[A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter, No. 021

[kosova at jps.net]

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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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KOSOVAPRESS
Over 40 joined the hunger strike

April 26, 2000

Klinë, 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

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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

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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

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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

Prishtinë, 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