[A-PAL] a-pal newsletter 9/10/01

[Alice Mead]

Albanian Prisoner Advocacy
September 10, 2001


                        A-PAL STATEMENT
The outrage continues.

Despite renewed efforts at obtaining the release or transfer of the 
remaining Albanian prisoners, the so-called District Courts of Kosova 
(now operating without UNMIK jurisdiction in Serbia) are still 
denying justice for Albanians accused of terrorism during the 
hostilities in Kosova. These particular prisoners have been illegally 
detained since 1998. There is no valid evidence against them. They 
were denied the right to defend themselves. All were severely 
tortured. Two prisoners were killed at Dubrava.

Is not the Pristina District Court located in Pristina? If you 
answered yes, you would be wrong. The Pristina Court claims itself to 
be located in Nis, Serbia! It also claims to have sole jurisdiction 
over the citizens of Kosova. This is the court that sentenced Flora 
Brovina to 12 years for terrorism because of some bags of yarn in her 
office.

It is equally stupefying that Hans Haekkerup, Ibrahim Rugova, Hasim 
Thaci, Amnesty International, UNHCHR, ICRC, Human Rights Watch have 
no comment to make about the continued defiant operation of these 
courts arbitrarily set up by Slobodan Milosevic to prosecute the 
cases of the Albanians he brought into Serbia on June 10, 1999.


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>Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 10:07:35 -0700
>From: humanitarian law center <office at hlc.org.yu>
>Subject: HLC - PRESS - JUDGMENT DELIVERED TO KOSOVO ALBANIANS TWO AND A HALF
>  YEARS AFTER BEING PRONOUNCED


>Another four Kosovo Albanians - Sulejman Bytiqi, Besim Zumberi, 
>Skender Ferizi and Agim Rechica - who are charged with of acts of 
>terrorism, are still in the penitentiaries at Nis and Sremska 
>Mitrovica.


>
>JUDGMENT DELIVERED TO KOSOVO ALBANIANS TWO AND A HALF YEARS AFTER 
>BEING PRONOUNCED
>
>
>
>Four Kosovo Albanians from the so-called "Urosevac Group" received 
>the judgment handed down against them by the Pristina District Court 
>two and a half years after the event.  The Court thus denied these 
>four men, who
>have been illegally held since June 1998, the right to defend 
>themselves. Their defense counsel, including Humanitarian Law Center 
>attorneys, can only now lodge an appeal with the Serbian Supreme 
>Court.
>
>On 5 February 1999, a panel of the Pristina District Court presided 
>by Judge Dragoljub Zdravkovic found 26 Albanians from the Kosovo 
>town of Urosevac, 17 of whom were tried in absentia, guilty of 
>seditious conspiracy and/or terrorism and sentenced them to prison 
>terms ranging from two to 15 years.
>
>The Court's decision was based on confessions extracted by torture. 
>Cen Dugolli and Rexhep Bislimi died in July 1998 after being 
>tortured by State Security inspectors at the police station in 
>Gnjilane and the Pristina prison. Xhavit Zariqi was severely beaten 
>and subjected to electric shocks almost every day from 28 June to 20 
>July 1998 by State
>Security Inspectors Rajko Doder and Radovan Klaric and some 20 
>police officers. As a result of this brutal treatment, Zariqi, who 
>was sentenced to three years in prison, is now unable to move about 
>without assistance.
>
>Zariqi and Haxhi Bytiqi were released until their sentences become 
>final as they received terms of less than five years. Enver Topalli 
>and Ahmet Hoxha were killed during the NATO bombing of the Dubrava 
>Penitentiary in Kosovo. Ilber Topalli was released in March 2001 
>under the Amnesty Act.
>
>Another four Kosovo Albanians - Sulejman Bytiqi, Besim Zumberi, 
>Skender Ferizi and Agim Rechica - who are charged with of acts of 
>terrorism, are still in the penitentiaries at Nis and Sremska 
>Mitrovica.
>
>For more information please contact Mojca Sivert
>Tel./fax: 381 11 444-3944, 381 11 444-1487; e-mail: mojca at hlc.org.yu
>
>
>
>
>
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