[A-PAL] A-PAL Newsletter

[Alice Mead]

A-PAL--KOSOVA PRISONER ADOVACY NEWSLETTER
0CT0BER 21, 2000


        DR. FLORA BROVINA PARDONED! BLAKAJ BROTHERS ACQUITTED.

We want to thank everyone who has worked so hard on this campaign since
August, 1999 to obtain justice and basic human rights for the Albanians
imprisoned in Serbia. We applaud President Kostunica's request of his
Minister of Justice to pardon Dr. Brovina and we congratulate her on her
human rights award and wish her a safe return home. But we also in no way
want Dr. Brovina's release to prevent or delay the speedy release of the
other 870 prisoners, who deserve to be pardoned right along with her and
also allowed to return home. We hope that Dr. Brovina will leave prison now,
return to her home in Kosova, and join us, raising her voice to demand the
release of those left behind.

PLEASE KEEP WRITING YOUR EMAILS TO PRESIDENT KOSTUNICA. EACH ONE HELPS. WE
CANNOT LET UP THE PRESSURE UNTIL THEY ARE ALL HOME.
A list of remaining prisoners should be available at:
www.freehomepages.com/appkosova/
______________________________________


FreeB92  Last update: Oct 21, 2000 17:56 CET

Brovina to be granted a pardon

17:10 BELGRADE, Saturday - Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica today
initiated procedures to release imprisoned Kosovo Albanian doctor and
poet Flora Brovina who has been sentenced to twelve years imprisonment
for aiding Albanian separatist movements during the Kosovo conflict last
year. Beta reports that Kostunica requested that the Yugoslavian
Minister of Justice begin procedures to grant Brovina a pardon stating
that there were justifiable reasons for such action.
__________________________________________

Dear President Kostunica:

Congratulations on becoming the new President of FRY.  I hope this will be a
healing and growing time for your country and it's people.  There are many
issues you must face and deal with that are left over from  Mr. Milosovic,
and you have difficult days ahead for you.

One of the important issues are the Albanian prisoners being held in Serbian
prisons still today.   I can only hope and pray that you, President
Kostunica, can find it in your heart and in the best interest of not only
the Albanians, but the Serbian people as well, to release these prisoners so
that there can be a healing process between both Serbians and Albanians.
Please, do not carry on with Milosovic's reign of brutality.

I wish for you only the best.

Regards,


Mr. Burim Myftiu &Mrs. Ganimete Myftiu

----- ________________________


Dear A -Pal
Today I read that OSCE is offering Yugoslavia to rejoin the community
of OSCE.
During receive procedure, if one of the members makes a veto against
Yugoslavia's membership, it cannot be received into OSCE.
The Albanian ambassador of OSCE can veto against Yugoslav membership,
if Yugoslav government doesn't realese the albanian prisoners from serb
jails.
So now the Albania can play a big role in this case.
      Many greetings from Switzerland
--------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. President,

As a journalist of the German daily newspaper "Die Abendzeitung" in München,
I
write You my congratulations for the elections. I visitetd  Belgrade the
12th
and 13th of October, accompagning  a delegation of German MPs and Mr. Dr.
Martin  Schaefer from the German foreign ministry.

We talked also to Mr. Filipovic, who was imprisoned for political reasons
and
now iust released.

I want to express my sorrow, that many prisoners from Kosovo, including
Flora
Brovina is still imprisoned. As You know, the release of this prisoners is
one
of the highest priorities of European countries in the process of
normalisation
to Jugoslawia.

I would be happy to inform the German public that this problem soon is
solved.

Sincerely Yours,
Philipp Mausshardt
(Chefreporter)

__________________________________________________



Dear people,

I have been reading with much interest your web-site. Here in =
Switzerland, I had some contacts with kosovars, which brought me in =
co^ntact with the story and the tragedy of your land and people. Much of =
these friends have been forced to return to kosova, one of them being =
imprisoned having still a valid permission to stay in switzerland, and =
expulsed. These vents touched me deep in my heart and opened my concern =
for political prisioners.

I would like to help what I can.

Thanks a lot for your help, for your engagement, waiting for a response =
I send you my best greetings. Noemi


______________________________________


_____________________________________________________________


BROVINA AWARDED FOR CIVIL COURAGE
BELGRADE - Kosovo Albanian poet Flora Brovina, sentenced by the Nis Military
Court
to twelve years of imprisonment, on the occasion of the Human Rights Day,
December 10,
received a special award for civil courage in the Balkans, presented by the
Heinrich Bell Foundation, the German interest department in Belgrade stated.
The statement specified that Brovina was awarded for her "courageous and
fearless fight
for human rights since 1990". "At the same time, we want to call the
attention of the
world public to her process. Release of Flora Brovina and other Kosovo
Albanian prisoners from the Serbian prisons should be a test of the
democratic changes  in the country," said in the German foundation's
statement.
--------------------------------
Blakaj brothers acquitted

20 October 2000
The Belgrade District Court has again acquitted two Kosovo Albanian brothers
charged with conspiring to commit acts of terrorism.  Bekim and Safet Blakaj
were first acquitted on 26 October 1999.   On 4 May this year, the Serbian
Supreme Court set aside the decision and ordered a retrial.
Presiding Judge Zoran Savic said the court had rendered the same decision as
in the first trial since the prosecution had presented no new evidence to
substantiate the charge.

Safet Blakaj was tried in absentia.  Bekim Blakaj is expected to be released
from the Belgrade Central Prison today.

----------------------------------------------


IHF INTERVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

(SESSION 5, 19 OCTOBER 2000)
------------------------------------------

Chairman,

I am speaking on behalf of the International Helsinki Federation for Human
Rights (IHF) and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, based in
Belgrade.

For years our organizations have supported the work of the International
Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), working with human rights
non-governmental organizations in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Kosovo to promote the work of the Tribunal and help convince state officials
and the public that the normalization of the region will only be possible if
the issue of war crimes is addressed.

Closer relations and cooperation between Yugoslavia and European structures,
the United States, and the OSCE are developing rapidly.

We want to use this occasion to urge the governments of the OSCE to insist
on cooperation with the Tribunal as a condition for reintegration.  To do
otherwise would be to legitimate the process of denial that has destroyed
the spirit of the Serbian people and will continue to do so if OSCE states
do not adhere to the fundamental principle that justice is not subject to
political expediency.
Like most cliches, the saying "There can be no peace without justice" is
true.
During the campaign for the presidency of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
we urged that this issue be debated.  And after the election of Vojislav
Kostunica we wrote to him, urging full cooperation with the ICTY.

Those indicted for war crimes must be extradited to The Hague now, in this
moment of fresh possibilities.  There is now a chance for Serbia and
Yugoslavia to enter on a new course with regard to justice and human rights,
and dealing with responsibility.  But there is an even stronger chance that
Serbia and the OSCE political community will lose the chance by equivocating
on this issue.

We in the human rights community need you, in positions of political
influence and responsibility, to be strong; to resist the voices of
equivocation and expediency.  Otherwise Serbia may lose its chance truly to
join this community of values.

Thank you for your attention to our appeal.



-------------- next part --------------
HTML attachment scrubbed and removed