENTS IN THE JUDICIAL PRAXIS The trial for the group from Gjakova, initiated April 18th, after the interrogation of eighty accused, will continue on May 8, 2000 when the rest of the 165 accused will be interrogated. All are accused for having committed the crime of "terrorism during a state of war." They were arrested in April and May of 1999; the majority of them were arrested the 10th and 11th of May '99, after the order of the Yugoslav army (VJ) and Serbian police (MUP) to abandon their houses with their families and move to a more secure part of the city. Among the accused are two minors: Blerim Jukik and Valdet Krasniqi, states the communication from the Fund for Humanitarian Rights. In their defense, 80 interrogated (from 145 total) described in a very persuasive way that they were arrested after the Yugoslav army and Serbian police gave the order to civilians in the old center of the city to leave their houses, for reasons of security and to move to another area of the city. Several hundred people were retained by the police while they went towards the center and were moved by bus to a metal factory; there they stayed three days, after which the women, elderly and children were freed, while the young men were transported to a provincial jail in the region of Cerim. Another group of people arrived to the center, in front of city hall, and there the men were removed and taken to the social security building, which the police occupied. After taking the personal information and from some "gloves of paraffin," all were moved to a provincial jail. Of three hundred persons arrested, on May 16, 1999 the police freed close to 150 elderly and infirm while the remaining (154) were detained under the order of capture and with thirty days of jail, on the basis of the decree of the penal code during the state of war. Afterwards they were taken first to the basement of the merchant Sali Banane in Pec (Peja) and on the 18th of May to the "Dubrava" jail in Istok, Kosovo. Nine people from this group died during and after the bombing of this "Dubrava" jail by NATO. The accusation makes reference to three separate incidents: April 10 and the 7th and 9th of May 1999, when supposedly the incriminated persons performed a terrorist act against members of the army and police when a policeman and two members of the army were killed and many of them were slightly or gravely injured. In their defense, the accused said that the situation in Gjakova was such that none of them, except two that had a work obligation, dared to leave their houses since the beginning of the NATO bombing. In the homes of a great number of these people were housed the police and the army, who remained in their neighborhood after the accused and their families had to abandon their homes. All movement of the citizens of Gjakova was under the rigorous control of the army and police. The accused mentioned before the court names of officials from the Yugoslav army whose units stayed in their neighborhood the whole time. The trial of the group of Albanians from Gjakova is a case without precedents in the judicial practice of ex-Yugoslavia, from 1945 to this day. Never has there been such a large group tried and all of them supposedly guilty of the same crime, states the communication from the Fund for Humanitarian Rights. PART THREE Abuse of prisons for political ends: GIVE A PENCIL TO FLORA BROVINA! I truly live in sinister times, Brecht says; he that still laughs has not realized this terrible news. Nineteen passengers disappeared from the Belgrade-Bar train in the whereabouts of Strpci, February 27, 1993, and since then all traces have been lost. Slavko Curuvija, an independent journalist, was shot dead on the street in broad daylight. In March of 1999 Kelmendi and his two sons were taken from their house and later killed. Bitiqi (one of Flora Brovina's defenders) and his wife were beaten, and nearly killed, in their home. They sentenced the journalist Fistic to a year of jail only for having attached a leaflet to a window (Free Press Serbia, April 1999); they sentenced the painter Bogoljub Arsenijevic Maki to three years of jail . . . It is only by pure coincidence that they did not do the same to me (Brecht again), each one of us could say. She has been in prison almost a year, although sick, although without any guilt, the doctor, poetess, humanitarian activist Flora Brovina. They condemned her to twelve years of prison without any proof. Except if the incriminating material were the bandages and wool for knitting, which were treated before the court as if they were bombs, rifles, and explosives. Something like this occurs only in literature, right? The work is entitled: Literary resources in judicial practice. In said work the doctor and poetess is converted into a terrorist. In this way, the prisoner is made more well known in the world. Was this the objective? Many governments and many non-governmental organizations in the world are interested in the destiny of Flora Brovina. Emissaries from the UN visit her in prison. Her poetry is translated into many languages, they give her literary prizes . . . Nevertheless, she continues to be imprisoned. Perhaps precisely for those things! The prisoner that carries the name Flora Brovina, Albanian born, continues to be incarcerated in the city of Pozarevac, without the right to speak her mother tongue with her husband, who visits her every fifteen days, each visit lasting thirty minutes. The prisoner that carries the name Flora Brovina, by vocation and by work a poetess, continues to be incarcerated in Pozarevac, without the right to have a pencil, in other words, without the right to write. In a poem Flora Brovina writes: If you have heard my poetry you know how I sing/If you know how I sing do not interrupt me. For the poets/poetesses, writing means surviving, and disabling them from the possibility of writing means disabling them from the latter. Will this be the objective? They have treated political prisoners in other times and regimes differently-some were even crueler. Ivo Andric wrote "Ex Ponto" in a prison in the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The communists translated Marx and Engels in the prison of Sremska Mitrovica, in the epoch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Milovan Djilas, political prisoner Number One since then, translated Milton in the communist prison, which seems to me the same as where Flora Brovina is presently incarcerated. The poet Gojko Djogo (beginning of the 80s) wrote his famous Defense of poetry in prison. The "defamed" court of The Hague recently allowed Dusan Tadic to paint in jail-these paintings were sold in an auction. Included is the hero of our times, painter Bogoljub Arsenijevic Maki, whose bones were broken by the police and who thought that he would die, who succeeded in making drawings in jail. We could see these drawings in the past in the Center for Cultural Decontamination in Belgrade. Only to the poetess Flora Brovina they have not left a pencil. From the mercy of whom, on the whim of whom does this depend? Or, perhaps, is it about the fear that she could write of? They say that Flora Brovina is not in jail for her poems, but who knows why she is in jail. For having had in her possession bandages and wool for knitting sweaters?! What difference is there between the bandages, wool for knitting, and poems? Perhaps for being Albanian? Two million other Albanians remain, for certain some of them are also in jail. Many more eminent Albanians remain. Because she has organized demonstrations? They organize demonstrations here also. Because she was the President of the League of Albanian Women? They have a similar organization here also. By the will of whom or on the whim of whom have they chosen Flora Brovina? By the will of whom or on the whim of whom have they not permitted her to now write in jail? Nikolay Buharin, in a letter to Stalin speaking of the case of the poet Mandelstam, wrote: "The poets always have reason. History is always on the side of the poets." Are there ministers in the government of Serbia who dare to write something like that to their boss about Flora Brovina? Mr. Jankovic (Minister of Justice of Serbia) or Mr. Simic (Minister of Culture of Serbia). Because: What sinister hour reins around heads of gray, says the poetess. For a start, give a pencil to the poetess Flora Brovina! (DANAS, March 31, 2000) Written by Radmila Lazic PART FOUR Radmila Lazic is famous as a poet, but is also famous as a person compromised against the war, nationalism, and ethnic discrimination since 1991. She made a critique of her writer colleagues from the Union of Serbian Writers (UKS), accusing UKS as instigators of war since 1991, as one of the institutions that prepared the psychological terrain for the war, hate towards the other/different. Radmila Lazic, a poet who, in this country, knows best the poetry of her Russian pen sister Marina Tsvetaeva, wrote six poetry books, wrote with other women from ex-Yugoslavia-Rada Ibekovic from Croatia, philosopher; Marusa Krece, poet from Slovenia; Biljana Jovanovic from Belgrade, writer of a diary against the war, the human and material devastation. Presently Radmila Lazic will publish a women's poetry anthology "Cats go to heaven." Radmila Lazic is a person that is extremely determined for the liberation of Flora Brovina. She actively participated in the selection of Flora Brovina's poetry and Flora B.'s book of poetry in Serbian, which will come out in the next few days in Belgrade. Radmila was the promoter of the Belgrade women's (feminist) magazine "Profemina," and has been a member of the Civil Resistance Movement, an anti-war organization that began in 1991 by opposing the war and ethnic hate. Radmila stayed loyal all these years to this compromise and is always disloyal to the country, the state . . . Stasa Zajovic PART FIVE April 20: Flora Brovina in jail for one year Act of protest-organized by the Center for Cultural Decontamination of Belgrade (CZKD). It was the second act of protest, both times with the demand to liberate Flora Brovina, organized by the same Center. On the first occasion, which took place in December of 1999, activists such as the representative of the UN for human rights participated. In summary, the people that followed the trial of Flora Brovina and had the occasion to visit her in jail on November 25, 1999. Flora Brovina was sentenced December 9, 1999 to twelve years of prison. On April 20 the lawyers spoke. Radmila Lazic, poet, a woman who expended the most effort among the writers of this country for the liberation of Flora Brovina, was moderator. At the beginning, she said that there is no proof for the guilt of Flora: "The Brovina case is paradigmatic and at the same time unique. Brovina was detained a year ago in Pristina, and although she was sick, they took her to the investigative detention until last December 9, when they gave her a Draconian sentence, under the accusation of having helped KLA terrorists. Sadly, Flora Brovina's husband, Ajri Begu, could not attend the sentencing because they would not let him cross the border, just as one of Flora's lawyers could not, Hisnija Bitiqi, who was recently attacked in his home". (Happily, last Friday, April 21, they allowed Ajri Begu to cross the border and we had the opportunity to talk with him). Here is an account of what the lawyers said: Rajko Danilovic: "The trial of Flora was one of the typical political processes." Biljana Kovacevic-Vuco, lawyer, and president of the Yugoslav Committee for Human Rights: "Flora Brovina has been accused because she has done nothing. She is an enemy for the Serbian regime because she was an activist in a humanitarian organization and because she is a poet. Flora puts into question the perception that a majority of Serbian citizens hold, that the Albanians are an "inferior race." Sadly, Flora is not a figure around whom it is possible to mobilize the public opinion in Serbia: the opposition parties have not mobilized, nor have NGOs, save a few exceptions. Brovina has become the most expensive hostage in Serbia. She is a victim of repression and ethnic discrimination." Biljana Kovacevic-Vuco doubts that the Supreme Court of Serbia will alter the sentence and free her on May 16, 2000 when they will ponder this decision. Contrary to Vuco, lawyer Branko Stanic expressed faith that the Supreme Court will free Flora Brovina the next May 16. Vojin Dimitrijevic, expert in the area of international law, representative of the Belgrade Center of Human Rights, said: "'Brave' fighters for the Serbian cause have detained a woman that during the war decided to stay in her city, to cure people. After this cowardly and low arrest, people that had not even shown their faces in Law school judged her. They took her hostage. For this, those that are lawyers by profession should also assume responsibility. Where are the writers to rebel against the arrest of this eminent writer? Where are the doctors while their colleague is imprisoned, imprisoned because she respected the Hippocratic oath? Flora Brovina is the victim of a minimum lack of respect for the profession. Of a system that dirties and humiliates everything, we are all accomplices, we are accomplices of cowardice, even more so because a woman has been detained-an Albanian. Brovina declared that if she were free, she would return to Kosovo, she would raise her voice against the violence that her compatriots, the Albanians, are committing. I am convinced that she would do it." PART SIX Report on the trial of five Albanian students in Belgrade, April 26, 2000 It is the third time that I have observed the trial for the same "terrorists," Albanian students from the University of Belgrade, in the same room of the Belgrade court, room N3 at 9 am. According to the habitual "ritual," the young accused wear handcuffs, which are ordered to be removed in the room, this time in front of very few people. Some students with backpacks who came before did not show. The police prohibited my friend T. from entering because she wore short pants, which in fact were not so short, but my friend was marked already as insubmissive. The whole affair began in April of 1999 when the police, better said, the state security agents, brought a man and a woman, owners of a small business on that street, to help in an act of breaking and entering a certain department. The judge, who wanted to be humorous, posed a provocative question to the patriotic witness, who repeated that she is "a citizen of this state...": "What was the policeman's identity card like?" She could not respond, because then (April '99) the police made them abandon their business and follow them. During two hours of their testimony, we could hear so many foolish things, things without rhyme or reason. She had to confirm that she had seen a notebook with "Shiptar" (derogatory name for Albanians) terrorist names and numbers of 300, 400 DM and she said that these were "salaries of the KLA." She said that the notebook was of a maroon color, but in fact it was blue. In that moment the judge showed the incriminating notebook, asking her to identify it. "Yes, of course it is written in 'Shiptar' and the numbers are also inside." The judge, with extreme cynicism, continued: "You do not know 'shiptar'--is it written in Cyrillic or Latin letters?" There was a brief pause, as the woman thought: "Cyrillic, but I had forgotten the color of the notebook, a year has passed, it is logical that one forgets." The judge again: "How many people were in the group?" And she responded: "Do you refer to the inspectors or those from the TV?" The woman said that there were five, six, seven, "I wasn't very afraid." The judge asked: "Were they carrying something when they entered?" The witness asked, "What do you mean, carrying?" "I'm referring to if they carried cameras, photographic machines with which they took photos, etc.?" The witness said: "They carried two small white boxes. I do not know anything about cameras and such things, they filmed with a camera that vase where the bombs were." Judge: "Can you tell us where the vase was?" Witness: "The inspector climbed up on a chair and looked in the closets, there were toys there, he took a toy from the closet, threw it to the floor and since there were no bombs there, he took other toys and afterwards discovered a hole--there were two bombs, he let me see them, I thought that they were made of cardboard. He passed them to me so that I could see, I did not dare to take them, the inspector told me that there were "Bosnian" bombs inside the bombs, he let me see." "The vase, where was the vase?" asked the judge. The witness: "On the wall, on a metal shelf." The judge: "What was inside the vase?" The witness: "The inspector took out four bombs." "What do you mean, four?" asked the judge with astonishment, and continued: "If there were two found (by the inspector) in the closet and four in the vase, then how many total were there?" The angered witness responded: "I know there were five, six, but there were also two KLA banners." The defense of the "terrorists" asked a few questions, to which the witness answered in the same style, and at the end she became a weak witness for the state and the police, in the manner that they let her leave the room after questioning her for two hours. After the recess they questioned another witness who said that the vase was on the floor next to the bed and not on the shelf on the wall; same as the woman, he said that there were four bombs, he had one in his hands, they were real. They went to bring the woman witness to the room, or rather, they ordered her to enter and the male witness was very afraid, he was so afraid that he could not even read Latin letters, neither did he know that "KLA" was written in Latin letters and said that "these 'shiptar' inscriptions (KLA writing) were written in Cyrillic and that this "is proof." The only thing that both witnesses agreed on was that the accused in front of them was a young Albanian, who was with his head lowered, he was almost mute, feeling a kind of shame for having to participate in this deplorable and miserable farce. Nevertheless, there is something comforting: a young person of ethnic Serbian origin, girlfriend of one of the "terrorists," stated to the court that her boyfriend is not a "terrorist," but rather a victim of the deepest hate that generates wars and devastation and "there does not exist a force that could separate us." Written by Stefi Ivljev, Women in Black ========================================== NEW YORK TIMES U.N. Delegation Winds Up Visit to Kosovo By CARLOTTA GALL April 30, 2000 PRISTINA, Kosovo, April 29 -- The eight-member delegation from the United Nations Security Council, which came to Kosovo to give a stern message to all sides to stop the violence and to urge on the United Nations mission here, wound up its visit today somewhat muted by the complexities on the ground. "Visiting areas around Kosovo has made us realize how enormous the task is," said the chairman of the delegation, Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh, describing the United Nations mission in Kosovo. "When we passed the resolution," creating the mission, he added, the United Nations ambassadors "had no idea how involved the mission's officials would be in day-to-day affairs." Despite some clear differences within the delegation on the performance of the peacekeeping mission and the United Nations civilian administration in Kosovo, members said they were pleasantly surprised by the progress made in bringing the ethnic communities together after the war. The delegation included the United Nations ambassadors from China and Russia. The unusual visit by the United Nations ambassadors came at the invitation of the director of the United Nations mission in Kosovo, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, who is seeking more support and personnel for his operations. "I invited them so they could discover the reality," he said during a break in meetings. China and Russia in particular have criticized the peacekeeping operation for its failure to protect Serbs from revenge attacks by returning Kosovo Albanian refugees, and for peacekeepers' failure to carry out their full mandate. The peacekeepers came in last year after the 78-day NATO bombing campaign forced President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw the troops sent into Kosovo, where a separatist movement was seeking independence for the largely Albanian province of Serbia. At the start of the Security Council visit, the ambassadors from China and Russia sent a clear message of their countries' opposition to the NATO bombing campaign, when they traveled to Kosovo by way of Belgrade, in a symbolic recognition of Yugoslavia's sovereignty over Kosovo. The two ambassadors were guests of the Yugoslav government and met with Mr. Milosevic and Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, both of whom have been indicted as war criminals by the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. "I was just traveling to Pristina through Belgrade in a national capacity," the Russian ambassador, Sergey Lavrov, said when he arrived in Kosovo. "I did not go there as part of the delegation." The current president of the Security Council, Robert Fowler of Canada, nevertheless protested their action. Dr. Kouchner said it had sent the wrong message to people in Kosovo. He also did not hide his disappointment that the ambassadors from three of the five permanent members of the Security Council ? the United States, Britain and his own native France -- turned down the invitation to Kosovo in favor of a trip to Congo. His request that the Security Council also send someone to look specifically at the issue of missing persons -- a source of continued tension and weekly demonstrations in Kosovo -- was also ignored. "They are feeling very isolated," said one official in the leadership of the United Nations mission here. Mr. Lavrov criticized what he said was a failure to meet the requirements of United Nations Resolution 1244, which governs the mission's operation in Kosovo. He called for stronger contacts with Belgrade and greater recognition of Yugoslavia's sovereignty over Kosovo. But Mr. Chowdhury said that the delegation had been favorably impressed and would commend the work of Dr. Kouchner and his team. "Implementation of 1244 is seen by each of us from our own point of view," he said. He added that despite constraints, the "effort is being made in full earnestness." Later, at a news conference, he said the delegation would not recommend any change to the resolution when it comes up for renewal in June. "We believe it should continue," he said. The delegation was given an exhaustive tour of the province, from the school that is training Serbs and Albanians to be police officers to a cemetery where the war crimes tribunal is exhuming bodies of people killed by Serbian forces last year. The delegates also met with leaders of the various ethnic groups. Dr. Kouchner seems to have won their support for a United Nations special envoy to be appointed to take charge of the issue of missing people and detainees. An estimated 9,000 people died in two years of war in Kosovo, but there are at least 3,000 people still missing. More than 1,000 Albanians remain in Serbian prisons. The United Nations resolution that ended the war did not include a clause on missing or detainees, but Mr. Chowdhury said there was a strong need for a high-level figure to be appointed to deal specifically with that issue. "It is something that is burning continuously, and this aspect needs special attention," he said. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/europe/043000kosovo-un.html ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE UN Security Council team end mission to Kosovo April 29, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, April 29 (AFP) - UN Security Council delegates in Kosovo on Saturday effectively ruled out handing back the Yugoslav province to Belgrade control by ending the UN operation there. But they acknowledged that the situation was still too tense for the 240,000 mainly Serbian refugees who fled the province last year to return. Head of the delegation, Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh said there was no reason to change the "autonomous" status Kosovo was granted under the UN resolution that brought an end to the 1999 crisis there. "We think that to adapt or change resolution 1244 would serve no useful purpose, while the United Nations mission is ongoing," said Chowdhury. Under resolution 1244, the Serbian province of Kosovo remains part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia but enjoys "substantial autonomy." Although the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) mandate will run out in June 10, it can be prolonged if the Security Council raises no objections. UNMIK chief Bernard Kouchner said he would like to see resolution 1244 clarified, with a more precise definition of "substantial autonomy." The ambassador said he was happy with what the delegates had found on the ground, congratulating UNMIK on the progress he said it had made in returning law and order to Kosovo. Both Chowdhury and Kouchner said it was too early to think about bringing back the refugees from Serbia. They left when Yugoslav troops were forced to pull out of Kosovo after the NATO air bombardment of Yugoslavia. Chowdhury also vowed to bring the plight of some 1,200 ethnic Albanians held in Serbian jails to the attention of the Security Council. Earlier Saturday, delegates visited the western Kosovar town of Djakovica, where they were told that about 1,200 local ethnic Albanians were still missing since the conflict. A crowd of 200 to 300 ethnic Albanians greeted the delegation in front of the town hall, carrying photographs of missing relatives or persons imprisoned in Serbia. Addressing the delegates, the town's mayor Mazllom Kumnova said Djakovica has suffered the highest number of casualties, the most destruction, and also had the largest number of missing people. "750 civilians of all ages were killed, including babies and elderly people, women and men," he said, adding that this figure was only a provisional one. "All this barbarism has one name: Slobodan Milosevic, who you met a few days ago," he added. The Russian and Chinese ambassadors to the UN, Sergei Lavrov and Shen Guofeng, who visited Belgrade on Wednesday, were with the UN delegation in Djakovica. According to Kouchner's administration, 5,500 buildings were destroyed in the municipality of Djakovica, 1,500 of which were in the town itself, including the mosque and every business on the main shopping street. Of the 1,200 local people who disappeared during the war, 317 have been identified as being in Serbian prisons. The fate of the rest is unknown. The delegation also visited the town's graveyard, where a team from the Dutch-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is busy exhuming bodies. ICTY spokesman Franz Hovween said 39 corpses had been found in a mass grave near the town which could hold up to 40 more. "Serbs gave orders to gypsies to bury these people near the cemetery," he said. Apart from those ethnic Albanians who were killed or who fled the province, another 2,000 were taken by the retreating Yugoslav forces and imprisoned in Serbia, where 1,200 are still jailed. Kouchner, who has several times called for their release, was welcomed as a hero in Djakovica by the protesters, who shook his hand and chanted his name. But Ambassador Lavrov of Russia, questioned by AFP, would not be drawn on the prisoner issue. "I am not a judge, there are laws, international procedures," he said. "The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) and the UN special rapporteur for human rights, Jiri Dientstbier, are the competent authorities for human rights issues." Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/df/Qkosovo-un.R8cW_AAT.html ========================================== HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER Satirist Boban ?Bapsi? Miletic On Trial April 28, 2000 The trial of satirist Boban ?Bapsi? Miletic for defamation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia opened before the District Court in Zajecar on 26 April. The court dismissed a defense motion for the recusal of Judge Veroljub Cvetkovic, who presides the panel in this case, and of all judges of the Zajecar District Court. It also found that it had jurisdiction and denied a plea that Miletic be tried in Montenegro or Kosovo, advising the defense to file for declaring all courts in Serbia incompetent after it handed down its decision and the case was appealed before the Serbian Supreme Court. Miletic is charged with publishing a book entitled ?Cry, Mother Serbia? which contains aphorisms that allegedly defame Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, and with reciting aphorisms, some from the book and some new, at a literary event in Knjazevac on 18 December 1998, and thereby again allegedly injuring the reputation of the Yugoslav president. Miletic told the court he could not recall exactly which aphorisms he recited at the literary event, that none of them were aimed against Milosevic and that he was surprised that the prosecutor found any such allusions in them. After hearing the testimony of Zvonimir Pavkovic, a high school literature teacher and also a writer of aphorisms who was a participant in the literary event in question and who spoke of aphorisms as a literary genre, Judge Cvetkovic stated that ?aphorisms are not literary works.? Denying a defense motion to to call Slobodan Milosevic and Milovan Ilic Minimaks as witnesses, the court adjourned until 11 May when other witnesses will be heard. ========================================== FREESERBIA Otpor activists and a lawyer injured in a street fight in Pozarevac May 02, 2000 Two Otpor activists and a lawyer were injured in a street fight in the eastern Serbian town of Pozarevac, the home town of the Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. Radojko Lukovic and Momcilo Veljkovic, and a Pozarevac lawyer, Nebojsa Sokolovic received severe injuries Friday, in a fight in front of a cafe after trying to break a quarrel between four employees of the local discotheque "Madona" and another Otpor member - Dragan Milanovic. The discotheque is owed by the son of the Yugoslav president, Marko, and the assailants are his close friends, a report said. As Milanovic told Radio B2-92, after he refused to show the Madona employees an certificate that he quit his activities in Otpor movement, they begun harassing him, and Lukovic, Veljkovic and Sokolovic "jumped in" to try to help him. After the fight, Veljkovic Sokolovic and Lukovic were admitted to the Pozarevac medical center, with head injuries. Lukovic received the severe jaw and eye injuries and had to be transferred to Belgrade emergency medical center, while Veljkovic and Sokolovic expect the detention after they are relieved from the hospital. Local police department in Pozarevac said Tuesday evening that it detained Momcilo Veljkovic, Radojko Lukovic and Nebojsa Sokolovic, for attempting murder of Sasa and Milan Lazic, two of the Madona employees. http://anon.free.anonymizer.com/http://www.xs4all.nl/~freeserb/news/2000/05/ e-02-05-2000.html ========================================== INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Text: State Department on Harassment of Student Opposition in Serbia Washington File May 04, 2000 (Boucher: U.S. "deeply concerned" about fate of three activists) (430) U.S. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States is "deeply concerned about the fate of three peaceful democratic activists, attacked and beaten by armed bodyguards of Marko Milosevic, Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's son, at a cafe in Pozarevac, Serbia, on May 2." Boucher, in a May 4 statement, called on "states with a presence in Belgrade and international human rights organizations to seek access to the Otpor detainees and make clear the international community's abhorrence of the regime's efforts to silence its political critics." Following is Boucher's statement: (begin text) U.S. Department of State Office of the Spokesman For Immediate Release May 4, 2000 STATEMENT BY RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN YUGOSLAV HARASSMENT OF OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS The U.S. is deeply concerned about the fate of three peaceful democratic activists, attacked and beaten by armed bodyguards of Marko Milosevic, Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's son, at a cafe in Pozarevac, Serbia, on May 2. The three are members of Otpor (Resistance), an organization of students. The police arrested the victims rather than the attackers. Radojko Lukovic and Nebojsa Sokolovic are being detained in the Belgrade prison hospital. Lukovic suffered serious head injuries including a fractured skull and loss of an eye. Momcilo Veljkovic is being detained in Pozarevac. The fact that the regime's police arrested the unarmed, injured victims of an attack by armed thugs is disturbing. This kind of cooperation between the regime, the police, and Serbia's criminal mafia -- of whom Marko Milosevic is one of the richest and most violent -- exemplifies the bandit nature of the Milosevic regime and its exploitation of the Serbian people over the past 10 years. The regime has previously used criminal elements and paramilitaries against opponents in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Montenegro. The indication that it is now using the same tactics against the peaceful, democratic opposition in Serbia is deeply concerning. These democratic activists in Serbia are courageous. They already have said that the regime's brutality will not deter them even though they fully expect increased pressure from the regime and those close to the Milosevic family. We call upon states with a presence in Belgrade and international human rights organizations to seek access to the Otpor detainees and make clear the international community's abhorrence of the regime's efforts to silence its political critics. (end text) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinf http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/geo g/eu&f=00050411.wwe&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml ========================================== 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 Very useful statistics and update from ICRC on missing persons from Kosova can be found at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/60c532db df49f6878525688f006f80d4?OpenDocument Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 022 From kosova at jps.net Wed May 17 03:52:07 2000 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 00:52:07 -0700 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 023 Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 023, May 15, 2000 This report highlights the developments on the prisoner issue for the week of May 07, 2000. ========================================== A-PAL STATEMENT: ========================================== Further brutality and arrests against media, lawyers, demonstrators, and NGO workers are now everyday signs of the level of ever-increasing repression in Serbia. We hope that A-PAL readers will note that EVERYONE IS EQUAL UNDER THE LAW. A Ministry of Justice system that is willing to condone or ignore illegal behavior in its arrests, detentions, torture, and trials of ethnic Albanians from Kosova has also, by the same token, tolerated or cooperated with beating, unlawful arrests, and even assassinations if those are their political orders. There are still laws in Yugoslavia that prohibit torture and brutality, that allow people the right to assemble, to have free speech and a fair trial. Recently the UN Security Council visited Kosova. They noticed everywhere they went that the number one need in the region is to establish the rule of law and justice. They have allowed these vital core values to deteriorate grievously over the past year - by not sending enough police to Kosova, by not implementing law and order in a protectorate with no jails or trials. That, then, is not a Protectorate if basic human rights are not protected. It is a Disrespectorate. The four hundred murders of Serb civilians should have been acted upon immediately. The disappearance of the 2,000 Albanian prisoners should have been acted upon immediately. This year's crackdown on the Serb media should have drawn an immediate response from the UN and EU. Those who have perpetrated war crimes and are indicted should be arrested immediately. ========================================== WEEK OF MAY 07, 2000 TOPICS: ========================================== * UNITED NATIONS: KTC Adopts a Major Political Statement on Tolerance * UNMIK: Commission for identifying missing persons endorsed * KFOR: Commander Endorses KTC Commitments * VIP 1765: Constant Exchange of Prisoners On Kosovo Border With Serbia Proper * Washington File: U.S. Wants Special U.N. Envoy for Missing, Detainees in Kosovo * FREEB92 DAILY NEWS: Albanians again in court in Nis * Radio 21: Serb National Council supports proposal to release Albanians * INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: Missing persons from the Kosovo crisis * RADIO 21: Latest Events * ABC NEWS: Kosovo Albanians deny Serb charges in mass trial * AIM: Anniversary of Flora Brovina's Arrest * HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE: Trial Of Djakovica Group Resumes * AFP: 144 Kosovo Albanians accused of terrorism deny charges * KOSOVAPRESS: Five Albanian prisoners released from Serbia jails * KOSOVAPRESS: Continues the trial of 140 Albanian prisoners from Gjakova * HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE: Four Kosovo Albanians released * KOSOVAPRESS: It is released one prisoner * FREEB92 DAILY NEWS: Police arrest young Otpor activist in Arilje * FREEB92 DAILY NEWS: Protest rally in Pozarevac tomorrow * HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE: HLC Attorneys Questioned By Police * REUTERS: Serb activists freed before opposition rally * HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE: Detained Otpor Activists Released and then Re-Arrested * Agence France-Presse: First Kosovo warcrimes trial to start June 6 amid hunger strike pressure * GRUPA484: OTPOR's Reactions on being called a Terrorist Organization * GROUP 484: Serbia, violated Constitutional and Legal standards ========================================== QUOTES OF THE WEEK: ========================================== Bangladesh Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, head of the Security Council Mission to Kosovo, May 11: "As has been mentioned repeatedly in our report, the healing of the wounds and the process of reconciliation would take a long time, but the international community cannot afford to relent," Chowdhury stressed. "It has invested in Kosovo in a big and positive way and it cannot afford to fail." Halil Guta, May 8: "I am innocent before justice and before God, but war is like a flood - it engulfs everything." ========================================== WEEK?S REQUESTED ACTION: ========================================== Now is the time, more than ever, to email the UN Security Council members. Emphasize that the rule of law should be the primary need/focus for all agencies and officers in the region. Violating guaranteed human rights because you were ordered to do so is no excuse for condoning illegal behavior. Here is a list of Ministry of Justice officials who have participated in the unfair trials and detentions of Albanians and Serbs. Please forward this list to your foreign affairs leader, the Security Council, and the EU. Ask that these people be investigated for violating or knowing of approximately 60 different international human rights laws regarding law enforcement. Urge, besides the investigation into the Dubrava massacre, an investigation into the 20,000 documented rapes of Albanian girls and women carried out by Serb forces. Ignoring these crimes and allowing them to continue on after the war is an international disgrace. * Milomir Lazic ? Leskovac, Investigation judge * Goran Petronijevic ? Belgrade, Now presiding over the mass trial of the 145 Gjakova deportees * Dragolub Zdravkovic - Judge of Nis district court * Goran Despotovic - Presheva Municipal Court * Aleksandar Obradovic - Deputy Prosecutor in Nis * Nikola Vazura - Pozharevac District Court Judge * Dragisa Slipjepcevic - Judge in Belgrade District Court * Marina Milanovic - Judge in Nis District Court; Sentenced Dr. Flora Brovina to a 12 year prison sentence * Danica Marinkovic - Investigating Judge in Nis; Investigated Racak massacre * Stipe Marusic - Director of Pozhrevac Prison * Lubomir Cumburovic - Former Director of Prishtina and Lipjan Prisons where thousands of Albanians were brutally tortured and murdered; now at Sremska Mitrovica Prison ========================================== FULL REPORTS AND ARTICLES BEGIN HERE: ========================================== UNITED NATIONS INTERIM ADMINISTRATION MISSION IN KOSOVO Press Release May 10, 2000 KTC Adopts a Major Political Statement on Tolerance The Kosovo Transitional Council today adopted the following statement: "The Kosovo Transitional Council demands of the authorities of the FRY the unconditional handover to the UNMIK authorities of all Kosovo Albanians and member of other Kosovo communities held in Serbian prisons and other detention facilities. "The Kosovo Transitional Council demands that the Government of the FRY grant immediate access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to all detention facilities in Serbia where Kosovo Albanians and members of other Kosovo communities are held. "The Kosovo Transitional Council demands that the Government of the FRY make available to UNMIK all information related to Kosovo Albanians and members of other Kosovo communities who went missing during the past conflict. "The Kosovo Transitional Council requests that all Albanian and Serb political leaders in Kosovo, along with KFOR, UNMIK, ICTY, ICRC, and all people of good will in Kosovo and outside Kosovo, cooperate in establishing the fate of persons of the Albanian, Serbian, Roma, Bosniac, Turkish, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities who went missing or may have been kidnapped before, during and after the conflict. "Individuals and organizations, in Kosovo and outside Kosovo, who can provide information on the fate of missing or kidnapped persons of all communities are urged to channel that information to the UNMIK authorities, through any appropriate channel. "The Kosovo Transitional Council calls on the relevant United Nations bodies to appoint a special envoy for detainees and missing persons at the earliest date. "All Members of the Kosovo Transitional Council and, in particular, the Serb Members of the Council, express their strongest condemnation of the crimes, repression and discrimination suffered by the Kosovo Albanian community and other communities in the past, and call for the perpetrators of such crimes to be brought to justice. "All Members of the Kosovo Transitional Council and, in particular, the Kosovo Albanian Members of the Council, express their strongest condemnation of the crimes and violent acts against the Serb and other communities, which occurred in post-conflict Kosovo, and call for the perpetrators of such crimes to be brought to justice. They call on all individuals and communities in Kosovo to refrain from the use of violence, and to solve all disputes through peaceful means. "All Members of the Kosovo Transitional Council express their serious concern for the present situation of the Serb community and minorities in Kosovo, and for the limitations on the exercise of their fundamental rights, and undertake to do their utmost for improving the situation, in cooperation with UNMIK. "All Members of the Kosovo Transitional Council recognize the right of immediate voluntary return of members of all communities. "All Members of the Kosovo Transitional Council recognize the right of members of all communities to participate freely in the institutions of Kosovo, and in the institution building process." Only one member, Mr. Gjergj Dedaj, of the Liberal Party of Kosovo (PLK), declined to endorse the statement. The KTC also received the regular security briefing from KFOR and UNMIK Police. http://www.un.org/peace/kosovo/press/templ.pr.238.html ========================================== UN INTERIM ADMINISTRATION MISSION IN KOSOVO (UNMIK) Commission for identifying missing persons endorsed May 09, 2000 The Interim Administrative Council (IAC) today endorsed the setting up of a commission which will play a key role in identifying missing persons who died during the recent conflict. The Victim Recovery and Identification Commission (VRIC), which will be inaugurated on Thursday, will recover, identify and dispose of the remains of bodies of war victims, in coordination with the exhumation and investigation work by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. http://www.un.org/peace/kosovo/news/update.htm ========================================== KFOR Commander Endorses KTC Commitments May 11, 2000 The Commander of KFOR, Lieutenant-General Juan Ortuno, strongly endorses the commitments made by all members of the Kosovo Transitional Council during yesterday's session. Both Serb and Albanian members denounced past and present crimes and called for perpetrators to be brought to justice. All Serb members of the Council expressed their strongest condemnation of the crimes, the repression and the discrimination suffered by the Albanians and other communities in the past. For their part, all Albanian members strongly condemned crimes and violence against Serb and other communities which have occurred in post-conflict Kosovo. They further called on all citizens and communities to refrain from violence, and to solve all disputes peacefully. "These enlightened commitments by the leaders of Kosovo's administration are most vital for the rebuilding process," says the Commander. "I wholeheartedly add my voice, and the influence of every KFOR peacekeeper, to the call for an immediate end to the destructive cycle of revenge and violence against fellow citizens. "As I said during my recent press conference, the focus of the world is on Kosovo. The international community of nations is fully engaged in the creation of a democratic future and all the citizens must work together to foster co-existence and tolerance." http://www.kforonline.com/news/updates/nu_11may00.htm ========================================== VIP 1765 Constant Exchange of Prisoners On Kosovo Border With Serbia Proper May 10, 2000 Jonathan Williamson, spokesman for the British KFOR contingent in Podujevo, said that there is a constant exchange of prisoners underway in Merdare, the border crossing between Serbia proper and Kosovo, Blic says on Wednesday. On the average, three Albanians and three Serbs are released a week, Williamson said and added that the price for the release of an Albanian is arranged by Serbian lawyers and the prisoners' families. The families give the Serbian lawyers 3,000 to 75,000 DEM for the release of their family members, he said. Williamson said that 102 Albanians were released in March, 145 in April and 15 in May. ========================================== Washington File U.S. Wants Special U.N. Envoy for Missing, Detainees in Kosovo May 11, 2000 (Supports Security Council mission recommendation) (1,200) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- The United States is strongly supporting Security Council efforts to have a special envoy appointed to focus on the problem of detainees and missing persons in Kosovo. U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham underscored the need for the appointment of the envoy during a May 11 Security Council session discussing the report of a Council special mission to Kosovo last month. In its report to the Council, the eight-member mission said it found strong support in all of Kosovo's ethnic community for a special envoy to deal with the painful issue of missing persons and detainees. "This is an emotional and sensitive issue that is blocking progress on inter-ethnic reconciliation. It needs to be addressed on an urgent basis," said Cunningham, who is U.S. deputy permanent representative to the U.N. Bangladesh Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, head of the Security Council Mission to Kosovo, said that "the issue of missing persons and detainees has emerged as one of the major impediments to reconciliation and peaceful coexistence. This issue was highlighted in the mission's meeting with the families and communities who had been going through the agony for months." "The situation in Kosovo is extremely complex" as is the task of the U.N. Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in implementing the Council's mandate, Chowdhury said. "The Security Council could not have envisaged such wide-ranging involvement of the United Nations in Kosovo when it adopted Resolution 1244. Every day brings in a new challenge or a resurfacing of the one tackled earlier." The ambassador said that a return to normalcy is gradually taking place in Kosovo, economic activities are slowly picking up, and there is a sense that the ethnic communities want to live in peace together; but the security situation poses "a major threat and continuing challenge" to UNMIK and KFOR. "The mission made use of every possible opportunity to send a strong message to the ethnic communities to reject all violence, to promote stability, safety and security, and to cooperate fully with UNMIK in the implementation of Resolution 1244. We are pleased to say the mission's message was taken seriously and with a full understanding that a multi-ethnic society presents the best hope for the people of Kosovo," he said. "As has been mentioned repeatedly in our report, the healing of the wounds and the process of reconciliation would take a long time, but the international community cannot afford to relent," Chowdhury stressed. "It has invested in Kosovo in a big and positive way and it cannot afford to fail." The mission visited Kosovo from April 27 to 29, meeting with key people in UNMIK, the NATO-led peacekeeping force known as KFOR, and the various ethnic communities in the province. The eight ambassadors crisscrossed Kosovo from Mitrovica to Prizren, from Gnjilane to Djakovica, with Pristina as their base. In addition to Chowdhury, other members of the mission were Ambassador Arnoldo Listre of Argentina; Ambassador Michel Duval of Canada; Ambassador Shen Guofang of China; Ambassador M. Patricia Durrant of Jamaica; Ambassador Hasmy Agam of Malaysia; Ambassador Sergey Lavrov of Russia; and Ambassador Volodymyr Yel'chenko of Ukraine. Cunningham said it was "good that members of the Council were able to walk the ground and see firsthand [U.N. Special Representative Bernard] Kouchner in action, the hard task and challenges that UNMIK faces, the effects of the violence and devastation inflicted by Belgrade in Kosovo, and understand more fully the problems which now exist." "We hope the visit also helped make more apparent the disingenuousness of speaking of Belgrade's interest in cooperation in support of UNMIK's mission," Cunningham said. The U.S. ambassador backed the mission's "unqualified praise" for Kouchner who, he said, "has done a truly outstanding job leading UNMIK in the most difficult of circumstances." Noting that the mission characterized the situation in Kosovo as "improving but extremely difficult," Cunningham said that "sustained attention and ample resources of the international community will be needed in order to implement fully Resolution 1244. It is clear that UNMIK has set the right goals for the immediate future ? consolidation of the rule of law and further work on the interim political framework." In his remarks to the Council, Cunningham highlighted some of the security, political, and economic concerns. He said the United States believes the mission's report makes important recommendations on security. "Additional international judges and resources for the judicial sector will help make fair trials and effective criminal prosecution the rule rather than the exception in all of Kosovo." "UNMIK has done an impressive job of balancing its law-and-order function with its responsibility to create a local Kosovo police service. These efforts must be expedited," Cunningham said. Kosovo must move expeditiously to autonomous self-government under institutions designed to protect the interests of everyone, he said. "Municipal elections are an important first step. These elections must go ahead as scheduled this fall," the ambassador said, noting that the United States will continue to support voter registration projects. "Reports that members of the Serb community are registering for these elections against the wishes of some of their leaders suggests that UNMIK should redouble its efforts to encourage participation by all groups in these elections," Cunningham added. Economic reform is also crucial, he said. "It will support those leaders in Kosovo willing to speak out against violence and to reject the politics of ethnic hatred. " "By clarifying the difficult issue of property ownership and adopting strong and sustainable macro-economic policies, UNMIK will help to bring prosperity to Kosovo and strengthen its own administrative structure. Economic revitalization will help reinforce programs aimed at promoting the return of refugees and displaced persons, an understandable priority for the Kosovo Serb community," Cunningham said. In its written report to the Council, the special mission said that despite a steady improvement in the overall level of violence and criminality, attacks against minorities continue and special measures of protection must constantly be maintained. Inadequate physical, social and economic security remains a major concern, the report said. "Lack of freedom of movement, access to education, health care, social services and employment hampers the return of internally displaced persons -- primarily Serbs and the Roma -- and significantly impedes the integration of ethnic minorities into public life." The lack of an effective and unbiased rule of law in Kosovo was a recurring theme at many of the mission's meetings, the report said. The mission supported UNMIK's intention to recruit international judges and prosecutors to work alongside locals to help redress "the perceived culture of impunity which currently undermines the judicial system." The report also noted that UNMIK has only been deployed for 10 months and there should be "realistic expectations" of what can be achieved in such a short time. "Healing the wounds inflicted by the conflict will take time. Reconciliation is a long and protracted process and the international community must be patient and persistent." (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/geo g/eu&f=00051104.wwe&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml ========================================== FREEB92 DAILY NEWS Albanians again in court in Nis May 08, 2000 NIS, Monday - The hearing of conspiracy charges against 145 Kosovo Albanians continued today in the Nis Municipal Court. Ten of the 145 residents of the Kosovo town of Djakovica today pleaded not guilty. Ninety of the defendants have so far given statements that they had not left their houses on the day the offences are alleged to have occurred. One of the lawyers appearing for the Albanian defendants, Mustafa Radonjici, told the court today that he and another lawyer, Teki Bosko, were last night detained by police and their documents checked. Radonjici demanded that they be given protection by the court and that the Ministry of Justice urge police to desist from harassing lawyers defending the Albanians. http://www.freeb92.net/archive/e/ ========================================== Radio 21 Serb National Council supports proposal to release Albanians May 09, 2000 The Serb National Council of Kosova supported the proposal to release Albanians from Serbian prisons. The Serbian Council suggested that Albanian prisoners should be handed to the UN civilian mission in Kosova. The Serbian Archbishop, Artemije, said there are 1200 disappeared Serbs in Kosova. The Albanians claim that more than 1200 Albanians are still being held in Serbian prisons while around 5000 are considered as disappeared persons. Meanwhile the International Red Cross Organisation says 5 Albanians are released from Serbian prisons today. The released prisoners are from Skenderaj. Copyright ? Radio 21 1998-1999 office at radio21.net http://www.radio21.net/english/e9_5_00a.htm ========================================== INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS Missing persons from the Kosovo crisis : ICRC response May 09, 2000 The fighting may have stopped in Kosovo, but many thousands of people cannot find real peace whilst the fate of their family members remains unknown. For the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), tackling the humanitarian issue of missing persons is one its most important operational priorities in Kosovo and elsewhere in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) today. Regrettably, neither the plight of detainees nor of missing persons was specifically addressed in the agreement signed in Kumanovo between NATO and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or the subsequent UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of June 1999. Nevertheless, the ICRC, on the basis of its internationally-recognised mandate, assumed a lead role on the issue of missing persons and successfully negotiated in Belgrade access to the detainees the authorities notified as being still in detention following the Kosovo crisis. At the time of writing, more than 4,800 names of missing persons had been collected directly from families; over 1,500 of whose fate the ICRC has been able to clarify, mainly through its detention visits (see table below for detailed breakdown). The majority of the remaining around 3,300 still reported as missing are Kosovo Albanians, but they also importantly include Serbs, Roma and people from other communities. Families visiting ICRC offices both in Kosovo and elsewhere in FRY anxious for news of their relatives is a daily occurrence; it is clear that the anguish in no way diminishes but increases as time goes by. They find it impossible to rebuild their lives in a fundamental way whilst the uncertainty prevails. The ICRC's commitment is aimed exclusively at trying to help families in their quest to know the truth. It is and will remain active in using all the means available to provide answers; through dialogue with the concerned authorities in Belgrade and Pristina, through following up credible and reliable information on-the-ground and cooperating with other organisations active on the issue through a coordination group it has established and chairs (UNMIK and the international police, OSCE, OHCHR, ICMP and others). On February 21 & 22, 2000, the ICRC officially submitted to the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina the names of the missing people it had so far gathered with the urgent request that they provide any information they may have which would shed light on the fate of individuals as quickly as possible for the sake of the families. This step was part of an ongoing operational process which began in earnest with the massive return of refugees to Kosovo in June, 1999. After helping to bring tens of thousands of people who had temporarily lost contact with their relatives back in touch, the ICRC was able to begin to establish just how many people remained unaccounted for. ICRC teams were mobilised in all of its offices in Kosovo to systematically visit towns and villages to encourage families to come forward with the information of missing relatives. Most of the names gathered were from Kosovo Albanians reporting that their family members had been arrested, but in Kosovo and also elsewhere in FRY the ICRC was also gathering information from hundreds of families of Serbian, Roma and other communities who were reporting that their relatives had been abducted by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) or civilians. At the same time, the authorities in Belgrade notified and allowed access to around 1700 detainees which not only enabled the ICRC to clarify the fate of some of the tracing cases it had gathered, but was a source of considerable comfort to families on the outside. The scale of the problem So far, as from May 4 2000, the ICRC has gathered and recorded the following information on missing persons: Persons reported as unaccounted for during the Kosovo crisis 01.01.98 to 04.05.2000 Total number of persons unaccounted for: 4,848 Total number of persons whose fate has been clarified: 1,525 of which: confirmed dead 151 confirmed alive 1,374 of which: visited in prison 1,306 Total number of persons that remain unaccounted for: 3,323 of which: persons reportedly arrested by the Yugoslav Armed and Security Forces or abducted by Serb civilians: 1,968 persons reportedly abducted by the Kosovo Liberation Army or Kosovo Albanian civilians: 366 persons for whom there is no information on whereabouts: 989 Visits to people currently detained in relation to the Kosovo crisis 04.05.2000 Kovovo Persons visited in KFOR places of detention: 54 FRY Persons visited in places of detention in FRY (Serbia and Montenegro): 1249 Persons released by the authorities and transported by the ICRC to Kosovo: 750 Measures taken by the ICRC Visits to detainees: while the ICRC had been visiting Kosovo Albanian prisoners held by the Serbian authorities for many years before the current crisis, these visits had to be broken off during the conflict between NATO and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999 for security reasons. In June 1999 the ICRC was able to negotiate the resumption of these visits and by July it had registered some 1'700 detainees, whose families were immediately informed. Further visits have been taking place continuously since then which have enabled ICRC to establish the fate of around 1'300 people reported missing. Approaches to the authorities concerned: repeated efforts were made during the internal conflict between the Serbian security forces and the KLA, through KLA field personnel and their political counterparts, to try to establish the fate of some 150 Serb civilians whose families had reported them abducted. Similar approaches on behalf of Kosovo Albanians were conducted with the authorities in Belgrade. Further efforts have been made at a local level since the ending of hostilities in Kosovo. Regrettably, no firm information on the plight of the 150 people, and the others reported since, has so far been forthcoming. Tracing in the field: extensive efforts have been made by ICRC field teams in towns and villages throughout Kosovo to urge the population to come forward with information. A system of "tracing by event" was introduced, in which details were gathered of people who disappeared or were allegedly detained/abducted at the same time. Based on the ICRC's experience in Bosnia & Herzegovina, this could help provide additional information leading to the clarification of cases. Families were also invited to notify their missing relatives to the ICRC or the Yugoslav Red Cross in FRY. Co-ordination with other agencies: the ICRC has been officially recognised as the lead agency in the question of missing persons in Kosovo, and has established a co-ordination group with other organisations to share information. It strongly encourages the continuation of the exhumation and identification process begun last year and has a good working relationship with those involved. Further action to be taken Support for families: ICRC is reviewing ways in which it can better help the families shoulder their burden of grief and uncertainty, for example through fostering the creation of family associations, through psycho-social support and by referrals to legal or other practical advice. The ICRC is aware of the unique responsibility it carries in being accessible to the families both in Kosovo and elsewhere in FRY: its sole responsibility is towards the families and their needs. Continued field work: aware that other families might not yet have come forward with information on their missing relatives, the ICRC will continue to register new information and subsequently submit it to the authorities concerned, and will follow up on allegations of arrest or abduction. Visits to detainees: visits to detainees in FRY will continue for as long as prisoners are held. Similarly, ICRC will continue to provide transport back to Kosovo for those who are released (the great majority of the around 850 detainees released have been escorted home in this way). In Kosovo ICRC has access to persons detained by KFOR and the UNMIK police. In all cases the purpose of the visits is the same: the try to ensure that the prisoners have decent material and psychological conditions of detention, that they are treated humanely, and to enable them to keep in contact with their families through Red Cross messages. Contacts with the authorities: having submitted to the authorities the information it has gathered so far, the ICRC will continue to maintain dialogue with them on the issue and urge them to take all steps to establish the fate of persons who disappeared in areas under their authority. The ICRC considers that it is the responsibility of the concerned authorities to spare no effort in seeking to provide answers. http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/9d6d150c 8ab576bbc12568da005019ff?OpenDocument ========================================== RADIO 21 Latest Events The Council for Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms in Prishtina said two dead bodies were found in a garden in village of Acareva today. These two male Albanians civilians were killed by Serb forces during last year. Until today they were considered as disappeared persons. A demonstration to protest against the Serbian regime which keeps thousands of Albanians in prison was held today in Peja. After the protest around 30 people started a 24 hours hunger strike. http://www.radio21.net/english/e8_5_00a.htm ========================================== ABC NEWS Kosovo Albanians deny Serb charges in mass trial May 08, 2000 BELGRADE, May 8 (Reuters) - Kosovo Albanians on trial in Serbia on Monday denied charges of taking part in attacks against Serb forces during last year's NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia, Belgrade media reported. The 25 defendants who testified before the court in the southern city of Nis were part of a group of 143 Kosovo Albanians accused of "association with the aim of hostile activity linked to terrorism." The penalty carries a maximum 15-year sentence. So far 125 defendants have testified in the biggest mass trial ever held in Yugoslavia. All have denied the charges. Halil Guta, one of the defendants, told the court his brother and cousin were killed by NATO attacks on the prison in Dubrava, near the western Kosovo town of Istok. Guta described the NATO attacks as "criminal." "I am innocent before justice and before God, but war is like a flood - it engulfs everything," Guta said, adding he himself had been injured in the bombing. The group is accused of forming a unit of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the western Kosovo town of Djakovica in April 1999, which was involved in attacks on Serb forces. The prosecution charge sheet said the men took part in three attacks against Serb forces in April and May 1999, in which a policeman and an army officer were killed, one soldier was fatally wounded and six policemen seriously wounded. Human rights lawyers have said the defendants were picked up arbitrarily during a sweep of Djakovica by Serb forces that began a day after fighting with the KLA had ended and the guerrillas had taken to the hills. One of the defence lawyers, Mustafa Radonjici, called on the judge for protection and on the Justice Ministry to stop the police from harassing defence lawyers. He told the court that he and a colleague were taken to the police station on Sunday night for identification, but then released. He added that police had earlier also carried out identity checks of defence lawyers at the reception of the hotel where they were staying. The trial, which opened on April 18, resumes on Tuesday. NATO began its 11-week bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in March 1999 to halt Serb repression in the majority ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo. Copyright ?2000 ABC News Internet Ventures. http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20000508_3344.html ========================================== AIM Anniversary of Flora Brovina's Arrest May 10, 2000 Prisoner Despite Unproved Guilt AIM Podgorica, 2 may, 2000 (By AIM correspondent from Belgrade) Among the few Asian and African dictatorships and undemocratic regimes, Serbia bears the title of the country in which lives the best known political prisoner in the world. More than a year has passed since the arrest and almost six months since the imprisonment of the physician, fighter for human, primarily women's rights, strong opponent to repression of the Serbian regime against Kosovo Albanians and poetess Flora Brovina, whose liberation is demanded by unions of writers and physicians from Paris to Washington. This fifty-year old woman also differs from numerous Kosovo Albanians arrested and imprisoned on the eve, during and after NATO bombing of Yugoslavia because she is sentenced to the draconian punishment - twelve years of hard labour. The case of Dr. Flora Brovina, arrested on 20 April 1999 in front of her apartment in Pristina, has reached the Supreme Court of Serbia. At its session scheduled for 16 May, the Supreme Court could decide to set her free. Although, as claimed by Biljana Kovacevic-Vuco, president of Yugoslav Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights, alleged guilt of Dr. Brovina has not been proved, "there is little, almost no chance that the court will break free of political control and do the just thing ? reach the decision to free her of all charges". Officially Brovina is sentenced to 12 years in prison for having "committed the criminal act of association for the purpose of hostile activities in connection with the criminal act of terrorism committed at the time of direct threat of war and during the war", for which the mildest prescribed punishment is ten years in prison. Lawyer Kovacevic-Vuco has a different opinion about the reasons for her arrest and sentence in prison: "Brovina was sentenced because she has done nothing. She was an enemy of the Serbian regime because she was an activist of a humanitarian organisation and because she is a poetess. She destroys the stereotype about the Albanians as the inferior race, as a large number of inhabitants of Serbia think". "I am one of the best known humanitarians from Kosovo, I have sacrificed my health in order to offer aid to children and women. If I were free today, I would still have what to do and I would help those who are threatened", were the final words of this poetess and pediatrician, who had founded the League of Albanian Women, at the hearing at the court in Nis when her sentence was pronounced. A few days ago, at a discussion organised by Belgrade Centre for Cultural Decontamination on the occasion of the anniversary of the arrest of Ms. Brovina, Vojin Dimitrijevic, president of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, declared that Dr Brovina, had she been free, would have been in Kosovo now "where she would have raised her voice against the Albanians, members of her ethnic group, because of violence against the Serbs and other non-Albanian inhabitants of the southern Serbian province". Serbian courts saw and evaluated activities of Brovina quite differently. Dr. Brovina was accused of having founded the League with another thirty odd women "with the task to organise hostile demonstrations, collecting food and drugs for separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and planning of terrorist acts". She is also indicted for having been minister of health in parallel government of Kosovo Albanians and that she maintained contacts with high commanding structures of KLA. Brovina listened calmly to all these accusations. She did not show emotions even when the subdued sobbing of her sisters was heard in the courtroom. The police quickly took the defendant from the courtroom, not allowing her any contact with her husband, sisters and friends who had come to the trial. Along with two postponements of her trial, from her arrest to this day, Brovina's health has further deteriorated, which was not a sign for the authorities at least not to transfer her from one prison to another. Dr. Brovina was first taken to Lipljan from where she was evacuated on 10 June together with other prisoners during withdrawal of Yugoslav security forces from Kosovo. She arrived in Pozarevac prison with her health seriously damaged because she suffers from a serious case of angina pectoris which threatened to get even worse because in the beginning she did not receive adequate therapy, nor was she given the necessary drugs. Her right side was paralysed and there were moments when she lost her faculty of speech. Her health began to improve only after prison authorities permitted her lawyers and husband who visited her in the prison in Pozarevac to bring her drugs, so by the time for the trial her health was comparatively stable. From Pozarevac she was transferred to the prison in Nis on 10 November, after the Supreme Court authorised the district court in Nis to take care of the cases once resolved by the court in Pristina. To the question of judge Marina Milanovic, who is from Kosovo herself, whether she had complaints about the treatment, Flora Brovina answered: "The treatment was correct, they beat me on the head only once". Gradimir Nalic from the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights believes that treatment of Brovina was not correct. According to his words, she was interrogated eighteen times, but not always in prison. After exhausting questioning, often without food and drink, "Brovina said herself that she would admit anything, even that she was a giraffe", says Nalic. While still in Lipljan she signed a statement which, according to claims of her lawyer Husnija Bitic, she had not previously read, nor had anyone else. "They told her to sign what she had stated. Brovina was convinced that she was signing her own words", declared Bitic. She could not have even dreamt that she would sign her own sentence, because her statement in the form of a photocopy which should not be recognised by the court was used as main evidence of the prosecution based on which the sentence was pronounced. The prosecution insisted on having Brovina's statement read in court, which despite opposition of her lawyers, she agreed to. Soon after reading had begun, Brovina shook her head and interrupted the prosecutor: "I have never said that, these are not my words". To accusations that she had founded a polyclinic where terrorists, members of KLA, had been treated, and that she had provided clothing for the terrorists, Brovina answered that during the war (NATO bombing) she had been seriously sick and with one hand paralysed and that she had not worked even at her own private clinic. As evidence that Brovina's League had knitted sweaters for KLA wool confiscated at a warehouse in Pristina was used. Brovina explained that her organisation had received the wool from an English humanitarian organisation called Oxpham. "This was a part of the project in which women, traumatised by the conflict in Kosovo, would gather and knit - as a kind of therapy", said lawyer Bitic. "Half of the yarn was given to the women, and half would be given back to Oxpham which distributed ready-made knitted articles as humanitarian aid. Brovina had cooperated in this project with other similar organisations from Pristina", says Bitic. At the moment when Belgrade regime and the courts are, probably as part of some secret agreement, releasing a large number of the Albanians from prison, the local fighters for human rights assume that there will be no such generosity when Brovina is concerned. What causes the greatest concern in this story is the fact that majority of opposition parties and even non-governmental organisations are passing her arrest and pronouncing of the draconian punishment in silence. The ones who raised their voices are the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the Humanitarian Law Fund and a number of lawyers gathered around the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights, the parallel union of writers of Serbia, but the Chamber of Physicians and the official Union of Writers were silent. Biljana Kovacevic-Vuco stresses that the opposition, democratic parties in Serbia, estimating that it was not politically opportune to fight for Brovina, decided to be shamefully silent. At that moment petitions for her liberation are signed by writers, poets, physicians and journalists from all over the world, and while in prison, Brovina received a few eminent international literary awards. According to the words of her lawyers, Brovina is the victim of the regime in Belgrade "which has ruined everything it has touched, even the judiciary". "In this crime one participates silently, voluntarily, out of cowardice", this is how Vojin Dimitrijevic defines the whole matter. Vladimir Milovanovic (AIM) http://www.aimpress.org/dyn/trae/archive/data/200005/00510-001-trae-pod.htm ========================================== HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE Trial Of Djakovica Group Resumes May 09, 2000 The trial of 145 Kosovo Albanians from Djakovica, who are charged with seditious conspiracy and acts of terrorism during a state of war, resumed before the District Court in Nis. The court questioned another 26 defendants: Adnan Hadzibeciri, Fatos Deva, Florent Rudi, Imri Ahmeti, Fisnik Zavelji, Driton Aliaga, Besnik Mejzini, Behar Koshi, Halil Guta, Adrijatik Vokshi, Naser Shunjaku, Mustafa Ukaj, Adnan Koshi, Imer Guta, Arbnor Koshi, Perparim Zajnulahu, Fatimir Tafarshiku, Lulzim Qerimi, Feriz Bozdaraj, Luan Dzeka, Menduh Duraku, Adrijatik Pula, Bekim Lota, Ferat Lujani, Agim Muhadzeri and Dukadjin Pula. Altogether 105 defendants have been heard since the trial opened on 18 April. All 25 defendants made statements identical to those they gave during the investigatory proceedings: that they and their families left their homes on orders from the police and military who were conducting searches of houses in their neighborhood. Police arrested some 300 Djakovica Albanians either in their homes or on the streets on 7, 8 and 10 May. The defendants said the situation in Djakovica at the time was so uncertain that none of them dared leave their homes. In addition, police and soldiers were quartered in many Albanian houses and controlled all movements by civilians. The indictment against the Djakovica Group cites three separate incidents on 10 April and 7 and 9 May 1999 in which the defendants allegedly carried out terrorist attacks on members of the police force and army and in which a police officer and two soldiers were killed and several others wounded. The court did not question the defendants about these incidents but generally about their activities from the beginning of the NATO intervention. When all the defendants are heard, the court will consider the evidence presented by the prosecution and defense. The trial is expected to close on Friday, 12 May when Judge Goran Petronijevic is to pronounce judgement after hearing the closing arguments of the prosecution and defense. ========================================== AFP 144 Kosovo Albanians accused of terrorism deny charges NIS, Yugoslavia May 10, 2000 All 144 Kosovo Albanians accused of terrorism denied all charges on Wednesday of taking part in attacks against Belgrade government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes. The Kosovar Albanians are accused of "participating in and organizing terrorist and enemy activities" against Belgrade security forces in the Serbian province in April 1999. The prosecution said the men had taken part in three attacks on Serb forces in April and May 1999, during which a police officer and two soldiers were killed, and two soldiers and five police seriously wounded. The trial is the largest of its kind to take place in Yugoslavia. If convicted, the defendants, all from the southern Kosovo town of Djakovica, could face jail sentences of up to 20 years. During Wednesday's hearing, Darinka Rakovic, mother of a soldier killed in Djakovica attacks last May, said she had no "direct information about the death of her son," but insisted: "I demand that the law pronounce the maximum possible sentence." On Tuesday, one of the defendants, Halil Gutaj, told the judge he himself had been injured in last year's bombing, adding that he was "innocent both before the law and before God." At the start of the trial, Gradimir Nalic, one of the team of defence lawyers, said the prosecution "had no evidence which could lead to the individually established guilt of any of the defendants." The trial, which started on April 18, was set to continue on Thursday with evidence by prosecution witnesses. Accusations of terrorist activities imply that the men are suspected by Belgrade of being former members of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought Serbian security forces in the province before being officially demilitarized when Kosovo came under UN administration. The defendants were among more than 2,000 Kosovar Albanians transferred to Serbian prisons as Belgrade forces withdrew from the province. Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic said last month that 979 prisoners brought from Kosovo were still being held in Serbian prisons. All but 15 or 20 of them were ethnic Albanians, he said. About 500 have been released so far, but more than 250 have received heavy prison sentences in trials criticized by international human rights groups. Copyright ? 2000 AFP http://sg.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/afp/article.html?s=singapore/h eadlines/000510/world/afp/144_Kosovo_Albanians_accused_of_terrorism_deny_cha rges.html ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS Five Albanian prisoners released from Serbia jails May 09, 2000 Prishtin?, May 9 (Kosovapress) - According to some reports by the RCIC, today five Albanian prisoners were released from Kraleva prison. They came to Kosova accompanied by the Red Cross of International Community. All the prisoners are from the municipal of Skenderaj. ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS Continues the trial of 140 Albanian prisoners from Gjakova May 09, 2000 Gjakov?, May 9 (Kosovapress) - Taday at the Supreme Court in Nish continues the trial of 140 Albanians from Gjakova. They have been detained last year by the military serb forces, as it is known they are charged as many other Albanians for their terrorism. They are accused that they took part or were members of KLA, and they have attacked the police and military forces even against the Albanians who were loyal to the Yugoslav regime. The accused have denied about their accusation which is conducted by regime serb. http://www.kosovapress.com/english/maj/9_5_2000_1.htm ========================================== HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE Four Kosovo Albanians released May 09, 2000 On 8 May, the District Court in Kraljevo found Agim, Kasim and Mustafa Ahmetaj and Nazuf Deljiljaj guilty of seditous conspiracy and sentenced the three Ahmetaj brothers to 18 months in prison and Deljiljaj to 19 months. Immediately after sentencing, the four Kosovo Albanians, all from Rezala village in Srbica Township, were discharged on account of jail credit as they had been in custody since their arrest on 24 September 1998. The Ahmetaj brothers and Deljilaj were accused of membership in the Kosovo Liberation Army and of opening fire on several occasions on members of the Serbian police force in the Srbica area. A police officer was slightly wounded in one such attack on 23 May 1998. At the trial, the four defendants denied having committed the criminal offenses they were charged with. Their defense counsel, including a Humanitarian Law Center staff attorney, moved for acquital because of lack of evidence. The only evidence presented by the prosecution was a police report on the fighting in Srbica Township during September 1998 in which the defendants were not mentioned, and the results of the ?paraffin glove? test, a crude investigatory technique which is considered unreliable. The prosecutor amended the initial indictment of terrorism and charged the defendants with the lesser offense of seditious conspiracy of which they were convicted. ========================================== KOSOVAPRESS It is released one prisoner May 12, 2000 Sk?nderaj, May 12 (Kosovapress) - On May 9, from the prison of Kragujevci was released a prisonr Nehat Dervishi from the village Leqina of Sk?nderaj. He was arrested last year from serbian police and charged on one year prison by the prosecution court in Novi Pazar. He stayed there for the time being charged. He said that there is left one more Albanian prisoner from village Prekalla of Istog municipality. http://www.kosovapress.com/english/maj/12_5_2000_1.htm ========================================== FREEB92 DAILY NEWS Police arrest young Otpor activist in Arilje May 07, 2000 ARILJE, Sunday - Police arrested a young Otpor activist in the town of Arilje near Belgrade today. The arrest followed a local protest rally organised by Otpor at which the questions; "Who killed Slavko Curuvija?" and "Where is Radojko Lukovic?" were written next to the Otpor symbol. Slavko Curuvije was the editor in chief of daily Dnevni telegraf murdered last year and Radojko Lukovic is one of the Otpor members arrested in Pozarevac last week. http://www.freeb92.net/archive/e/ ========================================== FREEB92 DAILY NEWS Protest rally in Pozarevac tomorrow May 08, 2000 POZAREVAC, Monday - Thousands of people are expected to protest in Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's home town of Pozarevac tomorrow over the arrest of three student activists on attempted murder charges last week. The three members of the student movement Otpor were arrested after being beaten by members of the Yugoslav United Left outside a cafe in the central Serbian town last week. The leaders of all Serbian opposition parties are expected to appear at tomorrow's rally under the slogan "Stop the Terror". An opposition member of the Serbian Parliament from Pozarevac, Zivadin Jotic, told media today that the joint opposition will have tight security measures in place tomorrow. He added that despite the tense atmosphere in the town, no violence is expected. Up-to-the-minute news on the rally will be available on the Free B92 website tomorrow. The address is www.freeb92.net http://www.freeb92.net/archive/e/ ========================================== HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE HLC Attorneys Questioned By Police May 09, 2000 Teki Bokshi and Mustafa Radoniqi, attorneys on the staff of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) offices in Kosovo, were taken in by police in Nis for the second time since the opening of the trial of the so-called ?Djakovica Group.? Boskhi and Radoniqi were picked up by three uniformed officers at the Ambasador Hotel in Nis half an hour after midnight on 8 May and taken in a police van to the police station, allegedly for an identity check. Another attorney on the defense team, Dragan Zonic, who was also staying at the hotel, was not disturbed. The two attorneys were questioned about the reasons for their stay in Nis, their papers were checked and half an hour later they were driven back to the hotel. Bokshi and Radoniqi are among the lawyers who are defending a group of 145 Kosovo Albanians from Djakovica whose trial opened in Nis on 18 April after they had spent a year in custody. They are the only ethnic Albanian lawyers defending Kosovo Albanians before courts in Serbia. They have been detained and questioned by police several times when crossing from Kosovo into Serbia. In December 1999, Bokshi was kidnapped and held for ransom. Though the HLC reported the abduction to the Belgrade police and gave information that could have led to the abductors, the police have not yet announced the results of the investigation. The HLC attorneys requested the panel of judges presided by Judge Goran Petronijevic to protect them from the police harassment since it hinders them in their defense of the accused. The HLC urges the Serbian Ministry of Justice to ensure normal conditions for the work of lawyers acting as defense counsel before the Nis District Court and to see to it that police cease obstructing them. ========================================== REUTERS Serb activists freed before opposition rally May 08, 2000 BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (Reuters) -- Serb authorities freed three anti-government activists on Monday but the opposition said it was going ahead with a rally in protest at their alleged beatings. The opposition will mass on Tuesday in the eastern Serbian town of Pozarevac, the home town of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, where they were arrested last week. Opposition news media have been hit by a series of fines for their accounts of the incident. They say associates of Milosevic's powerful son Marko beat up the three members of the Otpor (Resistance) movement in a Pozarevac cafe and police then arrested them. The authorities said they detained the three on suspicion of attempted murder. Two were released from a Belgrade prison after a court hearing on Monday. They left prison with visible head scabs and facial bruises. One of them, Radojko Lukovic, said he had been treated well in prison. The third man was freed in Pozarevac, the independent Beta news agency said. Their lawyer, Borivoje Borovic, said legal proceedings against them had been halted for now, but did not elaborate. Opposition officials pressed ahead with plans for the rally, hoping for a repeat of the success of last month's anti-Milosevic demonstration in Belgrade which drew 100,000 people. Meho Omerovic of the Social Democracy party, one of the organizers, said the releases had not affected opposition plans. "Violence and terror are not only taking place in Pozarevac and not only against Otpor....The rally will take place, same place, same motto: Stop to terror, for free elections," he said. Vladan Batic, coordinator of the Alliance for Change opposition grouping, forecast a big turnout. "It is a tradition here that the greater the pressure against something, the greater the interest among the people, and more of them will come," Batic told a news conference. Copyright 2000 Reuters. http://robots.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/05/08/bc.yugo.opposition.reut/index. html ========================================== HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE Detained Otpor Activists Released and then Re-Arrested May 09, 2000 Momcilo Veljkovic and Radojko Lukovic, activists of the Otpor [Resistance] organization, were re-arrested last night in Pozarevac, 12 hours after being released from custody by the investigating judge. Natasa Bogovic and Bojan Toncic, reporters of the non-government daily Danas, and Mile Veljkovic, brother of Momcilo Veljkovic and a correspondent of the non-government BETA news agency and Blic daily, were arrested together with the two Otpor activists. Veljkovic, Lukovic and another Otpor activist, Nebojsa Sokolovic Were first arrested on 2 May and released by the investigating judge on 8 May. During this period, they were not allowed any contact with their lawyers ? attorneys of non-governmental organizations and others ? or with their family members. The Yugoslav Constitution guarantees the right to a lawyer from the moment of arrest. Under the Criminal Procedure Code, however, an accused has the right to a lawyer only from the time he is brought before the investigating judge. The three Otpor activists, as indeed all arrested persons, were thus denied the right to defense lawyers while in police detetion. The three activists were questioned by Investigating Judge Bosko Papovic of the Pozarevac District Court: Veljkovic in Pozarevac and Lukovic and Sokolovic in the Belgrade Prison Hospital. Seventy-two hour detention orders were issued for Veljkovic and Sokolovic while police presented no dention order to Lukovic. Since police detention can last only 72 hours under the Criminal Procedure Code, it ensues that Veljkovic and Sokolovic were unlawfully held from 10 p.m. on 5 May whereas Lukovic was unlawfully detained for the whole period from 2 to 8 May. It remains to be seen whether the investigating judge will order the institution of a judicial investigation in connection with the criminal complaint filed by Milan and Sasa Lazic, members of the Yugoslav Left (JUL) party, who have charged the three Otpor activists with attempted murder, for which the Criminal Code envisages a minimum penalty of five years in prison. With regard to the previous arrest of the Otpor activists, the Pozarevac police stated that Momcilo Veljkovic, Radojko Lukovic and Nebojsa Sokolovic had been taken into custody on 2 May on suspicion of the attempted murder of Sasa and Milan Lazic. At a special session of the JUL local committee for Pozarevac on 4 May, Ivan Markovic, secretary of the party?s Directorate, said ?a group of hooligans with the fascist emblem of Otpor fired at Milan Lazic and injured his brother Sasa by striking him on the head with a pistol butt.? Questioned by the investigating judge When they were questioned by the investigating judge on 8 May, the three Otpor activists still bore signs of physical injuries. Momcilo Veljkovic had a bleeding wound on his head. He received medical attention only once, immediately after his arrest on 2 May, when doctors closed the wound with ten stitches. Nebojsa Sokolovic had bruises around both eyes, a broken nose, injuries on the back of his head, right ear, chest and shoulder. Radojko Lukovic also had a broken nose and numerous cuts and swellings on his face. The Otpor activists described to the investigating judge what occurred on 2 May and how they were injured. Veljkovic and Lukovic said they entered the Pasaz Cafe about 7.30 p.m. to see Dragan Milovanovic who had been made to meet there with Zoran Ivanovic, Milos Lazic and Bojan Tadic, all members of JUL and friends of Marko Milosevic. These three had earlier too put pressure to bear on Milovanovic to join the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). Veljkovic and Lukovic went up to the table at which the group was sitting and asked their friend Milovanovic to leave with them. Milovanovic was obviously scared and remained in the cafe with Ivanovic, Lazic and Tadic. At the moment Veljkovic and Lukovic came into the cafe, Milan Lazic called to his brother Sasa who was outside in his car. Sasa Lazic got out brandishing a gun and made threats. He then came up to Veljkovic and hit him on the head with the butt of the pistol. Veljkovic managed to grab the gun and throw it some distance away and then tried to escape through the door. As he was running from the cafe, he saw Marko Milosevic getting out of a car, also with a gun in his hand. According to Veljkovic, Milosevic loudly encouraged his friends to continue beating the already injured Otpor activists. In the meantime, Milan Lazic and another four men who were in the cafe punched and kicked Lukovic who was down on the floor. Nebojsa Sokolovic, who happened to be on the street, told Ivanovic to beating Veljkovic or he would kill him. Ivanovic, Tadic, Milos and Sasa Lazic reacted by setting upon Sokolovic, beating him mostly about the head until he nearly lost consciousness. Media fined The Belgrade dailies Danas and Blic, the Vreme news magazine and Studio B Television were fined for their reporting of the attack on and arrest of the Otpor activists. Magistrate Milica Radosavljevic of Pozarevac ordered Studio B to pay a fine of 200,000 dinars (approximately US$ 9,000) and its editor in chief Dragan Kojadinovic 80,000 dinars. The misdemeanor proceedings were instituted on the basis of charges filed by Sasa Lazic, a member of JUL and participant in the Pasaz Cafe incident who alleged that the TV station had inaccurately reported that ?... Sasa Lazic rushed out of the Pasaz Cafe with a pistol in his hand and hit Momcilo Veljkovic on the back of the head with the butt.? The summons to Studio B was served at noon and the proceedings were held two hours later the same day. Magistrate Olivera Veljkovic, also of Pozarevac, on 5 May fined Blic 200,000 dinars and its editor in chief Veselin Simonovic 80,000 dinars. The weekly Vreme was also fined 200,000 dinars. That same day, Studio B was fined for the second time and ordered to pay 150,000 dinars in connection with charges filed by Vladimir Djukic, director of the Belgrade Emergency Medical Center, because of a 3 May report in which the station reported that Lukovic had been taken from the Center ?before he underwent all the necessary operations,? that ?his skull is fractured, he has lost one eye and is in a very critical condition.? According to Director Djukic, doctors established that Lukovic?s nose was broken ?and that there was no need for any kind of emergency procedures.? New proceedings against Otpor activists The Magistrate Courts in Velika Plana and Batocina have instituted proceedings against Otpor activists for breaching the Law on the Public Peace, that is for stencilling Otpor?s clenched fist emblem in public places. The proceedings are scheduled for 13 May. About 600 Otpor activists have been brought in by police for investigatory interrogations since September 1999. They were questioned about Otpor leaders, the organization? s network in Serbia, ties with opposition parties, and their political stands. Otpor members are frequently targets of attacks by bullies in civilian clothes. Indications are that these are members of the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Yugoslav Left. ========================================== Agence France-Presse First Kosovo warcrimes trial to start June 6 amid hunger strike pressure May 12, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, May 12 (AFP) - Kosovo's first warcrimes trial is to start on June 6 after pressure from Serbian alleged war criminals on hunger strike to bring their cases to court after almost a year in jail, a UN spokeswoman said Friday. Many of the 40 or so alleged war criminals -- all of them Kosovo Serbs -- have been on hunger strike in the ethnically divided northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica since April 10, demanding their cases come to court. "The detainees started their protest to expedite the commencement of the trial proceedings" said Nadia Younes, spokeswoman for the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). "In that connection, at the urging of UNMIK, the president of the district court of Mitrovica has rescheduled the trials postponed last March for security reasons" to start on June 6, she said. The court has not yet decided which case will be the first to go to trial before an ethnically mixed panel of judges led by an international magistrate to minimise the risk of ethnic bias, she said. The official Yugoslav agency Tanjug said this week the first case would be that of Miroslav Vukovic, accused of genocide, whose trial had been announced in March but postponed for security reasons. Younes said that trying a Serb suspect in the courthouse in the Serb-dominated northern half of Mitrovica was potentially "dynamite" and required special security measures. UNMIK police would provide extra security for the trial, she said, while the judicial department would also ensure that Serb judges who have been appointed but have refused to be sworn in would start working "as soon as possible." There are currently 31 Serbs and five Roma refusing food in jail in northern Mitrovica, although not all are facing war crimes charges, she said. Two of the strikers have been hospitalised, while hundreds of Kosovo Serbs have demonstrated outside the jail in a show of solidarity with the prisoners. UNMIK has said it hopes to launch a special tribunal in June to deal with war and ethnic crimes but some legal experts have expressed doubts it will be running before the allowed year of pre-trial detention for war crimes suspects expires. In the absence of a special court, the UN has agreed that trials will go ahead in Mitrovica but with an international judge and an ethnically mixed panel of magistrates. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/ay/Qkosovo-warcrimes.Rrx6_AyC.html ========================================== GRUPA484 OTPOR's Reactions on being called a Terrorist Organization May 10, 2000 STUDENT'S RESISTANCE MOVEMENT announces that for the next seven days it will stop all of its' activities except continuing public media pressure and efforts, so that arrested members of this movement be freed from detention. This decision also comes out of our concern that representatives of Serbian regime will fulfil their frequently repeated threats or even perform certain actions under the disguise of OTPOR's actions which could than be interpreted as terrorist or criminal actions. Until the May 13th 2000, Day of National Security, STUDENT'S RESISTANCE MOVEMENT will held "around the clock" duty in its offices all over Serbia and it will prepare action - MASSIVE SURRENDER TO THE POLICE. Unless regime stops with its threats and calls for public prosecution of OTPOR's members we will organize our public surrender to the police forces in over 50 towns all over Serbia, at exactly 12 o'clock noon on May 13th. We are a non-violent movement and when confronted with violence whether it is physical or verbal we will first seek the protection from an institution that has the constitutional right to protect public order and peace and that is, we believe, police force. Safety and public peace, freedom and democracy are essentially ideals of OTPOR and we will demonstrate that in our actions. STUDENT'S RESISTANCE MOVEMENT, thus, is asking for protection and help from every single human being in Serbia that shares the same goals. We are asking all our friends, professors, members of the Academy, distinguished scientists and cultural figures, representatives of political parties and NGO organizations to join us in our office from tonight, in Knez Mihailova 49, and give us a necessary help in our efforts to confront Serbian regime's accusations that we are fascist and terrorist organization. We are primarily ask our friends ? professors from Belgrade University and members of the Academy of Science to give us an appropriate advice in this difficult times. STUDENT'S RESISTANCE MOVEMENT is asking to be received by his Holiness, Patriarch Pavle, spiritual leader of our orthodox community who has helped us before. His wise words are more than needed today. STUDENT'S RESISTANCE MOVEMENT is asking for an official reception by Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republic of Serbia, mr. Vlajko Stojiljkovic, so that he could be informed about non-violent nature of our movement which is primarily concerned for creating conditions for democratic and free elections. We will use this opportunity to provide mr. Stojiljkovic with the complete list of our offices in Serbia and with names of our representatives in Serbian cities as well as with documents that explain true goals of our movement as well as with methods through which they can be achieved in democratic and non-violent manner ========================================== GROUP 484 Serbia, violated Constitutional and Legal standards May 11, 2000 Where and How Constitutional and Legal Standards were Violated 1. In Pozarevac, on May 2nd 2000 at 7 PM, in front of the Pasage caf?, Milan Lazic and other unidentified persons, tried to force Dragan Milanovic by violence and serial threat, to sign the application form for membership in Socialist Party of Serbia, and to resign from Student's Movement OTPOR!, by which they committed a Criminal Act (CA) of Compulsion, article 62 of Serbian Criminal code (SCc). 2. On the same day and place, a fight occurred between Dragan Milanovic, Momcilo Veljkovic, Radojko Lukovic and Nebojsa Sokolovic on one side, and Sasa Lazic, Milos Lazic and Bojan Tadic on the other, in which aggravated assault and battery was brought to R. Lukovic and N. Sokolovic. In view of the described incident, it is clear that there was Criminal Act of participating in the fight, article 55 of SCc, and officials of Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) did not act equally to all participants in the fight by using their official position and authorizations, but they arrested M. Veljkovic, R. Lukovic and N. Sokolovic, although being informed of previous threats to D. Milanovic, by which they committed CA of Breach of Duty, art. 242 of SCc, with CA of Violation of Citizens' Equality, art. 60 SCc. 3. After the arrest of M. Veljkovic, R. Lukovic and N. Sokolovic, they were kept in custody more than 72 hours, which is contrary to art. 196 paragraph 3 of Law of Criminal Proceedings (LCP), by which the official person, member of MUP (police) exceeded their authorizations, by which they committed CA of Breach of Duty, art. 242 of SCc. 4. During offering aid in the health institution, the arrested N. Lukovic had handcuffs, which is contrary to the regulations of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Republic of Serbia about the position of the arrested (art. 25 of FRY Constitution and art. 26 of RS Constitution), by which the official person has committed CA of Maltreatment in Duty, art. 66 SCc. 5. After the arrest, an unknown person unofficially disclosed a secret to Politika (daily newspaper), found out by practicing his medical duty, by publishing the diagnosis of the illness for one of the arrested , with a view to belittling, which harmed the honor and reputation of M. Veljkovic, by which that person committed CA of Unofficially Disclosing of a Secret, art. 73 SCc, with CA of Publishing Personal and Family Data, art. 94 SCc. 6. On May 9th 2000, members of MUP have in several places and several times violated regulations of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Republic of Serbia on freedom of movement guaranteed by art. 30 FRY Constitution, and committed CA of disturbing and preventing the public gathering, art. 76 SCc, with CA of violation of citizens' equality, art. 60 SCc. 7. On May 9th 2000, in Novi Sad, Nis, Pozarevac and Kraljevo, the official persons of MUP arrested several dozens of citizens not informing them of the reasons of the arrest, and committed CA of illegal arrest, art. 63 SCc ========================================== 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 Very useful statistics and update from ICRC on missing persons from Kosova can be found at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/60c532db df49f6878525688f006f80d4?OpenDocument Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 023 From kosova at jps.net Wed May 17 20:16:04 2000 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 17:16:04 -0700 Subject: [A-PAL] SPECIAL REPORT Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List S P E C I A L R E P O R T May 17, 2000 Association Of Political Prisoners Kosova Action Network Alice Mead ========================================== A-PAL BULLETIN: ========================================== CALL FOR JUSTICE There is an URGENT Human Rights Crisis unfolding in both Serbia and Kosova. The fact that Internationals gave Veton Surroi an award is not good enough. Not when Otpor Resisters, Flora Brovina, Albin Kurti, the 145 Gjakova Prisoners, Serb and Albanian lawyers and journalists, Roma children, and hundreds of Albanian prisoners live in abuse and fear of their lives. The International Government Organizations: OSCE, UN, NATO, EU, EP, and the U.S. MUST stand up against the Serb Ministry of Justice's abuses and INSIST on the rule of law -- Equal for ALL. Outside groups must focus on the principle of human rights throughout the region; these principles must be upheld with consequences for those who fail to do so. This urgent need was made clear during the recent UN Security Council members on their trip to Kosova. Within Serbia this means the following actions must be implemented: 1. The Immediate Release of all Albanian Prisoners 2. The Arrest of Indicted War Criminals 3. Free Elections -- Not Civil War Within Kosova this means the following actions: 1. The Adoption of the Tolerance Platform Endorsed by KTC, KFOR and Serb Kosova leaders 2. To Install Judges and Trials 3. To Aid ICRC in locating 150 missing Serbs 4. To Aid ICRC in locating over 3,000 missing Albanians 5. To Begin War Crimes Trials FAILURE TO DEMAND FOCUS ON THE PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE WILL RESULT IN FURTHER UNNECESSARY VIOLENCE AND DESTRUCTION. ========================================== RELATED ARTICLES: ========================================== UNITED NATIONS KTC Adopts a Major Political Statement on Tolerance Press Release May 10, 2000 The Kosovo Transitional Council today adopted the following statement: "The Kosovo Transitional Council demands of the authorities of the FRY the unconditional handover to the UNMIK authorities of all Kosovo Albanians and member of other Kosovo communities held in Serbian prisons and other detention facilities. "The Kosovo Transitional Council demands that the Government of the FRY grant immediate access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to all detention facilities in Serbia where Kosovo Albanians and members of other Kosovo communities are held. "The Kosovo Transitional Council demands that the Government of the FRY make available to UNMIK all information related to Kosovo Albanians and members of other Kosovo communities who went missing during the past conflict. "The Kosovo Transitional Council requests that all Albanian and Serb political leaders in Kosovo, along with KFOR, UNMIK, ICTY, ICRC, and all people of good will in Kosovo and outside Kosovo, cooperate in establishing the fate of persons of the Albanian, Serbian, Roma, Bosniac, Turkish, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities who went missing or may have been kidnapped before, during and after the conflict. "Individuals and organizations, in Kosovo and outside Kosovo, who can provide information on the fate of missing or kidnapped persons of all communities are urged to channel that information to the UNMIK authorities, through any appropriate channel. "The Kosovo Transitional Council calls on the relevant United Nations bodies to appoint a special envoy for detainees and missing persons at the earliest date. "All Members of the Kosovo Transitional Council and, in particular, the Serb Members of the Council, express their strongest condemnation of the crimes, repression and discrimination suffered by the Kosovo Albanian community and other communities in the past, and call for the perpetrators of such crimes to be brought to justice. "All Members of the Kosovo Transitional Council and, in particular, the Kosovo Albanian Members of the Council, express their strongest condemnation of the crimes and violent acts against the Serb and other communities, which occurred in post-conflict Kosovo, and call for the perpetrators of such crimes to be brought to justice. They call on all individuals and communities in Kosovo to refrain from the use of violence, and to solve all disputes through peaceful means. "All Members of the Kosovo Transitional Council express their serious concern for the present situation of the Serb community and minorities in Kosovo, and for the limitations on the exercise of their fundamental rights, and undertake to do their utmost for improving the situation, in cooperation with UNMIK. "All Members of the Kosovo Transitional Council recognize the right of immediate voluntary return of members of all communities. "All Members of the Kosovo Transitional Council recognize the right of members of all communities to participate freely in the institutions of Kosovo, and in the institution building process." Only one member, Mr. Gjergj Dedaj, of the Liberal Party of Kosovo (PLK), declined to endorse the statement. The KTC also received the regular security briefing from KFOR and UNMIK Police. http://www.un.org/peace/kosovo/press/templ.pr.238.html ========================================== UN INTERIM ADMINISTRATION MISSION IN KOSOVO (UNMIK) Commission for identifying missing persons endorsed May 09, 2000 The Interim Administrative Council (IAC) today endorsed the setting up of a commission which will play a key role in identifying missing persons who died during the recent conflict. The Victim Recovery and Identification Commission (VRIC), which will be inaugurated on Thursday, will recover, identify and dispose of the remains of bodies of war victims, in coordination with the exhumation and investigation work by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. http://www.un.org/peace/kosovo/news/update.htm ========================================== KFOR Commander Endorses KTC Commitments May 11, 2000 The Commander of KFOR, Lieutenant-General Juan Ortuno, strongly endorses the commitments made by all members of the Kosovo Transitional Council during yesterday's session. Both Serb and Albanian members denounced past and present crimes and called for perpetrators to be brought to justice. All Serb members of the Council expressed their strongest condemnation of the crimes, the repression and the discrimination suffered by the Albanians and other communities in the past. For their part, all Albanian members strongly condemned crimes and violence against Serb and other communities which have occurred in post-conflict Kosovo. They further called on all citizens and communities to refrain from violence, and to solve all disputes peacefully. "These enlightened commitments by the leaders of Kosovo's administration are most vital for the rebuilding process," says the Commander. "I wholeheartedly add my voice, and the influence of every KFOR peacekeeper, to the call for an immediate end to the destructive cycle of revenge and violence against fellow citizens. "As I said during my recent press conference, the focus of the world is on Kosovo. The international community of nations is fully engaged in the creation of a democratic future and all the citizens must work together to foster co-existence and tolerance." http://www.kforonline.com/news/updates/nu_11may00.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 Very useful statistics and update from ICRC on missing persons from Kosova can be found at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/60c532db df49f6878525688f006f80d4?OpenDocument Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter SPECIAL REPORT From Tony at iwpr.net Tue May 23 06:45:25 2000 From: Tony at iwpr.net (Tony Borden) Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 11:45:25 +0100 Subject: [A-PAL] IWPR reports by email Message-ID: <218581ACEC23D31184CD0008C7333E7F1CACED@LONDON_SRV> Dear Colleague/Friend, You may well be familiar with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) and its website at www.iwpr.net. If not, IWPR invites you to visit the site and read this brief introduction. IWPR is an educational and development charity which supports independent media in regions in transition - the Balkans, the Caucaus and the Central Asian States. IWPR's website, judged by leading on-line editors as the UK's "Best On-line Journalism Service," carries weekly reports from journalists and analysts in the regions providing unrivalled insight from contributors at the heart of changing societies. The links and archives give access to an information resource about the regions' past and present. The reports are available to subscribers via e-mail with easy subscribe/unsubscribe access on the website or via an e-mail message and are translated into Albanian, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, Russian and French. We encourage you to sign up to receive regular reports, and otherwise welcome your feedback. Our apologies if this message is inappropriate for your interests; it will not be repeated. Meantime, please contact us directly if you have any further questions. To subscribe by email: send a message to "majordomo at angus.mystery.com"; in the body of the message (not the subject line), write "subscribe" and the list name you wish to subscribe to e.g "bcralbanian"; write "end". For further information, please contact Frances Robathan, development assistant, frances at iwpr.net. With respect and kind regards Anthony Borden Executive Director From kosova at jps.net Thu May 25 00:26:11 2000 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 21:26:11 -0700 Subject: [A-PAL] Special Report - May 24, 2000 Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List S P E C I A L R E P O R T May 24, 2000 Association Of Political Prisoners Kosova Action Network Alice Mead ========================================== A-PAL BULLETIN: ========================================== CALL FOR JUSTICE No future for Serbia under Milosevic: Albright FLORENCE, Wednesday Serbia would have no future while Slobodan Milosevic was in power, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said today. At a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Florence, Albright said that Milosevic had been charged with crimes against humanity, had threatened his political opponents, conducted a campaign against independent media and isolated his country from the rest of the world. She emphasized that the international community and Western countries should help the Serbian opposition unite, rather than impose democracy on Serbia, adding that the West could support independent organizations. "We can only say clearly that the Serbian opposition would be warmly welcomed and supported by Europe and the international community," said Albright. Hague demands Milosevic's arrest BRUSSELS, Wednesday -- President of the Hague Tribunal Clod Jorda demanded during the session of the Council for Peace Implementation in Bosnia that senior Yugoslav and Serbian officials accused of war crimes be arrested, since they are still a serious danger to order and peace in the Balkans. Jorda said this applied especially to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Federal Defense Minister Dragoljub Ojdanic, former President of Republic of Srpska Radovan Karadzic and former commander of RS Army Ratko Mladic. Justice minister provokes Hague chief prosecutor BELGRADE, Wednesday -- Yugoslav Justice Minister Petar Jojic criticized the Hague Tribunal and said that Yugoslav authorities would not extradite a single citizen to that court, state radio reported. An extensive letter of 25 pages sent to the Hague Tribunal chief prosecutor, was entitled "To Carla del Ponte, a whore who sold herself to the Americans". Jojic first attacked the Tribunal for being founded contrary to international law and for participating in the destruction of Serbian people. Then he went on to demand that charges be brought against the western politicians and NATO leaders who had ordered air strikes on Yugoslavia. Jojic called the Hague Tribunal a "dungeon" and a "crime organisation". ========================================== RELATED QUOTES ? May 23, 2000: ========================================== The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges after what defence lawyers denounced as a "political" trial. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. (Full article below) Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "Several times we have asked Belgrade authorities to give us the possibility to get back all those detained and to have fair, international, open and transparent trials in Kosovo... Some people were brave, some people were not. Some were guilty, some were not. There is no collectivity on one side or the other." Judge Goran Petronijevic said forensic tests taken by the police upon the arrest of the group last May were "crucial" to the verdict, although he added: "Individual guilt was impossible to establish." Human rights group Amnesty International also condemned the judge's comments in a statement issued Tuesday. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not Respected... Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused; the key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual." The European Union's high representative for security and foreign policy Javier Solana expressed his deep shock at the sentences. "This is a new sign of the total scorn of the regime for the basic principles of modern democracy," Solana said in a statement... This decision will not help to reduce tension in Kosovo, where the question of those who have disappeared or are under detention continues to pose a major obstacle to reconciliation and creation of a climate of tolerance and security," he added. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook denounced the verdicts late Monday. "This is yet another sign of the desperation of the Milosevic regime, which is prepared to go to any lengths to repress dissident voices." ========================================== RELATED ARTICLES: ========================================== GRUPA484" The trial of "Djakovica group" Nis District Court May 8-12, 2000 The trial of the Albanians from the so-called "Djakovica group", initiated on April 18th 2000, continued on May 8th 2000 in the Nis District Court. The remaining 64 defendants stated their defenses up to May 10th. As it was the case during the entire procedure, all the defendants stated their defenses, which was not the case in the investigation, when the majority of the defendants chose to remain silent. All the defendants denied the accusations in the indictment. Following violations of Criminal Code Procedures were noticed thus far: ? the defendants were arrested between May 7th-12th 1999 ? the police decisions on pre-trial confinements were delivered to them on May 15th 1999 on the basis of Federal Government Regulation on implementation of Criminal Code Procedures in the state of war giving the authority to the police to set a pre-trial confinement of one month during the state of war ? on June 15th 1999 expired the one-month pre-trial confinement deadline ? the above Federal Government Regulation was suspended on June 24th 1999, so the maximum temporary arrest is now 72 hours. ? on November 17th 1999, the first defendant was brought to a hearing by an investigative judge; the deadline for establishing a pre-trial confinement by the investigative judge is three days, but only ? on December 23rd 1999, the first decision on pre-trial confinement was made There is a vacuum between June 15th (when the inquiry should have begun, according to the Criminal Code Procedures) and December 12th 1999 (when it actually began). Changes during the main hearing: ? The procedures previously set aside, regarding two defendants that were underage at the time of the arrest, were rejoined with the agreement of defense attorneys. ? On May 9th 2000, one of the defendants was sent to a psychiatric examination in Belgrade in order to establish his psychological condition at the time when the crime, he was accused of, was committed, as well as during the trial. Presentation of evidence May 10th - 7th day of the trial On May 10th 2000, the hearings of the defendants were finished and the presentation of evidence began. Among the summoned witnesses, only Darinka Rakovic - mother of the killed YA soldier, Aleksandar Rakovic - appeared at the court. Since all 145 defendants were not allowed to attend the presentation of evidence (which the law implies) in a short period of time, the court made a decision, with the defense attorneys' agreement, to interrogate the witness outside the main hearing After a moving statement, the mother of a killed soldier supported the criminal charges and asked the court to pronounce the maximum sentence. May 11th - 8th day of the trial At the beginning, the court made a decision to resume the main hearing during the presentation of evidence, established the presentation of evidence according to official duty by interrogating the following witnesses: Nebojsa Avramovic and Veselin Veshovic, employees of Djakovica Secretariat of Internal Affairs (SUP), as well as Pristina SUP experts, Milutin Visnic and Slavisa Jankovic. According to the Criminal Code Procedures, all the defendants attended the presentation of evidence. - NEBOJSA AVRAMOVIC, Djakovica SUP employee since 1996. According to his statement, he was in charge of a test establishing traces of nitrate and nitrite on the defendants' hands and clothes. Asked by the defense attorneys if he performed the test on all the defendants, he confirmed, saying that he personally took 30-40 samples, and recognized among the defendants one of the arrested that was subjected to the test. Let us remind that during the hearing only a few defendants stated that this technique was applied on them. - VESELIN VESHOVIC, also a Djakovica SUP employee, confirmed by his statement his colleague's statement. He said that a regulation on keeping records of such data does not exist. - MILUTIN VISNJIC, a Pristina SUP expert and a mechanical engineer. He stated that the technical part of the test was performed correctly, but added that the "paper work", i.e. taking personal records of the defendants was in a way incomplete, which he explained by the circumstances in which the test was performed. It was included in the court record that the above expert finished a six-month specialized training in physical-chemical examination and metaloscopy, which qualifies him for the expert opinion. However, the defense lawyers complained. - SLAVISA JANKOVIC, Pristina SUP expert. According to his statement, during the processing of the nitrate and nitrite samples, it is usual to describe their density and zones, sometimes even draw the graphic representation of the particles and zones. In this case it was NOT DONE. Both experts tried to justify that by the situation and conditions in which the test was performed, as well as by large number of samples. Furthermore, presence of nitrate and nitrite particles is ONLY A STRONG INDICATION, but not a 100% proof that the particles come from gunpowder. Nevertheless, according to statement made by the same witness, the samples should be processed as quick as possible, and he has no information how long it took to transport them from Djakovica to Pristina, and how it could have effected the results. He also explained that the nitrate and nitrite particles could be transmitted by a handshake, or come from cigarette ashes, artificial fertilizer, urine, and even certain cosmetic products and detergents, although in that case the number of particles is much smaller and their disposition is different. May 12th - the ninth day Following witnesses, employed at Djakovica SUP, were interrogated: Rade Vlahovic, Danilo Zecevic, Predrag Dzavric, Radovan Nikolic, Dusan Dragovic and Slobodan Kovac. The documents stated in the indictment were also presented as evidence. The prosecutor and the defense suggested a presentation of new evidence, some of which were accepted by the court and will be presented on May 16th. - Rade Vlahovic, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, the police had no warrant, specifying their names, to arrest the suspects. The arrested were not in possession of any weapon, nor in uniforms, but Mr. Vlahovic learnt from his colleague that there were weapons and uniforms in a number of houses, but he couldn't say precisely which and whose. He also said that there was an opening in each backyard leading to another, so one could pass through all the backyards along the street unnoticed. In his opinion, the KLA used them in the terrorist attacks. - Danilo Zecevic, Djakovica SUP Employed as "sector commander". He explained that Djakovica was divided in several sectors and that he was in charge of a part of the town. He confirmed his colleague's entire statement. - Predrag Dzavric, Djakovica SUP In charge of criminal-operative treatment. He stated that on April 10th 1999, along with his colleagues Novovic and Danilovic, he "ran into a terrorist crossfire", when Novovic was wounded. He said that the shots came from openings in the wall facing the street, intended, according to him, to be loopholes. As he found out, the population of the Cabrat residential quarter dressed as civilians during the day, and during the night they wore uniforms and carried out terrorist attacks. - Radovan Nikolic, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, all the arrested were not kept in custody, because the nitrate-nitrite test showed negative results, and they were free to go home. Regarding the way in which the interrogation was carried out, he stated that the police at first told the suspects that the test came out positive and that it was the reason they were kept in custody. Asked by the council what influenced their choice between making a record and official note, he explained that it was the concrete situation (if there was an air-raid alarm at the time or not), as well as the results and contents of the interrogation. The information about the persons he was supposed to interrogate, he got through a verbal order by his superior officer. - Dusan Dragovic, Djakovica SUP He confirmed his colleagues' statements. - Slobodan Kovac, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, the information about the terrorists were obtained through "friendly connections and operative inquiries". Requested by the council, using the map of Djakovica, he explained which of the streets belonged to Cabrat residential area, as well as important locations where the terrorist attacks took place. One of the defense attorneys, Mr. Teki Boksi, disagreed with him, saying that both indictment and witnesses used the terms which were not used in Djakovica (for example the term "Cabrat" regards only the Asim Voksi street, not the entire residential area). Nevertheless, the witness adhered to his explanation. However, before today's hearing began, the defense attorney, Mustafa Radonici, warned the president of the council that, before today's session, he had seen Deputy District Attorney, Vojislav Soskic, and the witnesses, who were supposed to be interrogated today, talking and making plans. According to the prosecutor's statement, the above situation never took place. The trial is to be resumed on Tuesday, May 16th 2000. Nis, May 8th -12th 2000 Group 484's Volunteer Center for Direct Protection of Human Rights Report on the trial of the so-called "Djakovica group" Nis District Court May 19th and 21st 2000 May 19th 2000 - The closing statement On May 19th 2000, the trial of "Djakovica group" continued in Nis. Today, the prosecutor and the defense announced their closing statements. Deputy District Public Prosecutor, Vojislav Soskic, adheres to the indictment in full and states that the defenses of the accused are unreliable due to the fact that the evidence points otherwise. He is demanding that all be proclaimed guilty as charged, and the ones under age, responsible, and that their temporary arrest be prolonged until the sentence comes into effect. On the side of the defense, the closing statement was given by the following attorneys: Teki Boksi, Zonjic Dragan, Djordje Dozet, Mustafa Radonjici, Novkovic Milorad, Lazarevic Oliver, Todorovic Dragoljub, Jelusic Rajko, Tomovic Predrag, Antic Ivona, Stojakovic Tomislav, Cvetkovic Nikola, Kuc Munever, Tanaskovic Krsta, Djokic Nebojsa, Sivert Mojica, Gajic Zarko, Kosutic Dusan, Misic Marina, Misic Obrad, Vucinic Vladimir, Kamberi Ejub, Lazic Miodrag, Tomic Slobodan and Cibulic Radoslav. "In dubio pro reo", a maxim used a number of times in the statements of the defense, meaning: "In case of a doubt, the case should be tried to the benefit of the accused". The reason for this lies in the fact that, according to the defense, the evidence stated deny the charges, thus making it delusive. Furthermore, it was pointed to the formal defects in the pre-trial proceedings, the unreliability of the "paraffin glove" test for gunpowder, in the formal and material sense, was emphasized, as well as the fact that it does not have the weight of an evidence in the proceedings (it is only a strong indication, but not a 100% indisputable evidence), and it was said that the indictment was political and not legal. A chronological analysis of the state organ's actions and their failing to act were performed by the defense, as well as of the Criminal Code Procedures' violations; the defendants were for long denied contact with the defense attorneys: ? the defendants were arrested between May 7th-12th 1999 ? the police decisions on pre-trial confinements were delivered to them on May 15th 1999 on the basis of Federal Government Regulation on implementation of Criminal Code Procedures in the state of war giving the authority to the police to set a pre-trial confinement of one month during the state of war ? on June 15th 1999 expired the one-month pre-trial confinement deadline ? the above Federal Government Regulation was suspended on June 24th 1999, so the maximum temporary arrest is now 72 hours. ? on November 17th 1999, the first defendant was brought to a hearing by an investigative judge; the deadline for establishing a pre-trial confinement by the investigative judge is three days, but only ? on December 23rd 1999, the first decision on pre-trial confinement was made There is a vacuum between June 15th (when the inquiry should have begun, according to the Criminal Code Procedures) and December 12th 1999 (when it actually began). It was asked what kind of terrorists were the ones who do not resist arrest, and who immediately comply with the police's first request for an informative inquiry. According to the defense, statements made by the witnesses were contradictory, and the competency of a forensic expert, Milutin Visnjic, questionable. The issue regarding the actual jurisdiction of the court was, the defense stressed, disputable, because if these were terrorists and if they killed members of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and YA units, than the Court Martial had jurisdiction over this case. At the end of the statement, each of the attorneys moved for an acquittal and the dismissal of temporary arrest for all accused. Closing statements were, at the end of the day, given by all the defendants, affirming that they understood the statements of their defense attorneys, and that they agree to such a defense. The verdict will be announced on Monday, May 22nd 2000. May 22nd - The verdict On May 22nd 2000, the trial of the defendants constituting the so-called "Djakovica group" was completed, which were charged with terrorism (article 125, punishable according to article 139, paragraph 3 of the Yugoslav Criminal Code). The main hearing started on April 18th and ended on May 19th 2000. It was held in the Nis District Court courthouse, with the approval of the Serbian Supreme Court, due to technical conditions, and outside of the Pec seat. The defendants and juvenile defendants were pronounced guilty for organizing and carrying out of a number of terrorist attacks, as members of a terrorist organization, the so-called KLA, on the members of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and the Yugoslav Army units, in which three people were killed, and ten severely or slightly wounded, in April and the first half of May 1999, i.e. during a state of war, in the western part of the town of Djakovica, usually referred to as "Cabrat". For this criminal act, according to the relevant legal regulations of the Code of FR Yugoslavia, a granted minimum sentence is at least 10 years, and a maximum sentence could also be announced, i.e. 20 years. After the completed evidence procedures, the following 49 defendants: Zeka Muhedin, Deliji Albert, Ragomi Bekim, Guti Mithat, Pruti Admir, Pepa Idriz, Kosi Fahri, Grusti Maznum, Ferizi Ila, Pepaj Ila, Naka Avdurahman, Ganamusa Spend, Deliji Ljuljzim, Kosi Aljban, Mulahasani Besfor, Zeki Mithat, Sahacija Petrit, Baljata Driter, Skenderaj Tahir, Bakali Asim, Dusi Visar, Nuras Keljzen, Gambi Batus, Gazmen Zubi, Dijamant Mandzuk, Ljubinot Pulja, Deva Fatos, Rudi Fljorent, Fisnik Zaveli, Alija Gadriton, Mejzini Besnik, Sunjaku Naser, Guta Imer, Zejnulah Perparim, Duraku Mend, Pulja Adriatik, Ljota Bekim, Mici Dijamant, Morina Artan, Vulja Petrit, Hasici Bujar, Dobruna Burin, Delija Emin, Staljoja Edmond, Zubi Fljorent, Bitici Avni, Mati Endogand, Hasici Burin and Peroli Hivzi, were announced sentences of 13 years of imprisonment. Sentences of 12 years of imprisonment were announced to the following defendants: Musa Bekim, Ljuta Iljir, Djara Jeton, Lama Rinor, Beciri Sabit, Hoda Hisni, Pruti Aljeriz, Bitici Fatmir, Curaj Seljami, Zerka Esad, Haljiljaj Hasan, Sada Gzim, Kosi Albert, Alijaga Burhan, Pulja Aron, Radogosi Vaznim, Nrecaj Avdulj, Dzara Genc, Reznici Jeton, Pruti Fatmir, Fehapi Nedzet, Hodza Spejtim, Hoda Agim, Mulahasari Bekim, Kpuska Petrit, Brovina Sulejman, Hasi Artan, Brovina Jusuf, Hoda Faton, Ahama Esat, Ahmeti Imri, Kosi Behar, Ukaj Mustafa, Kosi Adnan, Bazdaraj Feriz, Muhaderi Agim, Pulja Dukadjin, Brovina Burim, Dusi Edmond, Juniku Hisen, Ahmeti Mustafa, Kusari Ila, Efendija Perparim, Zubi Kastriot, Ljusi Fadil, Zubi Burim, Baskim Mustafa, Guta Muhamet, Kajdoncaj Tahir, Taci Dzemajilj and Morina Nazim. To ten of the defendants, sentences of 10 years of imprisonment were announced, and these are: Godeni Fljamur, Morina Samija, Morina Adem, Ahmeti Aslan, Hadzibeciri Djamilj, Brovina Adnan, Delija Zoga, Varaku Nedzmedin, Mustafaj Fak, Culjaku Nedzat, Caka Afrim, Voksi Adriatik, Tafasiku Fatmir, Djerimi Ljuljzim, Luhani Ferat, Voksi Cefcet, Hasici Agim, Djiha Driton, Taci Rifat and Ljama Agron. Nine years of imprisonment was announced to the following: Hadzija Binak, Tetrica Ardijan, Betici Jeton, Krujeziju Atlija, Ferizi Mehdija, Hana Fljamur, Hoda Kresnik, Guta Halil, Jakupaj Petrit, Zubi Mirdzim and Dautaga Fatos. The following defendants were sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment: Krasnici Fadilj, Buza Mithat, Kosi Armond, Gedza Gania, Djiha Skender, Hadzibeciri Adnan, Kosi Abnor, Tahiri Elmi, Kastrati Ilber and Dulja Enver, as were the two juveniles: K. V. and J. B., who were sentenced to juvenile prison. To all the defendants, a time spent in temporary confinement was included in the sentence, starting from May 15th 1999, and the temporary arrest was prolonged until the verdict comes into effect. The proceedings against the defendants: Isa Adjanjela and Ljuan Dzeko were previously set aside, and thus they will be tried after the conclusion of a psychiatric expert opinion. The President of the Council, Judge Goran Petronijevic, explained the verdict to the defendants at the end of the proceedings. He stated that during the state of war, they were expected to show loyalty, and not the passivity which they expressed, that the results of the "paraffin glove" test were valid, even though it has some formal defects, that individualization was used in full in the pronouncing of the sentence, and that it was proven without a doubt that, in the Cabrat residential area, a large group of people carried out attacks on the police and YA units, and the fact being known that Djakovica was shut off, this could not have been terrorists brought "from outside". The judge added that there were defects in the pre-trial proceedings and that the temporary arrest was not (legally) covered in its whole duration, but that this was a mistake made by the police, and not the court. Belgrade, May 23rd 2000 Group 484 Volunteer Center for Direct Protection of Human Rights ========================================== AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Rubber Stamp Justice May 23, 2000 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: "Rubber stamp" justice in Nis ? 143 ethnic Albanians sentenced to between seven and 13 years' jail. A bureaucrat's rubber stamp rather than a judge's gavel appears to have been used to dispense justice in Nis, Amnesty International said as 143 Kosovo Albanians were sentenced to between seven and 13 years' imprisonment in a blatantly unfair trial. The organization called today for a retrial, and for a new examination of the evidence. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not respected," Amnesty International said. The judge is reported to have told the defendants that "it is impossible to determine your individual guilt, but that is not necessary". The 143 men, one of whom was a minor at the time of his arrest, were convicted of being members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), terrorism and attacking Serbian police. Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused. The key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual. The accuracy of the "paraffin glove" test for gunpowder, intended to show whether the subject has handled arms, has been widely challenged by forensic experts, and is known to produce a "positive" reading in circumstances where materials other than gunpowder have been handled. At the trial itself expert witnesses confirmed that the test is not wholly reliable and that the tests had been carried out in a "shortened procedure". Doubts were also raised about the exact tests used and the qualifications of those who had carried them out. Despite all these concerns the court accepted the results as evidence. The judge is reported to have admitted that there may have been shortcomings in the tests, but decided to accept them nonetheless, since they were "conducted in wartime conditions". Although the indictment listed three separate attacks on police in the Kosovo town of Djakovica (Gjakova) on 10 April, 7 and 9 May 1999, little attempt was made at the trial to connect the accused with all or any one of the attacks. Amnesty International is concerned that the right of the accused to call witnesses in their defence may have been violated by the court, which refused defence requests to introduce witness evidence from members of the Yugoslav army who had been present in Djakovica. Those who spoke in their own defence at the Nis trial denied being members of the KLA, and pointed out that during the NATO bombing a heavy police and army presence meant that they had little chance to move freely. Background The men were among thousands arrested in Kosovo by Serbian police during the attacks by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. More than 2,000 Kosovo Albanians were moved to prisons in Serbia at the end of the NATO attacks as the Serbian police and the army withdrew. One thousand or more remain in prison, some still awaiting trial. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Kosovo Albanians remain missing; many have "disappeared" at the hands of the Serbian police or paramilitary units. Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE UN man Kouchner to tour world on behalf of Albanian detainees May 24, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, May 24 (AFP) - Bernard Kouchner, United Nations administrator in Kosovo, will tour the world on behalf of ethnic Albanian Kosovars jailed in Serbia, his press service said Wednesday. The official, accompanied by representatives of families affected, would also make enquiries concerning missing ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, a statement said. Speaking in the Kosovo town of Djakovica to families of prisoners sentenced in Serbia this week for terrorism, Kouchner said: "I will prepare a large tour all over the world, mainly in Europe, with you people representatives of Djakovica and associations of missing people and detainees, to address the nations." Kouchner joined a chorus of international protest Tuesday over a Serbian court sentencing 143 Kosovo Albanians to long jail terms on terrorism charges. Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "(Milosevic) clearly reveals his true aims," Kouchner said. "To fuel the fire of hatred and division and to destroy the peace we've so painstakingly secured." He appealed to ethnic Kosovars: "We want to humbly ask you not to react to this provocation." The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/cq/Qyugo-kosovo-kouchner.RprM_AyO.html ========================================== UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL UNMIK official advises Albanians on court action May 23, 2000 By LULZIM COTA TIRANA, Albania, May 23 (UPI) -- Bernard Kouchner, head of the U.N. Mission in Kosovo, advised the relatives of 143 Kosovo Albanians sentenced Monday by a Serb court to create a 'Council of Families,' for those who have been unfairly punished. He committed to help them to express their concerns to the European Parliament and the other European capitals. He also warned them not fall into Slobodan Milosevic's "trap," the BBC in Albania reported Tuesday. Kouchner, accompanied by Gen. Juan Ortuno, the KFOR commander, and Hashim Thaci, a co-chair of Kosovo Administrative Council, visited the tense town of Djakova, on Tuesday, a day after a Serb court in Nish sentenced 143 young Djakova citizens. Last night Thaci warned if Kouchner did not visit Djakova and meet with the prisoners' relatives he would leave the Kosovo Administrative Council. "Serbia is a fascist island in the Balkans, which is counting the last days so we can challenge this regime only by a civilized behavior," Kouchner told a crowd of thousands who gathered to hear his proposal. Kouchner told the angry crowd he had talked with U.N. Security Council officials and several Western governments to put in their agenda the release of Kosovo Albanian pledges from Serbia's prisons. Djakova citizens accepted Kouchner's proposal for creating a 'Council of Families,' hailing and greeting him while a day before they were very angry with Kouchner and their leaders, who had not solved this problem nearly a year after the end of conflict. The Kumanovo agreement, which allowed the Serb army to withdraw from Kosovo and NATO entrance, has not foreseen any articles for Kosovo Albanian prisoners' release from Serbia's prisons. The release of Kosovo Albanians from Serbia's prisons could increase tensions, banning the return of Serb refugees in their homes in Kosovo. "We remind to all of those, who are trying to return Serb refugees in Kosovo, that every thing must start from the return of Albanian prisoners from Serbia's prisons," said Ramush Hajredinaj, leader of Center Alliance Party, an ex-KLA leader and former deputy commander of the Kosovo Protection Force. Story from UPI / LULZIM COTA Copyright 2000 by United Press International (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/an/Ukosovo-kouchner.RR0F_AyO.html ========================================== ASSOCIATED PRESS Protest of Serb Court's Conviction May 23, 2000 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Hundreds rallied Tuesday to protest the conviction of 143 Kosovo Albanians on terrorism charges leveled by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's government. The protest in the ethnically divided city of Kosovska Mitrovica followed a Serbian court's ruling Monday that the group took part in attacks by ethnic Albanian rebels against the Serb police and army during NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia last year. The 143 ethnic Albanians convicted in what was Serbia's largest mass trial ever received prison terms ranging from seven to 13 years. Tuesday's demonstrators staged a sit-in that clogged the main roads into Kosovska Mitrovica, which is separated into a predominantly Serb north and ethnic Albanian south by the Ibar River. The protesters held up photographs of others believed to be in custody in Serbia, and insisted there would never be peace in Kosovo until the prisoners were released. Hundreds of ethnic Albanians arrested in Kosovo were transferred to the dominant Yugoslav province, Serbia, before NATO bombs forced Yugoslav forces to withdraw. Kosovo is now controlled by U.N. administrators and international peacekeepers. Russian peacekeepers scuffled with a former Kosovo rebel commander Tuesday after stopping him at a checkpoint in Lozica, about 30 miles from Pristina, said German Lt. Col. Bernhard Meier, a spokesman for the NATO-led contingent. The peacekeepers detained Ramush Hajredinaj, a former regional commander with the Kosovo Liberation Army, after finding two weapons in his car without the proper paperwork, Meier said. NATO said he had attempted to flee, and that the peacekeepers and military police ``subdued him.'' He was injured slightly, treated and flown to NATO headquarters in Pristina. Hajredinaj is considered an up-and-coming political leader in Kosovo, and recently formed his own party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo. He also has been organizing grass-roots support ahead of municipal elections planned for fall. Meanwhile, a fire broke out Tuesday afternoon in a dormitory housing refugees and ethnic Albanians displaced by the war, gutting the building but causing no injuries. It was unclear what caused the fire at the complex, located in the eastern Kosovo city of Gnjilane, said Station Commander Robert Ruckman of the U.N. police. Story from AP / DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Writer Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press (viaClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/bs/Akosovo-protest.R3Mq_AyN.html ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Condemnation grows over Serb convictions of Kosovo Albanians May 23, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, May 23 (AFP) - Bernard Kouchner, the UN administrator in Kosovo, on Tuesday joined a chorus of international protest over a Serbian court's sentencing of 143 Kosovo Albanians to long jail terms on terrorism charges. Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "Several times we have asked Belgrade authorities to give us the possibility to get back all those detained and to have fair, international, open and transparent trials in Kosovo," he added. The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges after what defence lawyers denounced as a "political" trial. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. Judge Goran Petronijevic said forensic tests taken by the police upon the arrest of the group last May were "crucial" to the verdict, although he added: "Individual guilt was impossible to establish." But Kouchner said the concept of collective guilt was indefensible. "Some people were brave, some people were not. Some were guilty, some were not. There is no collectivity on one side or the other." Human rights group Amnesty International also condemned the judge's comments in a statement issued Tuesday. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not respected," said Amnesty. "Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused," the statement continued. "The key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual." Also Tuesday, the European Union's high representative for security and foreign policy Javier Solana expressed his deep shock at the sentences. "This is a new sign of the total scorn of the regime for the basic principles of modern democracy," Solana said in a statement. "This decision will not help to reduce tension in Kosovo, where the question of those who have disappeared or are under detention continues to pose a major obstacle to reconciliation and creation of a climate of tolerance and security," he added. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook denounced the verdicts late Monday. "This is yet another sign of the desperation of the Milosevic regime, which is prepared to go to any lengths to repress dissident voices." About 3,000 Kosovar Albanians protested against the verdicts Monday by marching through the streets of Djakovica, southwest Kosovo, the defendants' home town. The convicted men were among more than 2,000 Kosovar Albanians transferred to Serbian prisons as Belgrade's forces withdrew from the province last June. Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic said last month that 979 prisoners brought from Kosovo were still being held in Serbian prisons, all but 15 or 20 of them ethnic Albanians. About 500 have been released so far. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/bj/Qyugo-kosovo-trial.RxE2_AyN.html ========================================== 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 Very useful statistics and update from ICRC on missing persons from Kosova can be found at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/60c532db df49f6878525688f006f80d4?OpenDocument Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter SPECIAL REPORT, No. 2 From kosova at jps.net Thu May 25 00:45:16 2000 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 21:45:16 -0700 Subject: [A-PAL] Special Report - May 24, 2000 Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List S P E C I A L R E P O R T May 24, 2000 Association Of Political Prisoners Kosova Action Network Alice Mead ========================================== A-PAL BULLETIN: ========================================== CALL FOR JUSTICE No future for Serbia under Milosevic: Albright FLORENCE, Wednesday Serbia would have no future while Slobodan Milosevic was in power, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said today. At a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Florence, Albright said that Milosevic had been charged with crimes against humanity, had threatened his political opponents, conducted a campaign against independent media and isolated his country from the rest of the world. She emphasized that the international community and Western countries should help the Serbian opposition unite, rather than impose democracy on Serbia, adding that the West could support independent organizations. "We can only say clearly that the Serbian opposition would be warmly welcomed and supported by Europe and the international community," said Albright. Hague demands Milosevic's arrest BRUSSELS, Wednesday -- President of the Hague Tribunal Clod Jorda demanded during the session of the Council for Peace Implementation in Bosnia that senior Yugoslav and Serbian officials accused of war crimes be arrested, since they are still a serious danger to order and peace in the Balkans. Jorda said this applied especially to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Federal Defense Minister Dragoljub Ojdanic, former President of Republic of Srpska Radovan Karadzic and former commander of RS Army Ratko Mladic. Justice minister provokes Hague chief prosecutor BELGRADE, Wednesday -- Yugoslav Justice Minister Petar Jojic criticized the Hague Tribunal and said that Yugoslav authorities would not extradite a single citizen to that court, state radio reported. An extensive letter of 25 pages sent to the Hague Tribunal chief prosecutor, was entitled "To Carla del Ponte, a whore who sold herself to the Americans". Jojic first attacked the Tribunal for being founded contrary to international law and for participating in the destruction of Serbian people. Then he went on to demand that charges be brought against the western politicians and NATO leaders who had ordered air strikes on Yugoslavia. Jojic called the Hague Tribunal a "dungeon" and a "crime organisation". ========================================== RELATED QUOTES ? May 23, 2000: ========================================== The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges after what defence lawyers denounced as a "political" trial. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. (Full article below) Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "Several times we have asked Belgrade authorities to give us the possibility to get back all those detained and to have fair, international, open and transparent trials in Kosovo... Some people were brave, some people were not. Some were guilty, some were not. There is no collectivity on one side or the other." Judge Goran Petronijevic said forensic tests taken by the police upon the arrest of the group last May were "crucial" to the verdict, although he added: "Individual guilt was impossible to establish." Human rights group Amnesty International also condemned the judge's comments in a statement issued Tuesday. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not Respected... Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused; the key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual." The European Union's high representative for security and foreign policy Javier Solana expressed his deep shock at the sentences. "This is a new sign of the total scorn of the regime for the basic principles of modern democracy," Solana said in a statement... This decision will not help to reduce tension in Kosovo, where the question of those who have disappeared or are under detention continues to pose a major obstacle to reconciliation and creation of a climate of tolerance and security," he added. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook denounced the verdicts late Monday. "This is yet another sign of the desperation of the Milosevic regime, which is prepared to go to any lengths to repress dissident voices." ========================================== RELATED ARTICLES: ========================================== GRUPA484" The trial of "Djakovica group" Nis District Court May 8-12, 2000 The trial of the Albanians from the so-called "Djakovica group", initiated on April 18th 2000, continued on May 8th 2000 in the Nis District Court. The remaining 64 defendants stated their defenses up to May 10th. As it was the case during the entire procedure, all the defendants stated their defenses, which was not the case in the investigation, when the majority of the defendants chose to remain silent. All the defendants denied the accusations in the indictment. Following violations of Criminal Code Procedures were noticed thus far: ? the defendants were arrested between May 7th-12th 1999 ? the police decisions on pre-trial confinements were delivered to them on May 15th 1999 on the basis of Federal Government Regulation on implementation of Criminal Code Procedures in the state of war giving the authority to the police to set a pre-trial confinement of one month during the state of war ? on June 15th 1999 expired the one-month pre-trial confinement deadline ? the above Federal Government Regulation was suspended on June 24th 1999, so the maximum temporary arrest is now 72 hours. ? on November 17th 1999, the first defendant was brought to a hearing by an investigative judge; the deadline for establishing a pre-trial confinement by the investigative judge is three days, but only ? on December 23rd 1999, the first decision on pre-trial confinement was made There is a vacuum between June 15th (when the inquiry should have begun, according to the Criminal Code Procedures) and December 12th 1999 (when it actually began). Changes during the main hearing: ? The procedures previously set aside, regarding two defendants that were underage at the time of the arrest, were rejoined with the agreement of defense attorneys. ? On May 9th 2000, one of the defendants was sent to a psychiatric examination in Belgrade in order to establish his psychological condition at the time when the crime, he was accused of, was committed, as well as during the trial. Presentation of evidence May 10th - 7th day of the trial On May 10th 2000, the hearings of the defendants were finished and the presentation of evidence began. Among the summoned witnesses, only Darinka Rakovic - mother of the killed YA soldier, Aleksandar Rakovic - appeared at the court. Since all 145 defendants were not allowed to attend the presentation of evidence (which the law implies) in a short period of time, the court made a decision, with the defense attorneys' agreement, to interrogate the witness outside the main hearing After a moving statement, the mother of a killed soldier supported the criminal charges and asked the court to pronounce the maximum sentence. May 11th - 8th day of the trial At the beginning, the court made a decision to resume the main hearing during the presentation of evidence, established the presentation of evidence according to official duty by interrogating the following witnesses: Nebojsa Avramovic and Veselin Veshovic, employees of Djakovica Secretariat of Internal Affairs (SUP), as well as Pristina SUP experts, Milutin Visnic and Slavisa Jankovic. According to the Criminal Code Procedures, all the defendants attended the presentation of evidence. - NEBOJSA AVRAMOVIC, Djakovica SUP employee since 1996. According to his statement, he was in charge of a test establishing traces of nitrate and nitrite on the defendants' hands and clothes. Asked by the defense attorneys if he performed the test on all the defendants, he confirmed, saying that he personally took 30-40 samples, and recognized among the defendants one of the arrested that was subjected to the test. Let us remind that during the hearing only a few defendants stated that this technique was applied on them. - VESELIN VESHOVIC, also a Djakovica SUP employee, confirmed by his statement his colleague's statement. He said that a regulation on keeping records of such data does not exist. - MILUTIN VISNJIC, a Pristina SUP expert and a mechanical engineer. He stated that the technical part of the test was performed correctly, but added that the "paper work", i.e. taking personal records of the defendants was in a way incomplete, which he explained by the circumstances in which the test was performed. It was included in the court record that the above expert finished a six-month specialized training in physical-chemical examination and metaloscopy, which qualifies him for the expert opinion. However, the defense lawyers complained. - SLAVISA JANKOVIC, Pristina SUP expert. According to his statement, during the processing of the nitrate and nitrite samples, it is usual to describe their density and zones, sometimes even draw the graphic representation of the particles and zones. In this case it was NOT DONE. Both experts tried to justify that by the situation and conditions in which the test was performed, as well as by large number of samples. Furthermore, presence of nitrate and nitrite particles is ONLY A STRONG INDICATION, but not a 100% proof that the particles come from gunpowder. Nevertheless, according to statement made by the same witness, the samples should be processed as quick as possible, and he has no information how long it took to transport them from Djakovica to Pristina, and how it could have effected the results. He also explained that the nitrate and nitrite particles could be transmitted by a handshake, or come from cigarette ashes, artificial fertilizer, urine, and even certain cosmetic products and detergents, although in that case the number of particles is much smaller and their disposition is different. May 12th - the ninth day Following witnesses, employed at Djakovica SUP, were interrogated: Rade Vlahovic, Danilo Zecevic, Predrag Dzavric, Radovan Nikolic, Dusan Dragovic and Slobodan Kovac. The documents stated in the indictment were also presented as evidence. The prosecutor and the defense suggested a presentation of new evidence, some of which were accepted by the court and will be presented on May 16th. - Rade Vlahovic, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, the police had no warrant, specifying their names, to arrest the suspects. The arrested were not in possession of any weapon, nor in uniforms, but Mr. Vlahovic learnt from his colleague that there were weapons and uniforms in a number of houses, but he couldn't say precisely which and whose. He also said that there was an opening in each backyard leading to another, so one could pass through all the backyards along the street unnoticed. In his opinion, the KLA used them in the terrorist attacks. - Danilo Zecevic, Djakovica SUP Employed as "sector commander". He explained that Djakovica was divided in several sectors and that he was in charge of a part of the town. He confirmed his colleague's entire statement. - Predrag Dzavric, Djakovica SUP In charge of criminal-operative treatment. He stated that on April 10th 1999, along with his colleagues Novovic and Danilovic, he "ran into a terrorist crossfire", when Novovic was wounded. He said that the shots came from openings in the wall facing the street, intended, according to him, to be loopholes. As he found out, the population of the Cabrat residential quarter dressed as civilians during the day, and during the night they wore uniforms and carried out terrorist attacks. - Radovan Nikolic, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, all the arrested were not kept in custody, because the nitrate-nitrite test showed negative results, and they were free to go home. Regarding the way in which the interrogation was carried out, he stated that the police at first told the suspects that the test came out positive and that it was the reason they were kept in custody. Asked by the council what influenced their choice between making a record and official note, he explained that it was the concrete situation (if there was an air-raid alarm at the time or not), as well as the results and contents of the interrogation. The information about the persons he was supposed to interrogate, he got through a verbal order by his superior officer. - Dusan Dragovic, Djakovica SUP He confirmed his colleagues' statements. - Slobodan Kovac, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, the information about the terrorists were obtained through "friendly connections and operative inquiries". Requested by the council, using the map of Djakovica, he explained which of the streets belonged to Cabrat residential area, as well as important locations where the terrorist attacks took place. One of the defense attorneys, Mr. Teki Boksi, disagreed with him, saying that both indictment and witnesses used the terms which were not used in Djakovica (for example the term "Cabrat" regards only the Asim Voksi street, not the entire residential area). Nevertheless, the witness adhered to his explanation. However, before today's hearing began, the defense attorney, Mustafa Radonici, warned the president of the council that, before today's session, he had seen Deputy District Attorney, Vojislav Soskic, and the witnesses, who were supposed to be interrogated today, talking and making plans. According to the prosecutor's statement, the above situation never took place. The trial is to be resumed on Tuesday, May 16th 2000. Nis, May 8th -12th 2000 Group 484's Volunteer Center for Direct Protection of Human Rights Report on the trial of the so-called "Djakovica group" Nis District Court May 19th and 21st 2000 May 19th 2000 - The closing statement On May 19th 2000, the trial of "Djakovica group" continued in Nis. Today, the prosecutor and the defense announced their closing statements. Deputy District Public Prosecutor, Vojislav Soskic, adheres to the indictment in full and states that the defenses of the accused are unreliable due to the fact that the evidence points otherwise. He is demanding that all be proclaimed guilty as charged, and the ones under age, responsible, and that their temporary arrest be prolonged until the sentence comes into effect. On the side of the defense, the closing statement was given by the following attorneys: Teki Boksi, Zonjic Dragan, Djordje Dozet, Mustafa Radonjici, Novkovic Milorad, Lazarevic Oliver, Todorovic Dragoljub, Jelusic Rajko, Tomovic Predrag, Antic Ivona, Stojakovic Tomislav, Cvetkovic Nikola, Kuc Munever, Tanaskovic Krsta, Djokic Nebojsa, Sivert Mojica, Gajic Zarko, Kosutic Dusan, Misic Marina, Misic Obrad, Vucinic Vladimir, Kamberi Ejub, Lazic Miodrag, Tomic Slobodan and Cibulic Radoslav. "In dubio pro reo", a maxim used a number of times in the statements of the defense, meaning: "In case of a doubt, the case should be tried to the benefit of the accused". The reason for this lies in the fact that, according to the defense, the evidence stated deny the charges, thus making it delusive. Furthermore, it was pointed to the formal defects in the pre-trial proceedings, the unreliability of the "paraffin glove" test for gunpowder, in the formal and material sense, was emphasized, as well as the fact that it does not have the weight of an evidence in the proceedings (it is only a strong indication, but not a 100% indisputable evidence), and it was said that the indictment was political and not legal. A chronological analysis of the state organ's actions and their failing to act were performed by the defense, as well as of the Criminal Code Procedures' violations; the defendants were for long denied contact with the defense attorneys: ? the defendants were arrested between May 7th-12th 1999 ? the police decisions on pre-trial confinements were delivered to them on May 15th 1999 on the basis of Federal Government Regulation on implementation of Criminal Code Procedures in the state of war giving the authority to the police to set a pre-trial confinement of one month during the state of war ? on June 15th 1999 expired the one-month pre-trial confinement deadline ? the above Federal Government Regulation was suspended on June 24th 1999, so the maximum temporary arrest is now 72 hours. ? on November 17th 1999, the first defendant was brought to a hearing by an investigative judge; the deadline for establishing a pre-trial confinement by the investigative judge is three days, but only ? on December 23rd 1999, the first decision on pre-trial confinement was made There is a vacuum between June 15th (when the inquiry should have begun, according to the Criminal Code Procedures) and December 12th 1999 (when it actually began). It was asked what kind of terrorists were the ones who do not resist arrest, and who immediately comply with the police's first request for an informative inquiry. According to the defense, statements made by the witnesses were contradictory, and the competency of a forensic expert, Milutin Visnjic, questionable. The issue regarding the actual jurisdiction of the court was, the defense stressed, disputable, because if these were terrorists and if they killed members of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and YA units, than the Court Martial had jurisdiction over this case. At the end of the statement, each of the attorneys moved for an acquittal and the dismissal of temporary arrest for all accused. Closing statements were, at the end of the day, given by all the defendants, affirming that they understood the statements of their defense attorneys, and that they agree to such a defense. The verdict will be announced on Monday, May 22nd 2000. May 22nd - The verdict On May 22nd 2000, the trial of the defendants constituting the so-called "Djakovica group" was completed, which were charged with terrorism (article 125, punishable according to article 139, paragraph 3 of the Yugoslav Criminal Code). The main hearing started on April 18th and ended on May 19th 2000. It was held in the Nis District Court courthouse, with the approval of the Serbian Supreme Court, due to technical conditions, and outside of the Pec seat. The defendants and juvenile defendants were pronounced guilty for organizing and carrying out of a number of terrorist attacks, as members of a terrorist organization, the so-called KLA, on the members of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and the Yugoslav Army units, in which three people were killed, and ten severely or slightly wounded, in April and the first half of May 1999, i.e. during a state of war, in the western part of the town of Djakovica, usually referred to as "Cabrat". For this criminal act, according to the relevant legal regulations of the Code of FR Yugoslavia, a granted minimum sentence is at least 10 years, and a maximum sentence could also be announced, i.e. 20 years. After the completed evidence procedures, the following 49 defendants: Zeka Muhedin, Deliji Albert, Ragomi Bekim, Guti Mithat, Pruti Admir, Pepa Idriz, Kosi Fahri, Grusti Maznum, Ferizi Ila, Pepaj Ila, Naka Avdurahman, Ganamusa Spend, Deliji Ljuljzim, Kosi Aljban, Mulahasani Besfor, Zeki Mithat, Sahacija Petrit, Baljata Driter, Skenderaj Tahir, Bakali Asim, Dusi Visar, Nuras Keljzen, Gambi Batus, Gazmen Zubi, Dijamant Mandzuk, Ljubinot Pulja, Deva Fatos, Rudi Fljorent, Fisnik Zaveli, Alija Gadriton, Mejzini Besnik, Sunjaku Naser, Guta Imer, Zejnulah Perparim, Duraku Mend, Pulja Adriatik, Ljota Bekim, Mici Dijamant, Morina Artan, Vulja Petrit, Hasici Bujar, Dobruna Burin, Delija Emin, Staljoja Edmond, Zubi Fljorent, Bitici Avni, Mati Endogand, Hasici Burin and Peroli Hivzi, were announced sentences of 13 years of imprisonment. Sentences of 12 years of imprisonment were announced to the following defendants: Musa Bekim, Ljuta Iljir, Djara Jeton, Lama Rinor, Beciri Sabit, Hoda Hisni, Pruti Aljeriz, Bitici Fatmir, Curaj Seljami, Zerka Esad, Haljiljaj Hasan, Sada Gzim, Kosi Albert, Alijaga Burhan, Pulja Aron, Radogosi Vaznim, Nrecaj Avdulj, Dzara Genc, Reznici Jeton, Pruti Fatmir, Fehapi Nedzet, Hodza Spejtim, Hoda Agim, Mulahasari Bekim, Kpuska Petrit, Brovina Sulejman, Hasi Artan, Brovina Jusuf, Hoda Faton, Ahama Esat, Ahmeti Imri, Kosi Behar, Ukaj Mustafa, Kosi Adnan, Bazdaraj Feriz, Muhaderi Agim, Pulja Dukadjin, Brovina Burim, Dusi Edmond, Juniku Hisen, Ahmeti Mustafa, Kusari Ila, Efendija Perparim, Zubi Kastriot, Ljusi Fadil, Zubi Burim, Baskim Mustafa, Guta Muhamet, Kajdoncaj Tahir, Taci Dzemajilj and Morina Nazim. To ten of the defendants, sentences of 10 years of imprisonment were announced, and these are: Godeni Fljamur, Morina Samija, Morina Adem, Ahmeti Aslan, Hadzibeciri Djamilj, Brovina Adnan, Delija Zoga, Varaku Nedzmedin, Mustafaj Fak, Culjaku Nedzat, Caka Afrim, Voksi Adriatik, Tafasiku Fatmir, Djerimi Ljuljzim, Luhani Ferat, Voksi Cefcet, Hasici Agim, Djiha Driton, Taci Rifat and Ljama Agron. Nine years of imprisonment was announced to the following: Hadzija Binak, Tetrica Ardijan, Betici Jeton, Krujeziju Atlija, Ferizi Mehdija, Hana Fljamur, Hoda Kresnik, Guta Halil, Jakupaj Petrit, Zubi Mirdzim and Dautaga Fatos. The following defendants were sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment: Krasnici Fadilj, Buza Mithat, Kosi Armond, Gedza Gania, Djiha Skender, Hadzibeciri Adnan, Kosi Abnor, Tahiri Elmi, Kastrati Ilber and Dulja Enver, as were the two juveniles: K. V. and J. B., who were sentenced to juvenile prison. To all the defendants, a time spent in temporary confinement was included in the sentence, starting from May 15th 1999, and the temporary arrest was prolonged until the verdict comes into effect. The proceedings against the defendants: Isa Adjanjela and Ljuan Dzeko were previously set aside, and thus they will be tried after the conclusion of a psychiatric expert opinion. The President of the Council, Judge Goran Petronijevic, explained the verdict to the defendants at the end of the proceedings. He stated that during the state of war, they were expected to show loyalty, and not the passivity which they expressed, that the results of the "paraffin glove" test were valid, even though it has some formal defects, that individualization was used in full in the pronouncing of the sentence, and that it was proven without a doubt that, in the Cabrat residential area, a large group of people carried out attacks on the police and YA units, and the fact being known that Djakovica was shut off, this could not have been terrorists brought "from outside". The judge added that there were defects in the pre-trial proceedings and that the temporary arrest was not (legally) covered in its whole duration, but that this was a mistake made by the police, and not the court. Belgrade, May 23rd 2000 Group 484 Volunteer Center for Direct Protection of Human Rights ========================================== AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Rubber Stamp Justice May 23, 2000 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: "Rubber stamp" justice in Nis ? 143 ethnic Albanians sentenced to between seven and 13 years' jail. A bureaucrat's rubber stamp rather than a judge's gavel appears to have been used to dispense justice in Nis, Amnesty International said as 143 Kosovo Albanians were sentenced to between seven and 13 years' imprisonment in a blatantly unfair trial. The organization called today for a retrial, and for a new examination of the evidence. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not respected," Amnesty International said. The judge is reported to have told the defendants that "it is impossible to determine your individual guilt, but that is not necessary". The 143 men, one of whom was a minor at the time of his arrest, were convicted of being members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), terrorism and attacking Serbian police. Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused. The key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual. The accuracy of the "paraffin glove" test for gunpowder, intended to show whether the subject has handled arms, has been widely challenged by forensic experts, and is known to produce a "positive" reading in circumstances where materials other than gunpowder have been handled. At the trial itself expert witnesses confirmed that the test is not wholly reliable and that the tests had been carried out in a "shortened procedure". Doubts were also raised about the exact tests used and the qualifications of those who had carried them out. Despite all these concerns the court accepted the results as evidence. The judge is reported to have admitted that there may have been shortcomings in the tests, but decided to accept them nonetheless, since they were "conducted in wartime conditions". Although the indictment listed three separate attacks on police in the Kosovo town of Djakovica (Gjakova) on 10 April, 7 and 9 May 1999, little attempt was made at the trial to connect the accused with all or any one of the attacks. Amnesty International is concerned that the right of the accused to call witnesses in their defence may have been violated by the court, which refused defence requests to introduce witness evidence from members of the Yugoslav army who had been present in Djakovica. Those who spoke in their own defence at the Nis trial denied being members of the KLA, and pointed out that during the NATO bombing a heavy police and army presence meant that they had little chance to move freely. Background The men were among thousands arrested in Kosovo by Serbian police during the attacks by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. More than 2,000 Kosovo Albanians were moved to prisons in Serbia at the end of the NATO attacks as the Serbian police and the army withdrew. One thousand or more remain in prison, some still awaiting trial. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Kosovo Albanians remain missing; many have "disappeared" at the hands of the Serbian police or paramilitary units. Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE UN man Kouchner to tour world on behalf of Albanian detainees May 24, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, May 24 (AFP) - Bernard Kouchner, United Nations administrator in Kosovo, will tour the world on behalf of ethnic Albanian Kosovars jailed in Serbia, his press service said Wednesday. The official, accompanied by representatives of families affected, would also make enquiries concerning missing ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, a statement said. Speaking in the Kosovo town of Djakovica to families of prisoners sentenced in Serbia this week for terrorism, Kouchner said: "I will prepare a large tour all over the world, mainly in Europe, with you people representatives of Djakovica and associations of missing people and detainees, to address the nations." Kouchner joined a chorus of international protest Tuesday over a Serbian court sentencing 143 Kosovo Albanians to long jail terms on terrorism charges. Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "(Milosevic) clearly reveals his true aims," Kouchner said. "To fuel the fire of hatred and division and to destroy the peace we've so painstakingly secured." He appealed to ethnic Kosovars: "We want to humbly ask you not to react to this provocation." The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/cq/Qyugo-kosovo-kouchner.RprM_AyO.html ========================================== UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL UNMIK official advises Albanians on court action May 23, 2000 By LULZIM COTA TIRANA, Albania, May 23 (UPI) -- Bernard Kouchner, head of the U.N. Mission in Kosovo, advised the relatives of 143 Kosovo Albanians sentenced Monday by a Serb court to create a 'Council of Families,' for those who have been unfairly punished. He committed to help them to express their concerns to the European Parliament and the other European capitals. He also warned them not fall into Slobodan Milosevic's "trap," the BBC in Albania reported Tuesday. Kouchner, accompanied by Gen. Juan Ortuno, the KFOR commander, and Hashim Thaci, a co-chair of Kosovo Administrative Council, visited the tense town of Djakova, on Tuesday, a day after a Serb court in Nish sentenced 143 young Djakova citizens. Last night Thaci warned if Kouchner did not visit Djakova and meet with the prisoners' relatives he would leave the Kosovo Administrative Council. "Serbia is a fascist island in the Balkans, which is counting the last days so we can challenge this regime only by a civilized behavior," Kouchner told a crowd of thousands who gathered to hear his proposal. Kouchner told the angry crowd he had talked with U.N. Security Council officials and several Western governments to put in their agenda the release of Kosovo Albanian pledges from Serbia's prisons. Djakova citizens accepted Kouchner's proposal for creating a 'Council of Families,' hailing and greeting him while a day before they were very angry with Kouchner and their leaders, who had not solved this problem nearly a year after the end of conflict. The Kumanovo agreement, which allowed the Serb army to withdraw from Kosovo and NATO entrance, has not foreseen any articles for Kosovo Albanian prisoners' release from Serbia's prisons. The release of Kosovo Albanians from Serbia's prisons could increase tensions, banning the return of Serb refugees in their homes in Kosovo. "We remind to all of those, who are trying to return Serb refugees in Kosovo, that every thing must start from the return of Albanian prisoners from Serbia's prisons," said Ramush Hajredinaj, leader of Center Alliance Party, an ex-KLA leader and former deputy commander of the Kosovo Protection Force. Story from UPI / LULZIM COTA Copyright 2000 by United Press International (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/an/Ukosovo-kouchner.RR0F_AyO.html ========================================== ASSOCIATED PRESS Protest of Serb Court's Conviction May 23, 2000 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Hundreds rallied Tuesday to protest the conviction of 143 Kosovo Albanians on terrorism charges leveled by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's government. The protest in the ethnically divided city of Kosovska Mitrovica followed a Serbian court's ruling Monday that the group took part in attacks by ethnic Albanian rebels against the Serb police and army during NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia last year. The 143 ethnic Albanians convicted in what was Serbia's largest mass trial ever received prison terms ranging from seven to 13 years. Tuesday's demonstrators staged a sit-in that clogged the main roads into Kosovska Mitrovica, which is separated into a predominantly Serb north and ethnic Albanian south by the Ibar River. The protesters held up photographs of others believed to be in custody in Serbia, and insisted there would never be peace in Kosovo until the prisoners were released. Hundreds of ethnic Albanians arrested in Kosovo were transferred to the dominant Yugoslav province, Serbia, before NATO bombs forced Yugoslav forces to withdraw. Kosovo is now controlled by U.N. administrators and international peacekeepers. Russian peacekeepers scuffled with a former Kosovo rebel commander Tuesday after stopping him at a checkpoint in Lozica, about 30 miles from Pristina, said German Lt. Col. Bernhard Meier, a spokesman for the NATO-led contingent. The peacekeepers detained Ramush Hajredinaj, a former regional commander with the Kosovo Liberation Army, after finding two weapons in his car without the proper paperwork, Meier said. NATO said he had attempted to flee, and that the peacekeepers and military police ``subdued him.'' He was injured slightly, treated and flown to NATO headquarters in Pristina. Hajredinaj is considered an up-and-coming political leader in Kosovo, and recently formed his own party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo. He also has been organizing grass-roots support ahead of municipal elections planned for fall. Meanwhile, a fire broke out Tuesday afternoon in a dormitory housing refugees and ethnic Albanians displaced by the war, gutting the building but causing no injuries. It was unclear what caused the fire at the complex, located in the eastern Kosovo city of Gnjilane, said Station Commander Robert Ruckman of the U.N. police. Story from AP / DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Writer Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press (viaClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/bs/Akosovo-protest.R3Mq_AyN.html ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Condemnation grows over Serb convictions of Kosovo Albanians May 23, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, May 23 (AFP) - Bernard Kouchner, the UN administrator in Kosovo, on Tuesday joined a chorus of international protest over a Serbian court's sentencing of 143 Kosovo Albanians to long jail terms on terrorism charges. Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "Several times we have asked Belgrade authorities to give us the possibility to get back all those detained and to have fair, international, open and transparent trials in Kosovo," he added. The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges after what defence lawyers denounced as a "political" trial. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. Judge Goran Petronijevic said forensic tests taken by the police upon the arrest of the group last May were "crucial" to the verdict, although he added: "Individual guilt was impossible to establish." But Kouchner said the concept of collective guilt was indefensible. "Some people were brave, some people were not. Some were guilty, some were not. There is no collectivity on one side or the other." Human rights group Amnesty International also condemned the judge's comments in a statement issued Tuesday. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not respected," said Amnesty. "Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused," the statement continued. "The key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual." Also Tuesday, the European Union's high representative for security and foreign policy Javier Solana expressed his deep shock at the sentences. "This is a new sign of the total scorn of the regime for the basic principles of modern democracy," Solana said in a statement. "This decision will not help to reduce tension in Kosovo, where the question of those who have disappeared or are under detention continues to pose a major obstacle to reconciliation and creation of a climate of tolerance and security," he added. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook denounced the verdicts late Monday. "This is yet another sign of the desperation of the Milosevic regime, which is prepared to go to any lengths to repress dissident voices." About 3,000 Kosovar Albanians protested against the verdicts Monday by marching through the streets of Djakovica, southwest Kosovo, the defendants' home town. The convicted men were among more than 2,000 Kosovar Albanians transferred to Serbian prisons as Belgrade's forces withdrew from the province last June. Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic said last month that 979 prisoners brought from Kosovo were still being held in Serbian prisons, all but 15 or 20 of them ethnic Albanians. About 500 have been released so far. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/bj/Qyugo-kosovo-trial.RxE2_AyN.html ========================================== 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 Very useful statistics and update from ICRC on missing persons from Kosova can be found at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/60c532db df49f6878525688f006f80d4?OpenDocument Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter SPECIAL REPORT, No. 2 From kosova at jps.net Thu May 25 00:53:04 2000 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 21:53:04 -0700 Subject: [A-PAL] Special Report - May 24, 2000 Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List S P E C I A L R E P O R T May 24, 2000 Association Of Political Prisoners Kosova Action Network Alice Mead ========================================== A-PAL BULLETIN: ========================================== CALL FOR JUSTICE No future for Serbia under Milosevic: Albright FLORENCE, Wednesday Serbia would have no future while Slobodan Milosevic was in power, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said today. At a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Florence, Albright said that Milosevic had been charged with crimes against humanity, had threatened his political opponents, conducted a campaign against independent media and isolated his country from the rest of the world. She emphasized that the international community and Western countries should help the Serbian opposition unite, rather than impose democracy on Serbia, adding that the West could support independent organizations. "We can only say clearly that the Serbian opposition would be warmly welcomed and supported by Europe and the international community," said Albright. Hague demands Milosevic's arrest BRUSSELS, Wednesday -- President of the Hague Tribunal Clod Jorda demanded during the session of the Council for Peace Implementation in Bosnia that senior Yugoslav and Serbian officials accused of war crimes be arrested, since they are still a serious danger to order and peace in the Balkans. Jorda said this applied especially to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Federal Defense Minister Dragoljub Ojdanic, former President of Republic of Srpska Radovan Karadzic and former commander of RS Army Ratko Mladic. Justice minister provokes Hague chief prosecutor BELGRADE, Wednesday -- Yugoslav Justice Minister Petar Jojic criticized the Hague Tribunal and said that Yugoslav authorities would not extradite a single citizen to that court, state radio reported. An extensive letter of 25 pages sent to the Hague Tribunal chief prosecutor, was entitled "To Carla del Ponte, a whore who sold herself to the Americans". Jojic first attacked the Tribunal for being founded contrary to international law and for participating in the destruction of Serbian people. Then he went on to demand that charges be brought against the western politicians and NATO leaders who had ordered air strikes on Yugoslavia. Jojic called the Hague Tribunal a "dungeon" and a "crime organisation". ========================================== RELATED QUOTES ? May 23, 2000: ========================================== The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges after what defence lawyers denounced as a "political" trial. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. (Full article below) Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "Several times we have asked Belgrade authorities to give us the possibility to get back all those detained and to have fair, international, open and transparent trials in Kosovo... Some people were brave, some people were not. Some were guilty, some were not. There is no collectivity on one side or the other." Judge Goran Petronijevic said forensic tests taken by the police upon the arrest of the group last May were "crucial" to the verdict, although he added: "Individual guilt was impossible to establish." Human rights group Amnesty International also condemned the judge's comments in a statement issued Tuesday. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not Respected... Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused; the key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual." The European Union's high representative for security and foreign policy Javier Solana expressed his deep shock at the sentences. "This is a new sign of the total scorn of the regime for the basic principles of modern democracy," Solana said in a statement... This decision will not help to reduce tension in Kosovo, where the question of those who have disappeared or are under detention continues to pose a major obstacle to reconciliation and creation of a climate of tolerance and security," he added. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook denounced the verdicts late Monday. "This is yet another sign of the desperation of the Milosevic regime, which is prepared to go to any lengths to repress dissident voices." ========================================== RELATED ARTICLES: ========================================== GRUPA484" The trial of "Djakovica group" Nis District Court May 8-12, 2000 The trial of the Albanians from the so-called "Djakovica group", initiated on April 18th 2000, continued on May 8th 2000 in the Nis District Court. The remaining 64 defendants stated their defenses up to May 10th. As it was the case during the entire procedure, all the defendants stated their defenses, which was not the case in the investigation, when the majority of the defendants chose to remain silent. All the defendants denied the accusations in the indictment. Following violations of Criminal Code Procedures were noticed thus far: ? the defendants were arrested between May 7th-12th 1999 ? the police decisions on pre-trial confinements were delivered to them on May 15th 1999 on the basis of Federal Government Regulation on implementation of Criminal Code Procedures in the state of war giving the authority to the police to set a pre-trial confinement of one month during the state of war ? on June 15th 1999 expired the one-month pre-trial confinement deadline ? the above Federal Government Regulation was suspended on June 24th 1999, so the maximum temporary arrest is now 72 hours. ? on November 17th 1999, the first defendant was brought to a hearing by an investigative judge; the deadline for establishing a pre-trial confinement by the investigative judge is three days, but only ? on December 23rd 1999, the first decision on pre-trial confinement was made There is a vacuum between June 15th (when the inquiry should have begun, according to the Criminal Code Procedures) and December 12th 1999 (when it actually began). Changes during the main hearing: ? The procedures previously set aside, regarding two defendants that were underage at the time of the arrest, were rejoined with the agreement of defense attorneys. ? On May 9th 2000, one of the defendants was sent to a psychiatric examination in Belgrade in order to establish his psychological condition at the time when the crime, he was accused of, was committed, as well as during the trial. Presentation of evidence May 10th - 7th day of the trial On May 10th 2000, the hearings of the defendants were finished and the presentation of evidence began. Among the summoned witnesses, only Darinka Rakovic - mother of the killed YA soldier, Aleksandar Rakovic - appeared at the court. Since all 145 defendants were not allowed to attend the presentation of evidence (which the law implies) in a short period of time, the court made a decision, with the defense attorneys' agreement, to interrogate the witness outside the main hearing After a moving statement, the mother of a killed soldier supported the criminal charges and asked the court to pronounce the maximum sentence. May 11th - 8th day of the trial At the beginning, the court made a decision to resume the main hearing during the presentation of evidence, established the presentation of evidence according to official duty by interrogating the following witnesses: Nebojsa Avramovic and Veselin Veshovic, employees of Djakovica Secretariat of Internal Affairs (SUP), as well as Pristina SUP experts, Milutin Visnic and Slavisa Jankovic. According to the Criminal Code Procedures, all the defendants attended the presentation of evidence. - NEBOJSA AVRAMOVIC, Djakovica SUP employee since 1996. According to his statement, he was in charge of a test establishing traces of nitrate and nitrite on the defendants' hands and clothes. Asked by the defense attorneys if he performed the test on all the defendants, he confirmed, saying that he personally took 30-40 samples, and recognized among the defendants one of the arrested that was subjected to the test. Let us remind that during the hearing only a few defendants stated that this technique was applied on them. - VESELIN VESHOVIC, also a Djakovica SUP employee, confirmed by his statement his colleague's statement. He said that a regulation on keeping records of such data does not exist. - MILUTIN VISNJIC, a Pristina SUP expert and a mechanical engineer. He stated that the technical part of the test was performed correctly, but added that the "paper work", i.e. taking personal records of the defendants was in a way incomplete, which he explained by the circumstances in which the test was performed. It was included in the court record that the above expert finished a six-month specialized training in physical-chemical examination and metaloscopy, which qualifies him for the expert opinion. However, the defense lawyers complained. - SLAVISA JANKOVIC, Pristina SUP expert. According to his statement, during the processing of the nitrate and nitrite samples, it is usual to describe their density and zones, sometimes even draw the graphic representation of the particles and zones. In this case it was NOT DONE. Both experts tried to justify that by the situation and conditions in which the test was performed, as well as by large number of samples. Furthermore, presence of nitrate and nitrite particles is ONLY A STRONG INDICATION, but not a 100% proof that the particles come from gunpowder. Nevertheless, according to statement made by the same witness, the samples should be processed as quick as possible, and he has no information how long it took to transport them from Djakovica to Pristina, and how it could have effected the results. He also explained that the nitrate and nitrite particles could be transmitted by a handshake, or come from cigarette ashes, artificial fertilizer, urine, and even certain cosmetic products and detergents, although in that case the number of particles is much smaller and their disposition is different. May 12th - the ninth day Following witnesses, employed at Djakovica SUP, were interrogated: Rade Vlahovic, Danilo Zecevic, Predrag Dzavric, Radovan Nikolic, Dusan Dragovic and Slobodan Kovac. The documents stated in the indictment were also presented as evidence. The prosecutor and the defense suggested a presentation of new evidence, some of which were accepted by the court and will be presented on May 16th. - Rade Vlahovic, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, the police had no warrant, specifying their names, to arrest the suspects. The arrested were not in possession of any weapon, nor in uniforms, but Mr. Vlahovic learnt from his colleague that there were weapons and uniforms in a number of houses, but he couldn't say precisely which and whose. He also said that there was an opening in each backyard leading to another, so one could pass through all the backyards along the street unnoticed. In his opinion, the KLA used them in the terrorist attacks. - Danilo Zecevic, Djakovica SUP Employed as "sector commander". He explained that Djakovica was divided in several sectors and that he was in charge of a part of the town. He confirmed his colleague's entire statement. - Predrag Dzavric, Djakovica SUP In charge of criminal-operative treatment. He stated that on April 10th 1999, along with his colleagues Novovic and Danilovic, he "ran into a terrorist crossfire", when Novovic was wounded. He said that the shots came from openings in the wall facing the street, intended, according to him, to be loopholes. As he found out, the population of the Cabrat residential quarter dressed as civilians during the day, and during the night they wore uniforms and carried out terrorist attacks. - Radovan Nikolic, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, all the arrested were not kept in custody, because the nitrate-nitrite test showed negative results, and they were free to go home. Regarding the way in which the interrogation was carried out, he stated that the police at first told the suspects that the test came out positive and that it was the reason they were kept in custody. Asked by the council what influenced their choice between making a record and official note, he explained that it was the concrete situation (if there was an air-raid alarm at the time or not), as well as the results and contents of the interrogation. The information about the persons he was supposed to interrogate, he got through a verbal order by his superior officer. - Dusan Dragovic, Djakovica SUP He confirmed his colleagues' statements. - Slobodan Kovac, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, the information about the terrorists were obtained through "friendly connections and operative inquiries". Requested by the council, using the map of Djakovica, he explained which of the streets belonged to Cabrat residential area, as well as important locations where the terrorist attacks took place. One of the defense attorneys, Mr. Teki Boksi, disagreed with him, saying that both indictment and witnesses used the terms which were not used in Djakovica (for example the term "Cabrat" regards only the Asim Voksi street, not the entire residential area). Nevertheless, the witness adhered to his explanation. However, before today's hearing began, the defense attorney, Mustafa Radonici, warned the president of the council that, before today's session, he had seen Deputy District Attorney, Vojislav Soskic, and the witnesses, who were supposed to be interrogated today, talking and making plans. According to the prosecutor's statement, the above situation never took place. The trial is to be resumed on Tuesday, May 16th 2000. Nis, May 8th -12th 2000 Group 484's Volunteer Center for Direct Protection of Human Rights Report on the trial of the so-called "Djakovica group" Nis District Court May 19th and 21st 2000 May 19th 2000 - The closing statement On May 19th 2000, the trial of "Djakovica group" continued in Nis. Today, the prosecutor and the defense announced their closing statements. Deputy District Public Prosecutor, Vojislav Soskic, adheres to the indictment in full and states that the defenses of the accused are unreliable due to the fact that the evidence points otherwise. He is demanding that all be proclaimed guilty as charged, and the ones under age, responsible, and that their temporary arrest be prolonged until the sentence comes into effect. On the side of the defense, the closing statement was given by the following attorneys: Teki Boksi, Zonjic Dragan, Djordje Dozet, Mustafa Radonjici, Novkovic Milorad, Lazarevic Oliver, Todorovic Dragoljub, Jelusic Rajko, Tomovic Predrag, Antic Ivona, Stojakovic Tomislav, Cvetkovic Nikola, Kuc Munever, Tanaskovic Krsta, Djokic Nebojsa, Sivert Mojica, Gajic Zarko, Kosutic Dusan, Misic Marina, Misic Obrad, Vucinic Vladimir, Kamberi Ejub, Lazic Miodrag, Tomic Slobodan and Cibulic Radoslav. "In dubio pro reo", a maxim used a number of times in the statements of the defense, meaning: "In case of a doubt, the case should be tried to the benefit of the accused". The reason for this lies in the fact that, according to the defense, the evidence stated deny the charges, thus making it delusive. Furthermore, it was pointed to the formal defects in the pre-trial proceedings, the unreliability of the "paraffin glove" test for gunpowder, in the formal and material sense, was emphasized, as well as the fact that it does not have the weight of an evidence in the proceedings (it is only a strong indication, but not a 100% indisputable evidence), and it was said that the indictment was political and not legal. A chronological analysis of the state organ's actions and their failing to act were performed by the defense, as well as of the Criminal Code Procedures' violations; the defendants were for long denied contact with the defense attorneys: ? the defendants were arrested between May 7th-12th 1999 ? the police decisions on pre-trial confinements were delivered to them on May 15th 1999 on the basis of Federal Government Regulation on implementation of Criminal Code Procedures in the state of war giving the authority to the police to set a pre-trial confinement of one month during the state of war ? on June 15th 1999 expired the one-month pre-trial confinement deadline ? the above Federal Government Regulation was suspended on June 24th 1999, so the maximum temporary arrest is now 72 hours. ? on November 17th 1999, the first defendant was brought to a hearing by an investigative judge; the deadline for establishing a pre-trial confinement by the investigative judge is three days, but only ? on December 23rd 1999, the first decision on pre-trial confinement was made There is a vacuum between June 15th (when the inquiry should have begun, according to the Criminal Code Procedures) and December 12th 1999 (when it actually began). It was asked what kind of terrorists were the ones who do not resist arrest, and who immediately comply with the police's first request for an informative inquiry. According to the defense, statements made by the witnesses were contradictory, and the competency of a forensic expert, Milutin Visnjic, questionable. The issue regarding the actual jurisdiction of the court was, the defense stressed, disputable, because if these were terrorists and if they killed members of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and YA units, than the Court Martial had jurisdiction over this case. At the end of the statement, each of the attorneys moved for an acquittal and the dismissal of temporary arrest for all accused. Closing statements were, at the end of the day, given by all the defendants, affirming that they understood the statements of their defense attorneys, and that they agree to such a defense. The verdict will be announced on Monday, May 22nd 2000. May 22nd - The verdict On May 22nd 2000, the trial of the defendants constituting the so-called "Djakovica group" was completed, which were charged with terrorism (article 125, punishable according to article 139, paragraph 3 of the Yugoslav Criminal Code). The main hearing started on April 18th and ended on May 19th 2000. It was held in the Nis District Court courthouse, with the approval of the Serbian Supreme Court, due to technical conditions, and outside of the Pec seat. The defendants and juvenile defendants were pronounced guilty for organizing and carrying out of a number of terrorist attacks, as members of a terrorist organization, the so-called KLA, on the members of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and the Yugoslav Army units, in which three people were killed, and ten severely or slightly wounded, in April and the first half of May 1999, i.e. during a state of war, in the western part of the town of Djakovica, usually referred to as "Cabrat". For this criminal act, according to the relevant legal regulations of the Code of FR Yugoslavia, a granted minimum sentence is at least 10 years, and a maximum sentence could also be announced, i.e. 20 years. After the completed evidence procedures, the following 49 defendants: Zeka Muhedin, Deliji Albert, Ragomi Bekim, Guti Mithat, Pruti Admir, Pepa Idriz, Kosi Fahri, Grusti Maznum, Ferizi Ila, Pepaj Ila, Naka Avdurahman, Ganamusa Spend, Deliji Ljuljzim, Kosi Aljban, Mulahasani Besfor, Zeki Mithat, Sahacija Petrit, Baljata Driter, Skenderaj Tahir, Bakali Asim, Dusi Visar, Nuras Keljzen, Gambi Batus, Gazmen Zubi, Dijamant Mandzuk, Ljubinot Pulja, Deva Fatos, Rudi Fljorent, Fisnik Zaveli, Alija Gadriton, Mejzini Besnik, Sunjaku Naser, Guta Imer, Zejnulah Perparim, Duraku Mend, Pulja Adriatik, Ljota Bekim, Mici Dijamant, Morina Artan, Vulja Petrit, Hasici Bujar, Dobruna Burin, Delija Emin, Staljoja Edmond, Zubi Fljorent, Bitici Avni, Mati Endogand, Hasici Burin and Peroli Hivzi, were announced sentences of 13 years of imprisonment. Sentences of 12 years of imprisonment were announced to the following defendants: Musa Bekim, Ljuta Iljir, Djara Jeton, Lama Rinor, Beciri Sabit, Hoda Hisni, Pruti Aljeriz, Bitici Fatmir, Curaj Seljami, Zerka Esad, Haljiljaj Hasan, Sada Gzim, Kosi Albert, Alijaga Burhan, Pulja Aron, Radogosi Vaznim, Nrecaj Avdulj, Dzara Genc, Reznici Jeton, Pruti Fatmir, Fehapi Nedzet, Hodza Spejtim, Hoda Agim, Mulahasari Bekim, Kpuska Petrit, Brovina Sulejman, Hasi Artan, Brovina Jusuf, Hoda Faton, Ahama Esat, Ahmeti Imri, Kosi Behar, Ukaj Mustafa, Kosi Adnan, Bazdaraj Feriz, Muhaderi Agim, Pulja Dukadjin, Brovina Burim, Dusi Edmond, Juniku Hisen, Ahmeti Mustafa, Kusari Ila, Efendija Perparim, Zubi Kastriot, Ljusi Fadil, Zubi Burim, Baskim Mustafa, Guta Muhamet, Kajdoncaj Tahir, Taci Dzemajilj and Morina Nazim. To ten of the defendants, sentences of 10 years of imprisonment were announced, and these are: Godeni Fljamur, Morina Samija, Morina Adem, Ahmeti Aslan, Hadzibeciri Djamilj, Brovina Adnan, Delija Zoga, Varaku Nedzmedin, Mustafaj Fak, Culjaku Nedzat, Caka Afrim, Voksi Adriatik, Tafasiku Fatmir, Djerimi Ljuljzim, Luhani Ferat, Voksi Cefcet, Hasici Agim, Djiha Driton, Taci Rifat and Ljama Agron. Nine years of imprisonment was announced to the following: Hadzija Binak, Tetrica Ardijan, Betici Jeton, Krujeziju Atlija, Ferizi Mehdija, Hana Fljamur, Hoda Kresnik, Guta Halil, Jakupaj Petrit, Zubi Mirdzim and Dautaga Fatos. The following defendants were sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment: Krasnici Fadilj, Buza Mithat, Kosi Armond, Gedza Gania, Djiha Skender, Hadzibeciri Adnan, Kosi Abnor, Tahiri Elmi, Kastrati Ilber and Dulja Enver, as were the two juveniles: K. V. and J. B., who were sentenced to juvenile prison. To all the defendants, a time spent in temporary confinement was included in the sentence, starting from May 15th 1999, and the temporary arrest was prolonged until the verdict comes into effect. The proceedings against the defendants: Isa Adjanjela and Ljuan Dzeko were previously set aside, and thus they will be tried after the conclusion of a psychiatric expert opinion. The President of the Council, Judge Goran Petronijevic, explained the verdict to the defendants at the end of the proceedings. He stated that during the state of war, they were expected to show loyalty, and not the passivity which they expressed, that the results of the "paraffin glove" test were valid, even though it has some formal defects, that individualization was used in full in the pronouncing of the sentence, and that it was proven without a doubt that, in the Cabrat residential area, a large group of people carried out attacks on the police and YA units, and the fact being known that Djakovica was shut off, this could not have been terrorists brought "from outside". The judge added that there were defects in the pre-trial proceedings and that the temporary arrest was not (legally) covered in its whole duration, but that this was a mistake made by the police, and not the court. Belgrade, May 23rd 2000 Group 484 Volunteer Center for Direct Protection of Human Rights ========================================== AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Rubber Stamp Justice May 23, 2000 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: "Rubber stamp" justice in Nis ? 143 ethnic Albanians sentenced to between seven and 13 years' jail. A bureaucrat's rubber stamp rather than a judge's gavel appears to have been used to dispense justice in Nis, Amnesty International said as 143 Kosovo Albanians were sentenced to between seven and 13 years' imprisonment in a blatantly unfair trial. The organization called today for a retrial, and for a new examination of the evidence. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not respected," Amnesty International said. The judge is reported to have told the defendants that "it is impossible to determine your individual guilt, but that is not necessary". The 143 men, one of whom was a minor at the time of his arrest, were convicted of being members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), terrorism and attacking Serbian police. Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused. The key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual. The accuracy of the "paraffin glove" test for gunpowder, intended to show whether the subject has handled arms, has been widely challenged by forensic experts, and is known to produce a "positive" reading in circumstances where materials other than gunpowder have been handled. At the trial itself expert witnesses confirmed that the test is not wholly reliable and that the tests had been carried out in a "shortened procedure". Doubts were also raised about the exact tests used and the qualifications of those who had carried them out. Despite all these concerns the court accepted the results as evidence. The judge is reported to have admitted that there may have been shortcomings in the tests, but decided to accept them nonetheless, since they were "conducted in wartime conditions". Although the indictment listed three separate attacks on police in the Kosovo town of Djakovica (Gjakova) on 10 April, 7 and 9 May 1999, little attempt was made at the trial to connect the accused with all or any one of the attacks. Amnesty International is concerned that the right of the accused to call witnesses in their defence may have been violated by the court, which refused defence requests to introduce witness evidence from members of the Yugoslav army who had been present in Djakovica. Those who spoke in their own defence at the Nis trial denied being members of the KLA, and pointed out that during the NATO bombing a heavy police and army presence meant that they had little chance to move freely. Background The men were among thousands arrested in Kosovo by Serbian police during the attacks by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. More than 2,000 Kosovo Albanians were moved to prisons in Serbia at the end of the NATO attacks as the Serbian police and the army withdrew. One thousand or more remain in prison, some still awaiting trial. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Kosovo Albanians remain missing; many have "disappeared" at the hands of the Serbian police or paramilitary units. Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE UN man Kouchner to tour world on behalf of Albanian detainees May 24, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, May 24 (AFP) - Bernard Kouchner, United Nations administrator in Kosovo, will tour the world on behalf of ethnic Albanian Kosovars jailed in Serbia, his press service said Wednesday. The official, accompanied by representatives of families affected, would also make enquiries concerning missing ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, a statement said. Speaking in the Kosovo town of Djakovica to families of prisoners sentenced in Serbia this week for terrorism, Kouchner said: "I will prepare a large tour all over the world, mainly in Europe, with you people representatives of Djakovica and associations of missing people and detainees, to address the nations." Kouchner joined a chorus of international protest Tuesday over a Serbian court sentencing 143 Kosovo Albanians to long jail terms on terrorism charges. Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "(Milosevic) clearly reveals his true aims," Kouchner said. "To fuel the fire of hatred and division and to destroy the peace we've so painstakingly secured." He appealed to ethnic Kosovars: "We want to humbly ask you not to react to this provocation." The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/cq/Qyugo-kosovo-kouchner.RprM_AyO.html ========================================== UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL UNMIK official advises Albanians on court action May 23, 2000 By LULZIM COTA TIRANA, Albania, May 23 (UPI) -- Bernard Kouchner, head of the U.N. Mission in Kosovo, advised the relatives of 143 Kosovo Albanians sentenced Monday by a Serb court to create a 'Council of Families,' for those who have been unfairly punished. He committed to help them to express their concerns to the European Parliament and the other European capitals. He also warned them not fall into Slobodan Milosevic's "trap," the BBC in Albania reported Tuesday. Kouchner, accompanied by Gen. Juan Ortuno, the KFOR commander, and Hashim Thaci, a co-chair of Kosovo Administrative Council, visited the tense town of Djakova, on Tuesday, a day after a Serb court in Nish sentenced 143 young Djakova citizens. Last night Thaci warned if Kouchner did not visit Djakova and meet with the prisoners' relatives he would leave the Kosovo Administrative Council. "Serbia is a fascist island in the Balkans, which is counting the last days so we can challenge this regime only by a civilized behavior," Kouchner told a crowd of thousands who gathered to hear his proposal. Kouchner told the angry crowd he had talked with U.N. Security Council officials and several Western governments to put in their agenda the release of Kosovo Albanian pledges from Serbia's prisons. Djakova citizens accepted Kouchner's proposal for creating a 'Council of Families,' hailing and greeting him while a day before they were very angry with Kouchner and their leaders, who had not solved this problem nearly a year after the end of conflict. The Kumanovo agreement, which allowed the Serb army to withdraw from Kosovo and NATO entrance, has not foreseen any articles for Kosovo Albanian prisoners' release from Serbia's prisons. The release of Kosovo Albanians from Serbia's prisons could increase tensions, banning the return of Serb refugees in their homes in Kosovo. "We remind to all of those, who are trying to return Serb refugees in Kosovo, that every thing must start from the return of Albanian prisoners from Serbia's prisons," said Ramush Hajredinaj, leader of Center Alliance Party, an ex-KLA leader and former deputy commander of the Kosovo Protection Force. Story from UPI / LULZIM COTA Copyright 2000 by United Press International (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/an/Ukosovo-kouchner.RR0F_AyO.html ========================================== ASSOCIATED PRESS Protest of Serb Court's Conviction May 23, 2000 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Hundreds rallied Tuesday to protest the conviction of 143 Kosovo Albanians on terrorism charges leveled by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's government. The protest in the ethnically divided city of Kosovska Mitrovica followed a Serbian court's ruling Monday that the group took part in attacks by ethnic Albanian rebels against the Serb police and army during NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia last year. The 143 ethnic Albanians convicted in what was Serbia's largest mass trial ever received prison terms ranging from seven to 13 years. Tuesday's demonstrators staged a sit-in that clogged the main roads into Kosovska Mitrovica, which is separated into a predominantly Serb north and ethnic Albanian south by the Ibar River. The protesters held up photographs of others believed to be in custody in Serbia, and insisted there would never be peace in Kosovo until the prisoners were released. Hundreds of ethnic Albanians arrested in Kosovo were transferred to the dominant Yugoslav province, Serbia, before NATO bombs forced Yugoslav forces to withdraw. Kosovo is now controlled by U.N. administrators and international peacekeepers. Russian peacekeepers scuffled with a former Kosovo rebel commander Tuesday after stopping him at a checkpoint in Lozica, about 30 miles from Pristina, said German Lt. Col. Bernhard Meier, a spokesman for the NATO-led contingent. The peacekeepers detained Ramush Hajredinaj, a former regional commander with the Kosovo Liberation Army, after finding two weapons in his car without the proper paperwork, Meier said. NATO said he had attempted to flee, and that the peacekeepers and military police ``subdued him.'' He was injured slightly, treated and flown to NATO headquarters in Pristina. Hajredinaj is considered an up-and-coming political leader in Kosovo, and recently formed his own party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo. He also has been organizing grass-roots support ahead of municipal elections planned for fall. Meanwhile, a fire broke out Tuesday afternoon in a dormitory housing refugees and ethnic Albanians displaced by the war, gutting the building but causing no injuries. It was unclear what caused the fire at the complex, located in the eastern Kosovo city of Gnjilane, said Station Commander Robert Ruckman of the U.N. police. Story from AP / DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Writer Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press (viaClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/bs/Akosovo-protest.R3Mq_AyN.html ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Condemnation grows over Serb convictions of Kosovo Albanians May 23, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, May 23 (AFP) - Bernard Kouchner, the UN administrator in Kosovo, on Tuesday joined a chorus of international protest over a Serbian court's sentencing of 143 Kosovo Albanians to long jail terms on terrorism charges. Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "Several times we have asked Belgrade authorities to give us the possibility to get back all those detained and to have fair, international, open and transparent trials in Kosovo," he added. The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges after what defence lawyers denounced as a "political" trial. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. Judge Goran Petronijevic said forensic tests taken by the police upon the arrest of the group last May were "crucial" to the verdict, although he added: "Individual guilt was impossible to establish." But Kouchner said the concept of collective guilt was indefensible. "Some people were brave, some people were not. Some were guilty, some were not. There is no collectivity on one side or the other." Human rights group Amnesty International also condemned the judge's comments in a statement issued Tuesday. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not respected," said Amnesty. "Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused," the statement continued. "The key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual." Also Tuesday, the European Union's high representative for security and foreign policy Javier Solana expressed his deep shock at the sentences. "This is a new sign of the total scorn of the regime for the basic principles of modern democracy," Solana said in a statement. "This decision will not help to reduce tension in Kosovo, where the question of those who have disappeared or are under detention continues to pose a major obstacle to reconciliation and creation of a climate of tolerance and security," he added. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook denounced the verdicts late Monday. "This is yet another sign of the desperation of the Milosevic regime, which is prepared to go to any lengths to repress dissident voices." About 3,000 Kosovar Albanians protested against the verdicts Monday by marching through the streets of Djakovica, southwest Kosovo, the defendants' home town. The convicted men were among more than 2,000 Kosovar Albanians transferred to Serbian prisons as Belgrade's forces withdrew from the province last June. Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic said last month that 979 prisoners brought from Kosovo were still being held in Serbian prisons, all but 15 or 20 of them ethnic Albanians. About 500 have been released so far. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/bj/Qyugo-kosovo-trial.RxE2_AyN.html ========================================== 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 Very useful statistics and update from ICRC on missing persons from Kosova can be found at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/60c532db df49f6878525688f006f80d4?OpenDocument Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter SPECIAL REPORT, No. 2 From kosova at jps.net Thu May 25 10:55:08 2000 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 07:55:08 -0700 Subject: [A-PAL] Special Report - May 24, 2000 Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List S P E C I A L R E P O R T May 24, 2000 Association Of Political Prisoners Kosova Action Network Alice Mead ========================================== A-PAL BULLETIN: ========================================== CALL FOR JUSTICE No future for Serbia under Milosevic: Albright FLORENCE, Wednesday Serbia would have no future while Slobodan Milosevic was in power, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said today. At a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Florence, Albright said that Milosevic had been charged with crimes against humanity, had threatened his political opponents, conducted a campaign against independent media and isolated his country from the rest of the world. She emphasized that the international community and Western countries should help the Serbian opposition unite, rather than impose democracy on Serbia, adding that the West could support independent organizations. "We can only say clearly that the Serbian opposition would be warmly welcomed and supported by Europe and the international community," said Albright. Hague demands Milosevic's arrest BRUSSELS, Wednesday -- President of the Hague Tribunal Clod Jorda demanded during the session of the Council for Peace Implementation in Bosnia that senior Yugoslav and Serbian officials accused of war crimes be arrested, since they are still a serious danger to order and peace in the Balkans. Jorda said this applied especially to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Federal Defense Minister Dragoljub Ojdanic, former President of Republic of Srpska Radovan Karadzic and former commander of RS Army Ratko Mladic. Justice minister provokes Hague chief prosecutor BELGRADE, Wednesday -- Yugoslav Justice Minister Petar Jojic criticized the Hague Tribunal and said that Yugoslav authorities would not extradite a single citizen to that court, state radio reported. An extensive letter of 25 pages sent to the Hague Tribunal chief prosecutor, was entitled "To Carla del Ponte, a whore who sold herself to the Americans". Jojic first attacked the Tribunal for being founded contrary to international law and for participating in the destruction of Serbian people. Then he went on to demand that charges be brought against the western politicians and NATO leaders who had ordered air strikes on Yugoslavia. Jojic called the Hague Tribunal a "dungeon" and a "crime organisation". ========================================== RELATED QUOTES ? May 23, 2000: ========================================== The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges after what defence lawyers denounced as a "political" trial. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. (Full article below) Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "Several times we have asked Belgrade authorities to give us the possibility to get back all those detained and to have fair, international, open and transparent trials in Kosovo... Some people were brave, some people were not. Some were guilty, some were not. There is no collectivity on one side or the other." Judge Goran Petronijevic said forensic tests taken by the police upon the arrest of the group last May were "crucial" to the verdict, although he added: "Individual guilt was impossible to establish." Human rights group Amnesty International also condemned the judge's comments in a statement issued Tuesday. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not Respected... Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused; the key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual." The European Union's high representative for security and foreign policy Javier Solana expressed his deep shock at the sentences. "This is a new sign of the total scorn of the regime for the basic principles of modern democracy," Solana said in a statement... This decision will not help to reduce tension in Kosovo, where the question of those who have disappeared or are under detention continues to pose a major obstacle to reconciliation and creation of a climate of tolerance and security," he added. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook denounced the verdicts late Monday. "This is yet another sign of the desperation of the Milosevic regime, which is prepared to go to any lengths to repress dissident voices." ========================================== RELATED ARTICLES: ========================================== GRUPA484" The trial of "Djakovica group" Nis District Court May 8-12, 2000 The trial of the Albanians from the so-called "Djakovica group", initiated on April 18th 2000, continued on May 8th 2000 in the Nis District Court. The remaining 64 defendants stated their defenses up to May 10th. As it was the case during the entire procedure, all the defendants stated their defenses, which was not the case in the investigation, when the majority of the defendants chose to remain silent. All the defendants denied the accusations in the indictment. Following violations of Criminal Code Procedures were noticed thus far: ? the defendants were arrested between May 7th-12th 1999 ? the police decisions on pre-trial confinements were delivered to them on May 15th 1999 on the basis of Federal Government Regulation on implementation of Criminal Code Procedures in the state of war giving the authority to the police to set a pre-trial confinement of one month during the state of war ? on June 15th 1999 expired the one-month pre-trial confinement deadline ? the above Federal Government Regulation was suspended on June 24th 1999, so the maximum temporary arrest is now 72 hours. ? on November 17th 1999, the first defendant was brought to a hearing by an investigative judge; the deadline for establishing a pre-trial confinement by the investigative judge is three days, but only ? on December 23rd 1999, the first decision on pre-trial confinement was made There is a vacuum between June 15th (when the inquiry should have begun, according to the Criminal Code Procedures) and December 12th 1999 (when it actually began). Changes during the main hearing: ? The procedures previously set aside, regarding two defendants that were underage at the time of the arrest, were rejoined with the agreement of defense attorneys. ? On May 9th 2000, one of the defendants was sent to a psychiatric examination in Belgrade in order to establish his psychological condition at the time when the crime, he was accused of, was committed, as well as during the trial. Presentation of evidence May 10th - 7th day of the trial On May 10th 2000, the hearings of the defendants were finished and the presentation of evidence began. Among the summoned witnesses, only Darinka Rakovic - mother of the killed YA soldier, Aleksandar Rakovic - appeared at the court. Since all 145 defendants were not allowed to attend the presentation of evidence (which the law implies) in a short period of time, the court made a decision, with the defense attorneys' agreement, to interrogate the witness outside the main hearing After a moving statement, the mother of a killed soldier supported the criminal charges and asked the court to pronounce the maximum sentence. May 11th - 8th day of the trial At the beginning, the court made a decision to resume the main hearing during the presentation of evidence, established the presentation of evidence according to official duty by interrogating the following witnesses: Nebojsa Avramovic and Veselin Veshovic, employees of Djakovica Secretariat of Internal Affairs (SUP), as well as Pristina SUP experts, Milutin Visnic and Slavisa Jankovic. According to the Criminal Code Procedures, all the defendants attended the presentation of evidence. - NEBOJSA AVRAMOVIC, Djakovica SUP employee since 1996. According to his statement, he was in charge of a test establishing traces of nitrate and nitrite on the defendants' hands and clothes. Asked by the defense attorneys if he performed the test on all the defendants, he confirmed, saying that he personally took 30-40 samples, and recognized among the defendants one of the arrested that was subjected to the test. Let us remind that during the hearing only a few defendants stated that this technique was applied on them. - VESELIN VESHOVIC, also a Djakovica SUP employee, confirmed by his statement his colleague's statement. He said that a regulation on keeping records of such data does not exist. - MILUTIN VISNJIC, a Pristina SUP expert and a mechanical engineer. He stated that the technical part of the test was performed correctly, but added that the "paper work", i.e. taking personal records of the defendants was in a way incomplete, which he explained by the circumstances in which the test was performed. It was included in the court record that the above expert finished a six-month specialized training in physical-chemical examination and metaloscopy, which qualifies him for the expert opinion. However, the defense lawyers complained. - SLAVISA JANKOVIC, Pristina SUP expert. According to his statement, during the processing of the nitrate and nitrite samples, it is usual to describe their density and zones, sometimes even draw the graphic representation of the particles and zones. In this case it was NOT DONE. Both experts tried to justify that by the situation and conditions in which the test was performed, as well as by large number of samples. Furthermore, presence of nitrate and nitrite particles is ONLY A STRONG INDICATION, but not a 100% proof that the particles come from gunpowder. Nevertheless, according to statement made by the same witness, the samples should be processed as quick as possible, and he has no information how long it took to transport them from Djakovica to Pristina, and how it could have effected the results. He also explained that the nitrate and nitrite particles could be transmitted by a handshake, or come from cigarette ashes, artificial fertilizer, urine, and even certain cosmetic products and detergents, although in that case the number of particles is much smaller and their disposition is different. May 12th - the ninth day Following witnesses, employed at Djakovica SUP, were interrogated: Rade Vlahovic, Danilo Zecevic, Predrag Dzavric, Radovan Nikolic, Dusan Dragovic and Slobodan Kovac. The documents stated in the indictment were also presented as evidence. The prosecutor and the defense suggested a presentation of new evidence, some of which were accepted by the court and will be presented on May 16th. - Rade Vlahovic, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, the police had no warrant, specifying their names, to arrest the suspects. The arrested were not in possession of any weapon, nor in uniforms, but Mr. Vlahovic learnt from his colleague that there were weapons and uniforms in a number of houses, but he couldn't say precisely which and whose. He also said that there was an opening in each backyard leading to another, so one could pass through all the backyards along the street unnoticed. In his opinion, the KLA used them in the terrorist attacks. - Danilo Zecevic, Djakovica SUP Employed as "sector commander". He explained that Djakovica was divided in several sectors and that he was in charge of a part of the town. He confirmed his colleague's entire statement. - Predrag Dzavric, Djakovica SUP In charge of criminal-operative treatment. He stated that on April 10th 1999, along with his colleagues Novovic and Danilovic, he "ran into a terrorist crossfire", when Novovic was wounded. He said that the shots came from openings in the wall facing the street, intended, according to him, to be loopholes. As he found out, the population of the Cabrat residential quarter dressed as civilians during the day, and during the night they wore uniforms and carried out terrorist attacks. - Radovan Nikolic, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, all the arrested were not kept in custody, because the nitrate-nitrite test showed negative results, and they were free to go home. Regarding the way in which the interrogation was carried out, he stated that the police at first told the suspects that the test came out positive and that it was the reason they were kept in custody. Asked by the council what influenced their choice between making a record and official note, he explained that it was the concrete situation (if there was an air-raid alarm at the time or not), as well as the results and contents of the interrogation. The information about the persons he was supposed to interrogate, he got through a verbal order by his superior officer. - Dusan Dragovic, Djakovica SUP He confirmed his colleagues' statements. - Slobodan Kovac, Djakovica SUP According to his statement, the information about the terrorists were obtained through "friendly connections and operative inquiries". Requested by the council, using the map of Djakovica, he explained which of the streets belonged to Cabrat residential area, as well as important locations where the terrorist attacks took place. One of the defense attorneys, Mr. Teki Boksi, disagreed with him, saying that both indictment and witnesses used the terms which were not used in Djakovica (for example the term "Cabrat" regards only the Asim Voksi street, not the entire residential area). Nevertheless, the witness adhered to his explanation. However, before today's hearing began, the defense attorney, Mustafa Radonici, warned the president of the council that, before today's session, he had seen Deputy District Attorney, Vojislav Soskic, and the witnesses, who were supposed to be interrogated today, talking and making plans. According to the prosecutor's statement, the above situation never took place. The trial is to be resumed on Tuesday, May 16th 2000. Nis, May 8th -12th 2000 Group 484's Volunteer Center for Direct Protection of Human Rights Report on the trial of the so-called "Djakovica group" Nis District Court May 19th and 21st 2000 May 19th 2000 - The closing statement On May 19th 2000, the trial of "Djakovica group" continued in Nis. Today, the prosecutor and the defense announced their closing statements. Deputy District Public Prosecutor, Vojislav Soskic, adheres to the indictment in full and states that the defenses of the accused are unreliable due to the fact that the evidence points otherwise. He is demanding that all be proclaimed guilty as charged, and the ones under age, responsible, and that their temporary arrest be prolonged until the sentence comes into effect. On the side of the defense, the closing statement was given by the following attorneys: Teki Boksi, Zonjic Dragan, Djordje Dozet, Mustafa Radonjici, Novkovic Milorad, Lazarevic Oliver, Todorovic Dragoljub, Jelusic Rajko, Tomovic Predrag, Antic Ivona, Stojakovic Tomislav, Cvetkovic Nikola, Kuc Munever, Tanaskovic Krsta, Djokic Nebojsa, Sivert Mojica, Gajic Zarko, Kosutic Dusan, Misic Marina, Misic Obrad, Vucinic Vladimir, Kamberi Ejub, Lazic Miodrag, Tomic Slobodan and Cibulic Radoslav. "In dubio pro reo", a maxim used a number of times in the statements of the defense, meaning: "In case of a doubt, the case should be tried to the benefit of the accused". The reason for this lies in the fact that, according to the defense, the evidence stated deny the charges, thus making it delusive. Furthermore, it was pointed to the formal defects in the pre-trial proceedings, the unreliability of the "paraffin glove" test for gunpowder, in the formal and material sense, was emphasized, as well as the fact that it does not have the weight of an evidence in the proceedings (it is only a strong indication, but not a 100% indisputable evidence), and it was said that the indictment was political and not legal. A chronological analysis of the state organ's actions and their failing to act were performed by the defense, as well as of the Criminal Code Procedures' violations; the defendants were for long denied contact with the defense attorneys: ? the defendants were arrested between May 7th-12th 1999 ? the police decisions on pre-trial confinements were delivered to them on May 15th 1999 on the basis of Federal Government Regulation on implementation of Criminal Code Procedures in the state of war giving the authority to the police to set a pre-trial confinement of one month during the state of war ? on June 15th 1999 expired the one-month pre-trial confinement deadline ? the above Federal Government Regulation was suspended on June 24th 1999, so the maximum temporary arrest is now 72 hours. ? on November 17th 1999, the first defendant was brought to a hearing by an investigative judge; the deadline for establishing a pre-trial confinement by the investigative judge is three days, but only ? on December 23rd 1999, the first decision on pre-trial confinement was made There is a vacuum between June 15th (when the inquiry should have begun, according to the Criminal Code Procedures) and December 12th 1999 (when it actually began). It was asked what kind of terrorists were the ones who do not resist arrest, and who immediately comply with the police's first request for an informative inquiry. According to the defense, statements made by the witnesses were contradictory, and the competency of a forensic expert, Milutin Visnjic, questionable. The issue regarding the actual jurisdiction of the court was, the defense stressed, disputable, because if these were terrorists and if they killed members of the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and YA units, than the Court Martial had jurisdiction over this case. At the end of the statement, each of the attorneys moved for an acquittal and the dismissal of temporary arrest for all accused. Closing statements were, at the end of the day, given by all the defendants, affirming that they understood the statements of their defense attorneys, and that they agree to such a defense. The verdict will be announced on Monday, May 22nd 2000. May 22nd - The verdict On May 22nd 2000, the trial of the defendants constituting the so-called "Djakovica group" was completed, which were charged with terrorism (article 125, punishable according to article 139, paragraph 3 of the Yugoslav Criminal Code). The main hearing started on April 18th and ended on May 19th 2000. It was held in the Nis District Court courthouse, with the approval of the Serbian Supreme Court, due to technical conditions, and outside of the Pec seat. The defendants and juvenile defendants were pronounced guilty for organizing and carrying out of a number of terrorist attacks, as members of a terrorist organization, the so-called KLA, on the members of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and the Yugoslav Army units, in which three people were killed, and ten severely or slightly wounded, in April and the first half of May 1999, i.e. during a state of war, in the western part of the town of Djakovica, usually referred to as "Cabrat". For this criminal act, according to the relevant legal regulations of the Code of FR Yugoslavia, a granted minimum sentence is at least 10 years, and a maximum sentence could also be announced, i.e. 20 years. After the completed evidence procedures, the following 49 defendants: Zeka Muhedin, Deliji Albert, Ragomi Bekim, Guti Mithat, Pruti Admir, Pepa Idriz, Kosi Fahri, Grusti Maznum, Ferizi Ila, Pepaj Ila, Naka Avdurahman, Ganamusa Spend, Deliji Ljuljzim, Kosi Aljban, Mulahasani Besfor, Zeki Mithat, Sahacija Petrit, Baljata Driter, Skenderaj Tahir, Bakali Asim, Dusi Visar, Nuras Keljzen, Gambi Batus, Gazmen Zubi, Dijamant Mandzuk, Ljubinot Pulja, Deva Fatos, Rudi Fljorent, Fisnik Zaveli, Alija Gadriton, Mejzini Besnik, Sunjaku Naser, Guta Imer, Zejnulah Perparim, Duraku Mend, Pulja Adriatik, Ljota Bekim, Mici Dijamant, Morina Artan, Vulja Petrit, Hasici Bujar, Dobruna Burin, Delija Emin, Staljoja Edmond, Zubi Fljorent, Bitici Avni, Mati Endogand, Hasici Burin and Peroli Hivzi, were announced sentences of 13 years of imprisonment. Sentences of 12 years of imprisonment were announced to the following defendants: Musa Bekim, Ljuta Iljir, Djara Jeton, Lama Rinor, Beciri Sabit, Hoda Hisni, Pruti Aljeriz, Bitici Fatmir, Curaj Seljami, Zerka Esad, Haljiljaj Hasan, Sada Gzim, Kosi Albert, Alijaga Burhan, Pulja Aron, Radogosi Vaznim, Nrecaj Avdulj, Dzara Genc, Reznici Jeton, Pruti Fatmir, Fehapi Nedzet, Hodza Spejtim, Hoda Agim, Mulahasari Bekim, Kpuska Petrit, Brovina Sulejman, Hasi Artan, Brovina Jusuf, Hoda Faton, Ahama Esat, Ahmeti Imri, Kosi Behar, Ukaj Mustafa, Kosi Adnan, Bazdaraj Feriz, Muhaderi Agim, Pulja Dukadjin, Brovina Burim, Dusi Edmond, Juniku Hisen, Ahmeti Mustafa, Kusari Ila, Efendija Perparim, Zubi Kastriot, Ljusi Fadil, Zubi Burim, Baskim Mustafa, Guta Muhamet, Kajdoncaj Tahir, Taci Dzemajilj and Morina Nazim. To ten of the defendants, sentences of 10 years of imprisonment were announced, and these are: Godeni Fljamur, Morina Samija, Morina Adem, Ahmeti Aslan, Hadzibeciri Djamilj, Brovina Adnan, Delija Zoga, Varaku Nedzmedin, Mustafaj Fak, Culjaku Nedzat, Caka Afrim, Voksi Adriatik, Tafasiku Fatmir, Djerimi Ljuljzim, Luhani Ferat, Voksi Cefcet, Hasici Agim, Djiha Driton, Taci Rifat and Ljama Agron. Nine years of imprisonment was announced to the following: Hadzija Binak, Tetrica Ardijan, Betici Jeton, Krujeziju Atlija, Ferizi Mehdija, Hana Fljamur, Hoda Kresnik, Guta Halil, Jakupaj Petrit, Zubi Mirdzim and Dautaga Fatos. The following defendants were sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment: Krasnici Fadilj, Buza Mithat, Kosi Armond, Gedza Gania, Djiha Skender, Hadzibeciri Adnan, Kosi Abnor, Tahiri Elmi, Kastrati Ilber and Dulja Enver, as were the two juveniles: K. V. and J. B., who were sentenced to juvenile prison. To all the defendants, a time spent in temporary confinement was included in the sentence, starting from May 15th 1999, and the temporary arrest was prolonged until the verdict comes into effect. The proceedings against the defendants: Isa Adjanjela and Ljuan Dzeko were previously set aside, and thus they will be tried after the conclusion of a psychiatric expert opinion. The President of the Council, Judge Goran Petronijevic, explained the verdict to the defendants at the end of the proceedings. He stated that during the state of war, they were expected to show loyalty, and not the passivity which they expressed, that the results of the "paraffin glove" test were valid, even though it has some formal defects, that individualization was used in full in the pronouncing of the sentence, and that it was proven without a doubt that, in the Cabrat residential area, a large group of people carried out attacks on the police and YA units, and the fact being known that Djakovica was shut off, this could not have been terrorists brought "from outside". The judge added that there were defects in the pre-trial proceedings and that the temporary arrest was not (legally) covered in its whole duration, but that this was a mistake made by the police, and not the court. Belgrade, May 23rd 2000 Group 484 Volunteer Center for Direct Protection of Human Rights ========================================== AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Rubber Stamp Justice May 23, 2000 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: "Rubber stamp" justice in Nis ? 143 ethnic Albanians sentenced to between seven and 13 years' jail. A bureaucrat's rubber stamp rather than a judge's gavel appears to have been used to dispense justice in Nis, Amnesty International said as 143 Kosovo Albanians were sentenced to between seven and 13 years' imprisonment in a blatantly unfair trial. The organization called today for a retrial, and for a new examination of the evidence. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not respected," Amnesty International said. The judge is reported to have told the defendants that "it is impossible to determine your individual guilt, but that is not necessary". The 143 men, one of whom was a minor at the time of his arrest, were convicted of being members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), terrorism and attacking Serbian police. Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused. The key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual. The accuracy of the "paraffin glove" test for gunpowder, intended to show whether the subject has handled arms, has been widely challenged by forensic experts, and is known to produce a "positive" reading in circumstances where materials other than gunpowder have been handled. At the trial itself expert witnesses confirmed that the test is not wholly reliable and that the tests had been carried out in a "shortened procedure". Doubts were also raised about the exact tests used and the qualifications of those who had carried them out. Despite all these concerns the court accepted the results as evidence. The judge is reported to have admitted that there may have been shortcomings in the tests, but decided to accept them nonetheless, since they were "conducted in wartime conditions". Although the indictment listed three separate attacks on police in the Kosovo town of Djakovica (Gjakova) on 10 April, 7 and 9 May 1999, little attempt was made at the trial to connect the accused with all or any one of the attacks. Amnesty International is concerned that the right of the accused to call witnesses in their defence may have been violated by the court, which refused defence requests to introduce witness evidence from members of the Yugoslav army who had been present in Djakovica. Those who spoke in their own defence at the Nis trial denied being members of the KLA, and pointed out that during the NATO bombing a heavy police and army presence meant that they had little chance to move freely. Background The men were among thousands arrested in Kosovo by Serbian police during the attacks by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. More than 2,000 Kosovo Albanians were moved to prisons in Serbia at the end of the NATO attacks as the Serbian police and the army withdrew. One thousand or more remain in prison, some still awaiting trial. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Kosovo Albanians remain missing; many have "disappeared" at the hands of the Serbian police or paramilitary units. Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE UN man Kouchner to tour world on behalf of Albanian detainees May 24, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, May 24 (AFP) - Bernard Kouchner, United Nations administrator in Kosovo, will tour the world on behalf of ethnic Albanian Kosovars jailed in Serbia, his press service said Wednesday. The official, accompanied by representatives of families affected, would also make enquiries concerning missing ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, a statement said. Speaking in the Kosovo town of Djakovica to families of prisoners sentenced in Serbia this week for terrorism, Kouchner said: "I will prepare a large tour all over the world, mainly in Europe, with you people representatives of Djakovica and associations of missing people and detainees, to address the nations." Kouchner joined a chorus of international protest Tuesday over a Serbian court sentencing 143 Kosovo Albanians to long jail terms on terrorism charges. Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "(Milosevic) clearly reveals his true aims," Kouchner said. "To fuel the fire of hatred and division and to destroy the peace we've so painstakingly secured." He appealed to ethnic Kosovars: "We want to humbly ask you not to react to this provocation." The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/cq/Qyugo-kosovo-kouchner.RprM_AyO.html ========================================== UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL UNMIK official advises Albanians on court action May 23, 2000 By LULZIM COTA TIRANA, Albania, May 23 (UPI) -- Bernard Kouchner, head of the U.N. Mission in Kosovo, advised the relatives of 143 Kosovo Albanians sentenced Monday by a Serb court to create a 'Council of Families,' for those who have been unfairly punished. He committed to help them to express their concerns to the European Parliament and the other European capitals. He also warned them not fall into Slobodan Milosevic's "trap," the BBC in Albania reported Tuesday. Kouchner, accompanied by Gen. Juan Ortuno, the KFOR commander, and Hashim Thaci, a co-chair of Kosovo Administrative Council, visited the tense town of Djakova, on Tuesday, a day after a Serb court in Nish sentenced 143 young Djakova citizens. Last night Thaci warned if Kouchner did not visit Djakova and meet with the prisoners' relatives he would leave the Kosovo Administrative Council. "Serbia is a fascist island in the Balkans, which is counting the last days so we can challenge this regime only by a civilized behavior," Kouchner told a crowd of thousands who gathered to hear his proposal. Kouchner told the angry crowd he had talked with U.N. Security Council officials and several Western governments to put in their agenda the release of Kosovo Albanian pledges from Serbia's prisons. Djakova citizens accepted Kouchner's proposal for creating a 'Council of Families,' hailing and greeting him while a day before they were very angry with Kouchner and their leaders, who had not solved this problem nearly a year after the end of conflict. The Kumanovo agreement, which allowed the Serb army to withdraw from Kosovo and NATO entrance, has not foreseen any articles for Kosovo Albanian prisoners' release from Serbia's prisons. The release of Kosovo Albanians from Serbia's prisons could increase tensions, banning the return of Serb refugees in their homes in Kosovo. "We remind to all of those, who are trying to return Serb refugees in Kosovo, that every thing must start from the return of Albanian prisoners from Serbia's prisons," said Ramush Hajredinaj, leader of Center Alliance Party, an ex-KLA leader and former deputy commander of the Kosovo Protection Force. Story from UPI / LULZIM COTA Copyright 2000 by United Press International (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/an/Ukosovo-kouchner.RR0F_AyO.html ========================================== ASSOCIATED PRESS Protest of Serb Court's Conviction May 23, 2000 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Hundreds rallied Tuesday to protest the conviction of 143 Kosovo Albanians on terrorism charges leveled by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's government. The protest in the ethnically divided city of Kosovska Mitrovica followed a Serbian court's ruling Monday that the group took part in attacks by ethnic Albanian rebels against the Serb police and army during NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia last year. The 143 ethnic Albanians convicted in what was Serbia's largest mass trial ever received prison terms ranging from seven to 13 years. Tuesday's demonstrators staged a sit-in that clogged the main roads into Kosovska Mitrovica, which is separated into a predominantly Serb north and ethnic Albanian south by the Ibar River. The protesters held up photographs of others believed to be in custody in Serbia, and insisted there would never be peace in Kosovo until the prisoners were released. Hundreds of ethnic Albanians arrested in Kosovo were transferred to the dominant Yugoslav province, Serbia, before NATO bombs forced Yugoslav forces to withdraw. Kosovo is now controlled by U.N. administrators and international peacekeepers. Russian peacekeepers scuffled with a former Kosovo rebel commander Tuesday after stopping him at a checkpoint in Lozica, about 30 miles from Pristina, said German Lt. Col. Bernhard Meier, a spokesman for the NATO-led contingent. The peacekeepers detained Ramush Hajredinaj, a former regional commander with the Kosovo Liberation Army, after finding two weapons in his car without the proper paperwork, Meier said. NATO said he had attempted to flee, and that the peacekeepers and military police ``subdued him.'' He was injured slightly, treated and flown to NATO headquarters in Pristina. Hajredinaj is considered an up-and-coming political leader in Kosovo, and recently formed his own party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo. He also has been organizing grass-roots support ahead of municipal elections planned for fall. Meanwhile, a fire broke out Tuesday afternoon in a dormitory housing refugees and ethnic Albanians displaced by the war, gutting the building but causing no injuries. It was unclear what caused the fire at the complex, located in the eastern Kosovo city of Gnjilane, said Station Commander Robert Ruckman of the U.N. police. Story from AP / DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Writer Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press (viaClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/bs/Akosovo-protest.R3Mq_AyN.html ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Condemnation grows over Serb convictions of Kosovo Albanians May 23, 2000 PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, May 23 (AFP) - Bernard Kouchner, the UN administrator in Kosovo, on Tuesday joined a chorus of international protest over a Serbian court's sentencing of 143 Kosovo Albanians to long jail terms on terrorism charges. Describing the trial as a "farce," Kouchner said he could clearly see the hand of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was seeking to provoke trouble in Kosovo. "Several times we have asked Belgrade authorities to give us the possibility to get back all those detained and to have fair, international, open and transparent trials in Kosovo," he added. The district court in the southern Serbian town of Nis on Monday jailed 143 Kosovo Albanians to terms of between seven and 13 years on terrorism charges after what defence lawyers denounced as a "political" trial. The court handed down sentences totalling 1,632 years for what it said was their part in attacks against government forces during the 1999 NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. Judge Goran Petronijevic said forensic tests taken by the police upon the arrest of the group last May were "crucial" to the verdict, although he added: "Individual guilt was impossible to establish." But Kouchner said the concept of collective guilt was indefensible. "Some people were brave, some people were not. Some were guilty, some were not. There is no collectivity on one side or the other." Human rights group Amnesty International also condemned the judge's comments in a statement issued Tuesday. "The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not respected," said Amnesty. "Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused," the statement continued. "The key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual." Also Tuesday, the European Union's high representative for security and foreign policy Javier Solana expressed his deep shock at the sentences. "This is a new sign of the total scorn of the regime for the basic principles of modern democracy," Solana said in a statement. "This decision will not help to reduce tension in Kosovo, where the question of those who have disappeared or are under detention continues to pose a major obstacle to reconciliation and creation of a climate of tolerance and security," he added. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook denounced the verdicts late Monday. "This is yet another sign of the desperation of the Milosevic regime, which is prepared to go to any lengths to repress dissident voices." About 3,000 Kosovar Albanians protested against the verdicts Monday by marching through the streets of Djakovica, southwest Kosovo, the defendants' home town. The convicted men were among more than 2,000 Kosovar Albanians transferred to Serbian prisons as Belgrade's forces withdrew from the province last June. Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic said last month that 979 prisoners brought from Kosovo were still being held in Serbian prisons, all but 15 or 20 of them ethnic Albanians. About 500 have been released so far. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/bj/Qyugo-kosovo-trial.RxE2_AyN.html ========================================== 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 Very useful statistics and update from ICRC on missing persons from Kosova can be found at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/60c532db df49f6878525688f006f80d4?OpenDocument Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter SPECIAL REPORT, No. 2 From kosova at jps.net Wed May 31 11:01:30 2000 From: kosova at jps.net (kosova at jps.net) Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 08:01:30 -0700 Subject: [A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 024 Message-ID: Welcome to Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 024, May 29, 2000 This report highlights the developments on the prisoner issue for the period of May 14-27, 2000. ========================================== A-PAL STATEMENT: ========================================== Highlights of the Week: * 143 Kosovar Albanians were sentenced this week in the largest mass trial ever held in Serbia. Trial condemned as unfair, without evidence. Total sentencing: 1, 632 years! * In a narrow vote on whether to finance keeping troops in Kosova, US Congress shows its minimal interest in pursuing justice in the region at a critical time. * Dr. Flora Brovina's lawyers deliver a two hour appeal to the Serb Supreme Court on May 16th. * 200 OTPOR movement members were arrested last week. Labeled a terrorist organization. * Serbia on the verge of instating a state of emergency to suppress opposition and media * UN Envoy Karl Bildt urges the West to face the reality that preserving the sovereignty of Yugoslavia at this point is a decision that will continue to create war and upheaval in the region. Statement: "For evil to flourish, good people must do nothing." The Milosevic regime must end sometime soon, hopefully through free elections and not by violence. International leaders have placated this illegal regime long enough. Young Serbs now want the same rights and freedoms enjoyed by other Europeans, the chance to live a hopeful and productive life. A chance they do not have. This week's narrow vote in the US Congress to pull US forces out of Kosova in July, 2001, was a shocking example of the very worst kind of Beltway politics and back-biting, a way of inflicting revenge on a lame-duck president, ignoring the need for stability and peace for millions in the former Yugoslavia. At the same time, Russia gave Milosevic a $102 million dollar loan, figuring that this week, American politicians would not object. He was right. For the US Congress to issue a restrictive vote like this at this critical time for both Kosova and Serbia, as people in both areas struggle to create democratic rule, shows the utter lack of foreign policy principles and the arrogant isolationism of mainstream American politics. Instead of stepping forward and commenting on the disgraceful mass trial of the 143 Gjakova residents who received a total of 1,632 years in prison, the appeal of Dr. Brovina's lawyers on May 16, the closing of Studio B and Radio B2 in Belgrade, the labeling of Serb Bishop Artemje as a "traitor" and OTPOR as a "terrorist" organization, the American Congress remained silent, allowing the slide towards ongoing violence in Serbia to increase. The supposed "good people" are doing nothing. They are remaining silent. So is the U.N Security Council, despite their recent visit to Kosova and their promises to help the Albanian prisoners. Meanwhile, the propaganda machine of the repression under the auspices of Yugoslav Information Minister Goran Matic, has accused the OSCE and the International Federation of Journalists of being "terrorist organizations committing crimes against the state of Yugoslavia!" This is the same crime the 143 Gjakova citizens were accused of. OSCE and OTPOR are accused of terrorist acts as was Dr. Brovina and Albin Kurti. So what's next in this absurd game? Will the judges of Serbia now conduct a mass trial against OSCE? Why not? It would fit in nicely with the nihilistic machinations of the current regime, a regime the U.N. and the West and Russia are determined to continue to support, each for their own purposes. The last U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Warren Zimmerman, who was recalled in 1991, said, "The only way to end repression in Yugoslavia is to support internal efforts at democracy." Wasn't this the goal of U.S. policy in the region? We must insist that justice prevail for there to be real peace in Kosova, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Serbia. Otherwise, there will be more wars. Support OTPOR's efforts, and the efforts of human rights lawyers, and journalists. Demand free elections as an alternative to civil war. Do not abandon those without military power. This is when they need your support the most. Do not dismiss the situation, justifying your inaction by saying that 'the opposition is as bad as the regime.' Remember what Elie Weisel said about those who didn't speak out against the persecution of Jews, Roma and others in the Holocaust: "It was not the brutality of our enemies, but the silence of our friends that hurt us most." ========================================== WEEK?S TOPICS: ========================================== * BBC: Serb terrorism court jails 143 * AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE: Belgrade makes "serious threats" to OSCE official * HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE: Judicial Precedent - TV Show Admitted As Evidence * REUTERS: Serbian Supreme Court Hears Kosovo Doctor's Appeal * ICRC: Fact Sheet * FREE B92: Kosovo war crimes trial adjourned * RFERL: Why Did Moscow Host Indicted War Criminal? * AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: 'Rubber stamp' Justice in Nis * AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE: Judge in Milosevic home town sacked for backing opposition * REUTERS: Serbian court jails three Kosovo Albanians * U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: Regime Crackdown on Independent Media in Serbia * AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE: Rain dampens protest as Serbians urge Milosevic to kill himself ========================================== QUOTES OF THE WEEK: ========================================== Serbian security forces took hundreds of Kosovo Albanian prisoners with them when they pulled out of the province last year. Mr Petronijevic said the court's decision was unanimous. Paraffin tests had established beyond reasonable doubt that those sentenced had used weapons, he said. "There might have been shortcomings in the test, but the results must be accepted as valid because they were conducted in wartime conditions. It is impossible to determine your individual guilt, but that is not necessary," he said. Peki Boksi, the defendants' lawyer, said: "This is a purely political decision, which certainly won't help ease the tension in Kosovo." "This will make the situation more difficult for us struggling for human rights," he told Reuters. "This will play into the hands of the extremists." Momcilo Trajkovic of the Serb Resistance Movement of Kosovo: "The continued maintenance of Milosevic's regime is merely the road to further fragmentation of the country (Yugoslavia) that is already torn apart." ========================================== FULL REPORTS AND ARTICLES BEGIN HERE: ========================================== BBC Serb terrorism court jails 143 May 22, 2000 The court said the accused were KLA members A Serbian court has jailed 143 ethnic Albanians for taking part in attacks against the Belgrade security forces. The group, all of whom denied the charges, were jailed for terms ranging from seven to 13 years. Judge Goran Petronijevic said the accused had "committed the criminal act of terrorism" during the Nato air campaign against Serb forces in Kosovo last year. The group was accused of forming a unit of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the western Kosovo town of Djakovica in April 1999, and of attacking Serb forces. The trial, which opened on 18 April in the southern Serbian city of Nis, was the biggest of its kind to be held in Yugoslavia. The judge sentenced 49 of the accused to 13 years imprisonment 51 to 12 years 20 to 10 years 11 to nine years 10 to seven years and two juveniles to seven years in juvenile detention. The prosecution said that the men took part in three attacks against Serb forces in April and May 1999. An army officer, a soldier and a policeman died in the attacks and five policemen were seriously injured, the court was told. But human rights lawyers said the defendants were picked up arbitrarily during a sweep of Djakovica by Serb forces. Forensic tests Serbian security forces took hundreds of Kosovo Albanian prisoners with them when they pulled out of the province last year. Mr Petronijevic said the court's decision was unanimous. Paraffin tests had established beyond reasonable doubt that those sentenced had used weapons, he said. "There might have been shortcomings in the test, but the results must be accepted as valid because they were conducted in wartime conditions. It is impossible to determine your individual guilt, but that is not necessary," he said. Peki Boksi, the defendants' lawyer, said: "This is a purely political decision, which certainly won't help ease the tension in Kosovo." "This will make the situation more difficult for us struggling for human rights," he told Reuters. "This will play into the hands of the extremists." Another lawyer, Oliver Lazarevic, said all the defendants should have been released due to a lack of evidence. About 900 ethnic Albanians from Ksovo are still in jail in Serbia awaiting trial. Several thousand Albanians who disappeared during the operations of Serb forces are still missing. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_759000/759048.stm ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Belgrade makes "serious threats" to OSCE official May 22, 2000 VIENNA, May 22 (AFP) - A senior OSCE rights official accused Belgrade Monday of making "serious threats" against him and accusing him of terrorism by supporting independent media in Yugoslavia. Freimut Duve, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)'s Representative on Freedom of the Media, said the threats were made in a letter by Yugoslav Information Minister Goran Matic. The letter from Matic was also sent to Aidan White, secretary-general of the International Federation of Journalists. "In that letter, Goran Matic makes serious threats against both the Secretary-General of a leading media NGO and a professional union and the head of an OSCE Institution," he said. Duve and White were notably accused of being accomplices to a crime and were warned that they should "not forget that sooner or later justice will be served." The letter accused them of "terrorism and a crime against a sovereign state" by supporting independent media in Yugoslavia, and warned that in Belgrade "we have a long memory." Duve called on Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic to disassociate himself from Matic's comments. "The OSCE representative asked the foreign minister to inform him as soon as possible if he differed with the threats made by a cabinet minister," he said in a statement. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/cw/Qyugo-osce.RkHd_AyM.html ========================================== HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE Judicial Precedent - TV Show Admitted As Evidence May 22, 2000 The trial of five ethnic Albanians students of Belgrade University who are charged with terrorism and seditious conspiracy continued before the Belgrade District Court on 18 May. At the motion of the prosecution, the court admitted as evidence a Serbian Television current affairs show aired in May 1999 in which Petrit and Driton Berisha and Driton Meca admit to organizing and preparing acts of terrorism in Belgrade. The defendants were in police detention at the time the show was filmed. The panel, presided by Judge Vladan Slijepcevic, thus contravened the Criminal Procedure Code whose Article 83 stipulates that all reports and information gathered in the pre-trial stage must be removed from the record before the indictment is filed. Furthermore, the depiction of the defendants as "terrorists" in the show was a drastic violation of the presumption of innocence until proved guilty by a court of law, a principle guaranteed by the FR Yugoslavia constitution, national legislation and international standards of a fair trial. The defense contested the admissibility of the show, pointing out that the defendants made the self-incriminating statements after being subjected to torture for days and, before the filming, were threatened with being shot unless they confessed to preparing terrorist acts in Belgrade. Such actions by the State Security officials, the defense underscored, constitute a violation of Article 65 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which defines them as the criminal offense of extraction of statements. The court nonetheless viewed the show, after which the defendants reiterated that police beat and threatened them, deprived them of food, subjected them to long periods of interrogation without breaks and fake execution by shooting squad to force the confessions from them. Before adjourning until 2 June, the court accepted a defense proposal to call as a witness Simo Gajin, the editor of the current affairs program on which the show was aired, to explain how the show was made. As the names of the reporter and cameraman were not featured on the credits, the defense has grounds to believe that the "interview" was filmed by the police who then gave the tape to Serbian Television for broadcasting. Petrit and Driton Berisha, Driton Meca, Shkodran Derguti and Isam Abdulahu were arrested in mid-May last year while the state of war was in force. Their defense counsel are Ivan Jankovic, Djordje Djurisic and Rajko Danilovic who were engaged by the Humanitarian Law Center, and Radomir Pesic, Husnija Bitic and Bojan Resavac, lawyers retained by the families of the accused students. ========================================== REUTERS Serbian Supreme Court Hears Kosovo Doctor's Appeal May 17, 2000 BELGRADE, May 17, 2000 -- (Reuters) Serbia's Supreme Court on Tuesday examined the appeal of a Kosovo Albanian humanitarian doctor and poet for release from a 12-year jail sentence on terrorism charges, defense lawyers said. "A five-member panel of judges presided over by Judge Tomislav Sekulic heard for over two hours the case of Flora Brovina and the appeals," Husnija Bitic, one of six lawyers who had filed appeals, told Reuters by telephone. Brovina was convicted of associating with and helping Kosovo Albanian separatist guerrillas step up their fight against Serbian security forces during NATO's air war on Yugoslavia. She denied the charges, saying her work was purely humanitarian. Both international and Serbian human rights groups as well as Kosovo Albanians have called for Brovina's release, saying there was no evidence to justify her sentence. Bitic said he expected the Supreme Court to rule later on Tuesday, and that the decision would be conveyed to a lower court in the southern city of Nis that sentenced Brovina. "This could take at least a month to reach us," Bitic said. "(The court) could confirm the sentence, cancel it and ask for a new trial or alter the sentence (to)... either acquittal or reduction," Bitic said. He added that if Brovina was acquitted, she would be released the next day. LAWYER ESCORTED TO COURT Bitic, who was badly beaten in his Belgrade apartment a month ago and had to be escorted to the hearing by his son, declined to further speculate on the outcome. His colleagues believed the beating was linked to his accusations that Belgrade lawyers took bribes from families of Kosovo Albanian prisoners to secure their release. Brovina, sentenced late last year, is one of some 1,300 Kosovo Albanians still in Serbian jails after being picked up during last year's NATO air strikes, which were carried out to stop Serbian repression of Kosovo's majority population. Some 750 prisoners have been released. Separately on Tuesday in Nis, testimony in a mass trial of 143 ethnic Albanians accused of taking part in attacks against Serbian security forces during the NATO air strikes ended and a verdict was expected next week. The defendants were charged with forming a unit of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the western Kosovo town of Djakovica in April 1999. They have denied the charges, which had them involved in three attacks against Serbian forces. Some of the charges carry a penalty of up to 15 years. Defence lawyer Teki Bokshi said he was pessimistic. "The atmosphere at the trial was like that, so that I had to conclude they would be convicted," he told Reuters. "All witnesses were policemen, even the experts worked for police." He said it was possible the defendants would be sentenced to a total of more than 1,000 years. "Had the court been independent and objective it would have to release them all..." (C)2000 Copyright Reuters Limited. ========================================== ICRC Fact Sheet : ICRC in Belgrade May 15, 2000 The ICRC has been permanently present in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia since 1991. During the NATO campaign, it maintained its expatriate presence and continually worked to alleviate the suffering of the affected population. In that period, the ICRC set up joint offices with the Yugoslav Red Cross in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and Kraljevo in order to be closer to the people in need and more efficient in providing humanitarian assistance. These offices, together with an additional one opened in Kragujevac, are nowadays the bases from which the ICRC and the YRC are working, together with the national societies of the Red Cross from Germany, Japan, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Canada and Switzerland, on assisting the people in Serbia proper. In Kosovo, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is engaged in a wide-ranging operation to provide emergency and longer-term help for the victims of the conflicts in Kosovo. People throughout the province benefit from these programmes, which include protection issues (missing persons, detainees, minority groups), assistance to the vulnerable, support for the health sector, psycho-social programmes, food aid, reconstruction of homes and schools, mine action and support for the local Red Cross. National Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies from nearly 20 countries are involved, along with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Movement activities are coordinated and supported by the ICRC. (...) 159 ex-detainees transferred to their homes following their release As part of its activities, the ICRC transfers to their homes people who were detained in relation to the Kosovo conflict, upon their release. In April, the ICRC helped 159 of these people get reunited with their families in Kosovo. Association of families of missing persons set up in Belgrade The families of people who went missing in Kosovo in 1998 and 1999 formed and registered their association in early March. The ICRC has been in close contact with these families not only because of its mandate in the tracing of the missing, but also in order to help the families cope with their anguish. To that effect, the ICRC has supported the association of the families of the missing in setting up its own office in Belgrade, and is in the process of doing the same in Nis and Kraljevo. (...) Working for the families of the Missing Thousands of families in all communities continue to bear the emotional scars of the conflict because they remain without news of the fate of their loved ones. As lead agency for the question of missing persons related to Kosovo crisis, the ICRC maintains a dialogue with authorities in Pristina and Belgrade, coordinates with other organisations concerned and carries out tracing in the field to try to find answers. The ICRC's concern is purely humanitarian and its activities are centred on providing support to help the families cope with their burden of grief and uncertainty. People deprived of their freedom Since June 99 ICRC teams based in Belgrade have visited some 2,000 people arrested in Kosovo and held in detention in Serbia proper. ICRC is the only organisation with such comprehensive access to detainees. The purpose of the visits is to ensure that psychological and material conditions of detention are adequate and to enable the detainees to maintain contact with their families by means of Red Cross messages. Since June 99 ICRC has helped over 730 persons to return home after their release in Serbia (159 in April alone). In Kosovo ICRC visits people detained by KFOR and UNMIK police and penal management services. (...) http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/1933de38 d7393c56852568e00052e484?OpenDocument ========================================== FREE B92 Kosovo war crimes trial adjourned May 15, 2000 GNJILANE, Monday - The first war crime trial to take place in Kosovo was adjourned in the District Court in Gnjilane this morning. The court, which has only Albanian judges, is hearing charges of murdering one person and ordering the murder of another against 21-year-old Serb Milos Jokic. Jokic has also been accused of genocide. It is alleged that he led a nine-member Serbian paramilitary unit which terrorised ethnic Albanians in the east of Kosovo during last year's NATO bombing. ========================================== RFERL Why Did Moscow Host Indicted War Criminal? Southeastern Europe May 16, 2000 A spokesman for Carla Del Ponte, who is the Hague-based war crimes tribunal's chief prosecutor, said on 15 May that she is "alarmed" by reports that Yugoslav Defense Minister Dragoljub Ojdanic recently visited Moscow (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 May 2000). The spokesman added: "It's likely the prosecutor will enquire directly of the Russian embassy in The Hague whether the reports are accurate and why the Russian authorities did not take any steps to arrest a person under indictment by the tribunal.... To my knowledge, this is the first time any of the individuals indicted last 26 May...have traveled outside Yugoslavia since the indictment. This is a remarkable occurrence," Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic arrived in Moscow on 15 May. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said the next day that his talks with Jovanovic about Kosova "will enable us to continue helping to achieve a settlement of the problem and to stabilize the situation in the entire Balkan region." PM (...) http://www.rferl.org/newsline/4-see.html ========================================== AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ?Rubber stamp? Justice in Nis May 23, 2000 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: ?Rubber stamp? justice in Nis -- 143 ethnic Albanians sentenced to between seven and 13 years? jail. A bureaucrat?s rubber stamp rather than a judge?s gavel appears to have been used to dispense justice in Nis, Amnesty International said as 143 Kosovo Albanians were sentenced to between seven and 13 years? imprisonment in a blatantly unfair trial. The organization called today for a retrial, and for a new examination of the evidence. ?The presumption of innocence of each of the accused was not respected,? Amnesty International said. The judge is reported to have told the defendants that ?it is impossible to determine your individual guilt, but that is not necessary?. The 143 men, one of whom was a minor at the time of his arrest, were convicted of being members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), terrorism and attacking Serbian police. Little attempt was made during the trial to establish individual guilt on the part of the accused. The key prosecution evidence, a forensic report whose scientific reliability is in question, simply lists the names of 155 men without detailing findings relating to any individual. The accuracy of the ?paraffin glove? test for gunpowder, intended to show whether the subject has handled arms, has been widely challenged by forensic experts, and is known to produce a ?positive? reading in circumstances where materials other than gunpowder have been handled. At the trial itself expert witnesses confirmed that the test is not wholly reliable and that the tests had been carried out in a ?shortened procedure?. Doubts were also raised about the exact tests used and the qualifications of those who had carried them out. Despite all these concerns the court accepted the results as evidence. The judge is reported to have admitted that there may have been shortcomings in the tests, but decided to accept them nonetheless, since they were ?conducted in wartime conditions?. Although the indictment listed three separate attacks on police in the Kosovo town of Djakovica (Gjakova) on 10 April, 7 and 9 May 1999, little attempt was made at the trial to connect the accused with all or any one of the attacks. Amnesty International is concerned that the right of the accused to call witnesses in their defence may have been violated by the court, which refused defence requests to introduce witness evidence from members of the Yugoslav army who had been present in Djakovica. Those who spoke in their own defence at the Nis trial denied being members of the KLA, and pointed out that during the NATO bombing a heavy police and army presence meant that they had little chance to move freely. Background The men were among thousands arrested in Kosovo by Serbian police during the attacks by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. More than 2,000 Kosovo Albanians were moved to prisons in Serbia at the end of the NATO attacks as the Serbian police and the army withdrew. One thousand or more remain in prison, some still awaiting trial. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Kosovo Albanians remain missing; many have ?disappeared? at the hands of the Serbian police or paramilitary units. ENDS.../ ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Judge in Milosevic home town sacked for backing opposition May 12, 2000 BELGRADE, May 12 (AFP) - A Yugoslav judge has been sacked for joining and another resigned for joining an opposition protest in home town of President Slobodan Milosevic, a newspaper reported Friday. Another judge in the Pozarevac district court, Bosko Papovic, refused to pursue prosecutors' charges against activists from the opposition group Otpor, or Resistance, who were detained early this week, the daily Blic said. Blic said Djordje Rankovic, a magistrate and deputy president in the Pozarevac municipal court, was sacked after taking part in an opposition gathering in the town. Rankovic confirmed to the daily that he had joined several hundred anti-regime supporters who protested in Pozarevac on Tuesday despite the last-minute cancellation of an opposition rally there following a police blockade of the town. Papovic for his part refused to handle the case against two Otpor activists accused of attempted murder following a brawl with staff at a Pozarevac discotheque owned by Milosevic's son, Marko. Prosecutors demanded the pair be held for 30 days pending an investigation, but Papovic said there was no evidence against the two, Blic said, adding that the judge would ask to retire later this month. Human rights groups have complained that judicial officials often come under pressure from the Milosevic government concerning political cases. The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia said in December 1999 that dismissal procedures had been launched against more than 40 jurists who Judges' Society in a bid to protect judges from the regime's political pressure. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/bp/Qyugo-opposition-justice.RBwq_AyC.html ========================================== REUTERS Serbian court jails three Kosovo Albanians May 19, 2000 BELGRADE, May 18 (Reuters) - A Serbian district court has sentenced three Kosovo Albanians to prison terms ranging from two to eight years for terrorist activities, state news agency Tanjug reported on Thursday. The trial was held in the district court in the southern Serbian town of Leskovac. Ramiz Djacaj, 30, from the village of Rasic near Pec in Kosovo, was sentenced to eight years for the criminal act of terrorism, the report said. Mustafa Djacaj, 49, and Leonardo Krasnici, 23, from the same village, received three-and-a-half and two-year prison sentences respectively for "as sociation for the purpose of hostile activity against Serbia and Yugoslavia", Tanjug said. It said all three had been members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which fought Serb forces in 1998 and 1999. According to the prosecution, Ramiz Djacaj took part in two attacks on Serb police -- in Rasic in July 1997 and in Boksic in August 1998. NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia in March 1999 to drive Serb forces out of Kosovo and halt Belgrade's oppression of the province's ethnic Albanian majority. Serbian authorities have said there are around 965 Kosovo Albanians in prison in Serbia. The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that some 1,300 ethnic Albanians are still held in Serbian jails. NATO air strikes ended in June last year. International human rights groups have called on Serbian authorities to free the detainees. (c) 2000 Reuters Limited. http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT4K57M5F8C&liv e=true&tagid=ZZZPB7GUA0C&reuters=true ========================================== U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Regime Crackdown on Independent Media in Serbia U.S. Department of State Washington, D.C. Office of the Spokesman May 17, 2000 STATEMENT BY RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN REGIME CRACKDOWN ON INDEPENDENT MEDIA IN SERBIA The Belgrade regime's move today to silence Serbia's independent media represents a major step in efforts to preserve Milosevic's dictatorship. This night-time police raid smacks of desperate, Bolshevik oppression. The United States strongly condemns the Belgrade regime's crackdown on the independent press and the democratic opposition in Serbia. Next week, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will consult our allies in Europe to determine what joint actions we will take in response to this blatant attack on the independent media. She will also meet with foreign ministers of states neighboring Serbia to coordinate further responses. Today, we will add six judges and prosecutors who have taken repressive actions against independent media to our visa ban list and will ask the EU to do the same. We will continue to monitor and add other names to the list. We will also immediately add family members of several top officials of the regime to our visa ban list and encourage the EU to do the same. We will continue to review further actions to take to demonstrate our support for the independent media and people of Serbia. We understand that citizens of Serbia have said they will protest the government's action. Their courage and activism should be a signal to those around the Milosevic family that the people of Serbia have grown tired of the regime and its repression. ========================================== AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Rain dampens protest as Serbians urge Milosevic to kill himself May 20, 2000 BELGRADE, May 20 (AFP) - Driving rain kept many Serbian demonstrators indoors Saturday, but a hardcore of up to 1,000 anti-government protesters took to the streets urging President Slobodan Milosevic to take his own life. In the fourth day of protests against the seizure of an opposition-run TV station by Milosevic's regime, opposition supporters gathered in the centre of the capital chanting "Save Serbia and kill yourself, Slobodan!" Just 400 metres (yards) away, at least 200 riot police with batons and shields, surrounded the building Studio B's studios. Others were positioned on the corners of nearby streets, in a bid to prevent any approach by the protesters to the media building. Another two buses and several vans full of riot police were parked near the Saint Marco church about 500 meters away. No incidents were reported during or after the end of the protest, as with Friday's 5,000-strong demonstration, in contrast to the first days of rallies, which were marked by brutal police crackdowns on opposition supporters in which dozens of people were injured. Serbian government forces effectively closed down opposition broadcasting from Studio B TV on Wednesday, which until then been controlled by the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement of Vuk Draskovic. The new editorial Studio B team, appointed by the government, reported that Saturday's protest was cancelled "due to rain." Draskovic, who on Friday announced that the Serbian opposition team would travel to Moscow next week, did not address the crowd Saturday. But he told reporters that he hoped Russia would demand from Belgrade only what it had been doing itself. "I believe a strong message would be sent to return Studio B to its town and people, to stop the terror against the opposition and to start quickly a dialogue between the authorities and the opposition," Draskovic said. Such "dialogue" should result with "an accord over conditions for democratic elections in the country at all levels, halt to any violence and terror and establishing of peace in the country," Draskovic said. The opposition has been pushing since January for national and federal elections, currently scheduled for 2001 and 2002 respectively, to take place along with local and federal polls this year. Milosevic's government has dismissed these demands, a move which has provoked a serious outcry from the opposition. Meanwhile in the northern town of Novi Sad, more than 1,000 marched along the central streets, with no incidents reported during the protest. Rallies were also held in several other towns in Serbia, and were set to continue on Sunday. Story from AFP Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) http://www.clari.net/hot/wed/bo/Qyugo-media-rally.ROlh_AyK.html ========================================== 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 Very useful statistics and update from ICRC on missing persons from Kosova can be found at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/60c532db df49f6878525688f006f80d4?OpenDocument Archives of the A-PAL Newsletters may be found at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova.htm Albanian Prisoner Advocacy List -- Prisoner Pals Newsletter, No. 024