[ALBSA-Info] Yugoslavia pardons deserters

[Iris Pilika]

The law, aimed primarily at the many young men who dodged the draft, does 
not apply to those charged with so-called terrorism -- mostly Kosovo 
Albanians.




Yugoslavia pardons deserters


February 27, 2001
Web posted at: 1254 GMT


BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- An amnesty law has pardoned about 30,000 people 
accused of anti-state crimes during the rule of former Yugoslav President 
Slobodan Milosevic.

The law, aimed primarily at the many young men who dodged the draft, does 
not apply to those charged with so-called terrorism -- mostly Kosovo 
Albanians.

Politicians loyal to Milosevic blasted the measure, holding up placards at 
the end of the debate accusing Yugoslavia's new leadership of releasing 
"traitors" and arresting "Serb heroes."

"Release Rade Markovic!" said one card, referring to the former secret 
police chief, whose arrest on suspicion of multiple murder was announced 
during the weekend.

The session even had to be temporarily suspended when Yugoslavia's defence 
minister and an ultra-nationalist leader came to blows.

Neither Defence Minister Slobodan Krapovic nor Vojislav Seselj, the leader 
of the Serbian Radicals, was seriously hurt and the law was approved Monday 
evening by both chambers of parliament.

It covers about 28,000 draft dodgers and deserters from the army during a 
series of Balkan wars in the 1990s, mainly during NATO's 1999 bombing of 
Yugoslavia.

It was not immediately clear how many were in jails and how many had fled 
the country.

Milosevic's wife, Mirjana Markovic, leader of the Yugoslav Left Party, said 
during the heated debate that Serbs "will give up their right to resist 
aggression" if the law was passed.


Markovic's arrest has upset Milosevic allies
But Yugoslav Justice Minister Momcilo Grubac rejected this saying the aim 
was to restore social peace and integration.

"A law like this one does not bring into question the state's defence 
capacity, but it is destroyed by irresponsible politicians who have led the 
people for 10 years into senseless wars, misfortunes and tragedies."

Ethnic Albanians made up only 0.6 percent of those to be pardoned, said 
Grubac.

He had earlier signalled that ethnic Albanians sentenced without proper 
evidence but not covered by the law could be freed under a separate proposal 
submitted to Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica.

Up to 2,000 ethnic Albanians were charged, mostly with "terrorism."

Some were sentenced to up to 15 years in prison during and after NATO's 
11-week bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 to halt its repression of Kosovo's 
ethnic Albanian majority.

Many have since been released, but Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic 
said about 580 ethnic Albanians are still in jails in Serbia, which together 
with Montenegro forms Yugoslavia.

Of these, 108 were sentenced for criminal acts covered by the amnesty law 
but 326 were sentenced for terrorism and 146 for other crimes not covered by 
new legislation, he said.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.



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