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Arrest the real perp:
Posted on 01/19/2004 11:27:35 AM PST by DTA
Berliner Zeitung, Saturday, January 17, 2004
No interest in fallen Serbs Work of the Hague tribunal in Racak case criticized
Markus Bickel
SARAJEVO/HELSINKI, January - Finnish pathologist Helena Ranta has expressed lack of comprehension regarding the work of the UN's Hague tribunal in the case of the so-called massacre of Racak.
In an interview with "Berliner Zeitung", the head of the forensic team sent by the EU to investigate occurrences in the Kosovo village of Racak in January, 1999, criticized that indications of serious fighting between Serbian soldiers and Albanian fighters on the night of 15th to 16th of January, 1999, in the Racak area had been inadequately pursued.
The tragedy in the Kosovo village exactly five years ago in which more than 40 Albanians died was used by Western politicians to convince the public of the necessity of the approaching NATO attack on Yugoslavia. U.S. diplomat William Walker played a central role. The chief of OSCE's Kosovo mission immediately accused the Serbs of having summarily executed 45 unarmed Albanian civilians in Racak. The Serbian side rejected this view and spoke about UCK fighters fallen in battle.
Photos not published
Ranta said she knows that "KLA fighters were buried near to Racak" at that time. "I had already gotten information proving that there several Serbian soldiers were also shot. Unfortunately, we will probably never find out the exact number of the Serbs that fell on that night." The question needs to be asked "why the Tribunal is not interested in this number." Ranta criticized that the indictment against the Yugoslav ex-president Milosevic in the Racak case largely follows the version of events put forward by Walker. "If ambassador Walker says that there has been a massacre in Racak, that statement has no legal effect. Even at that time I expressed that the OSCE observers had forgotten all the steps one usually expects by way of protection of the scene: its isolation, the exclusion of unauthorized persons as well as gathering of evidence." Ranta demanded the publishing of the pictures of two other photographers in addition to the OSCE photos of the scene which were also taken a few hours before the arrival of the OSCE observers.
The pictures showed "that at least one of the bodies was later moved. This body did not appear in the OSCE pictures."
Left in a lurch
During the days before beginning of the NATO attacks on Yugoslavia it was clear "that a whole series of governments had an interest in a version of Racak events which held only the Serbian side responsible," said Ranta. "However, I could not provide them with this version." She had gotten her instructions from the German diplomat, Ambassador Pauls, the representative of the German EU presidency of that time, who asked her to prepare a written tatement.
"Afterwards I had to show this individual statement to William Walker, who was obviously far from enthusiastic when he read it." Nevertheless, she agreed to participate in the important news conference on March 17, 1999. "On that occasion, I sat together with the German ambassador in Belgrade, Gruber, and a Finnish diplomat on the stage. I hoped that both men would support me." Unfortunately, that was not the case. "Instead, I had the feeling of having been left in a lurch," said Ranta. As a the result of this news conference dominated by Walker, most media considered the version of a Serbian massacre over Albanian civilians confirmed. Few days later the NATO air attacks on Yugoslavia began.
"El Salvador" Walker was sloppy.
Clinton's Kosovo legacy exposed.
In Court, she stated that the scene had not been staged. The victims were shot where their bodies were found. Their clothing was not changed after death and there were no indications of people being other than unarmed civilians. Her team compared bullets dug out of the ground beneath the bodies with those recovered from bodies and found they had identical markings.
You can read a report of her testimony here.
or if you really like reading, here is the transcript of her trial testimony.
And here’s a couple articles in which Dr. Ranta replies to what she calls all the “nonsense” about Racak.
As near as I can tell doing my own investigations, Serbs are the closest thing there are to civilized people in the Balkans, and every single one of the various accusations of atrocities against them appear to be fabricated. The story of the "Racak massacre" in my judgement is fabricated. The worst case of all is the case of Trnolpoje, a supposed "Bosnian Serb death camp, which upon closer inspection turned out to be a sort of a refugee waystation or hostel at which Serbs were caring for refugees of all stripes at their own expense.
Even Joseph Goebbels would be ashamed to tell a lie that grandiose. The big question is, once you understand how two or three of these stories actually work and what kind of people are behind them: Which of these bullshit stories are we supposed to go on believing?
How stupid do they think we are?
During the days before beginning of the NATO attacks on Yugoslavia it was clear "that a whole series of governments had an interest in a version of Racak events which held only the Serbian side responsible," said Ranta. "However, I could not provide them with this version." She had gotten her instructions from the German diplomat, Ambassador Pauls, the representative of the German EU presidency of that time, who asked her to prepare a written statement.
Arrest the real perp:
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| <!a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/racak/index.html">Racak<!/a> | Kosovo coverage | links |
The Road to Racak
Based on a World at Six documentary by
Michael McAuliffe
CBC Radio News
I wonder how that woman sleeps at night. With her silence, she became an accomplice in murder of more than 500 civilians and destruction of livelihood of millions.
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