Posted on 10/27/2005 6:43:28 PM PDT by mark502inf
Nine Serbian policemen have been arrested for killing 48 ethnic Albanian civilians in 1999 in the town of Suva Reka in Kosovo.
The bodies of the victims, all members of one family, were found in a mass grave at the police compound of Batajnica near the Serbian capital, Belgrade, in 2001. The grave contained the remains of more than 1,000 bodies of ethnic Albanians.
"As far as we know, 48 people were killed in Suva Reka," a spokesman for the war crimes prosecution office, Bruno Vekaric, said. "Fourteen were below the age of 15, one was a pregnant woman aged 24 and one was a very old woman," he added.
The killings of members of the Berisha family happened on 26 March 1999, in a pizzeria in Suva Reka, two days after Nato air raids against Serbia began.
According to the testimony of a survivor, Vjollca Berisha, Serb policemen rounded up people there, allegedly searching for weapons. Then they fired into the crowd with automatic rifles.
Mrs Berisha's two children, aged seven months and two years, died in the massacre. She and her remaining son survived, pretending to be dead.
The arrests of the nine policemen yesterday are the first since the gruesome discovery of the remains more than 180 miles (300km) from Kosovo.
The executions of possibly around 10,000 ethnic Albanian civilians, the transporting of bodies and clandestine burials in Serbia in 1999 was one of the best-kept secrets of the regime of the former leader Slobodan Milosevic. Freezer trucks were used in the operations, aimed at covering up the atrocities against non-Serbs in the rebellious southern province.
Milosevic loyalists have hampered judicial efforts to deal with war crimes. This was confirmed by the fact that six of those detained were on active duty until their arrest.
Not unlike what China is doing to its population esp, baby girls.
I forget which side is muslim
On the morning of the 26th of March, 1999, two tanks were situated outside Vesel's house with their gun barrels pointing towards it. At 12.20 p.m., many men, approximately 30 in number, some in police uniforms and some in civilian clothes, all carrying automatic weapons, run over from the police station to the house of the witness. One of these men, known as Zoran, family name perhaps Popovic or similar, from Suva Reka, called for one of the house occupants, Bujar, to come out. And on doing
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so, Bujar was shot dead. The other occupants were terrified and run out, trying to escape. All the men were stopped. The witness's husband, Nexhat, was told by one named Miskovic to raise his hands in the air. He did so, and the witness saw him shot in the back by --
She was holding the hands of two of their children at the time. There was a lot of shooting and many people were wounded. The survivors, 40 or 50 people, mainly women and children with several Berisha families, were forced into a cafe.
...the coffee shop where the Serb police killed my four children, the children of my sister-in-law, and two other -- the other members of the Berisha family, of the two Berisha families. They forced us into the cafe and told us to sit down. Some were sitting on blankets and some were sitting on chairs. But very soon after that, they began shooting with automatic weapons.
The first one I saw who was closest to me was Zoran, with a lot of others. And after that, I didn't see any more because there were so many people around. And I just heard the shooting, the firing. Then it stopped, the shooting, and then I looked up and I saw
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Vjollca was still alive and said, "Oh, Shyhrete, look what they're doing to us." I said, "Look at, look at Dafina, see where she is." And I looked around and I saw Dafina, Vjollca's daughter. She was suffering.
And the daughter of Musli Berisha said, "Oh, look what they've done to me. Look at my feet, look at my legs," she screamed. And then the bother-in-law of Hajdini said, "Look at my poor Granit. Look what they've done to him."
Then Majlinda said, "Mummy, mummy, look at how they've killed Herolinda." And when I looked around, I saw Herolinda over there and saw her, that she was lying on the ground with five or six bullet holes in her flesh. She had been such a beautiful girl. And Sebahate on the other side said, "Look. They've killed -- they've killed her. They've killed Jori [phoen] and Sherine."
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Q. Witness, how did you survive?
A. I pretended I was dead. And my son Altin and Vjollca, I said to them, "Lie as if you're dead." Because we heard the Serbs talking in their language, saying, "Get the trucks ready and get the bodies out of here as quickly as possible."
Q. Thank you, Witness.
MS. ROMANO: The witness and two other survivors and the corpses of the dead were then loaded onto a truck which drove off in the direction of Prizren. Two gold chains were removed from around her neck. The witness, although severely wounded, managed to jump off the truck in the village of Malsia e Re (Ljutoglav) where some Albanians took care of her. She was taken to Grejkoc and subsequently Budakova, where she received medical treatment for her wounds. Her husband and four children - two daughters and two sons - were killed in Suva Reka.
So, basicly, you want to say that Serbia (Christian country) is law-founded legaly established democracy with respect of human rights, and in other hant hague trubunal is releasing until trial Ramus Haradinay, Kosovo Albanian politician free to act as politician until Hague trial for genocide , rape (raped underage girl) and mass murder? And Albanian-held ethnicaly cleamsed from any Christians Kosovo is teritory of terror genocide and Al-khaida retreat resourt?
Hmmmm...
I go to salute Serbia.
And I just heard the shooting, the firing. Then it stopped, the shooting, and then I looked up and I saw
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Vjollca was still alive and said, "Oh, Shyhrete, look what they're doing to us." I said, "Look at, look at Dafina, see where she is." And I looked around and I saw Dafina, Vjollca's daughter. She was suffering.
And the daughter of Musli Berisha said, "Oh, look what they've done to me. Look at my feet, look at my legs," she screamed. And then the bother-in-law of Hajdini said, "Look at my poor Granit. Look what they've done to him."
Then Majlinda said, "Mummy, mummy, look at how they've killed Herolinda." And when I looked around, I saw Herolinda over there and saw her, that she was lying on the ground with five or six bullet holes in her flesh. She had been such a beautiful girl. And Sebahate on the other side said, "Look. They've killed -- they've killed her. They've killed Jori [phoen] and Sherine."
Kronos, you are found out. And you and those like you in Serbia who continue to "salute" the murders described above are exactly why the USA has ruled out the return of Kosovo to its pre-1999 status of direct rule from Serbia.
That would be good but it would also be good to have a balanced view of what crimes they actually did commit which this one-sided article does not provide.
Well, the article is about just one incident, the Suva Reka massacre. There are plenty of reports about the "crimes they actually did commit" on-line:
From the OSCE;
and HRW
["With the beginning of talks on final status for Kosovo only weeks away, it appears..., that it is highly unlikely they will successfully negotiate to get Kosovo back again."]
It appears China is going to have something to say about this http://news.suc.org/bydate/2005/October_28/2.html
In any event, while agreement from the UNSC would be nice--it is not necessarily the final determining factor. The Kosovo Contact Group (USA, Russia, UK, Germany, France, Italy) carries more "juice" than the UN in the Balkans. If they decide on a solution and have to bypass the UNSC because of a potential Chinese veto, it'll happen.
I could imagine Russia's (et al.) trepidation regarding this issue because the potential precedence it would set e.g., Chechnya demanding its independence from Russia; Taiwan demanding its independence from China; "Kurdistan" wanting its independence from Turkey; and so on...
"Kronos, you are found out. And you and those like you in Serbia who continue to "salute" the murders described above are exactly why the USA has ruled out the return of Kosovo to its pre-1999 status of direct rule from Serbia."
I go to salute Serbia. Serbia is law based country, civilised and democratic. It can prosecute persons responsabile for killing inocent, but yet to congratulate and promote anti-terrorist kampaing of 1999.
Albanian, Church-burning- Shristian killing Al-Khaida mambers can`t do that.
In 15 march 2004. pogrom Italian soldiers at Visoki Dechani monastery killed several Albanians an having two soldiers killed by Albanians trying to burn monestery.
Sorry. My support goes to anti-terror campaign allaround the world, in Iraq, Afganistan, Kosovo...
And for persons killing inocent, jail is ideal place.
Kronos, like so much of what you post and evidently sincerely believe, this is simply untrue. No Italian or any other soldiers were killed in the March riots.
Serbia is law based country, civilised and democratic.
You've got to be kidding. The Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians, Kosovars would all argue with all or parts of that. And after Milosevic-associated gangsters assassinated Prime Minister Djindjic, I think his next of kin would also have something to say about your characterization of Serbia.
But there are those who would agree with you.
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