FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794
Posted on 06/11/2002 11:17:29 AM PDT by konijn
William Walker begins testimony against Milosevic
In the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, today, at the Hague Tribunal, the Prosecution called on two witnesses who claimed they had survived when the police shot over a hundred men and set them on fire, in the village of Mala Krusa on March 26th 1999.
One of the witnesses, Mehmet Avdiu, dismissed Milosevic’s claims that the testimonies are false, showing burn scars on his hands to the court. The witnesses said in their statements that the Serbian police forced over 100 men from Velika Krusa into a building, that day, killed them with automatic gunfire and then set them on fire. Ramadani said in his statement that it had happened in a barn, with two separate spaces and a corridor, while Avdiu claimed it was a house with two rooms and a hallway. Ramadani said the police opened fire from the door, and Avdiu that they shot from the window. During cross-examination, Milosevic asked Avdiu of these differences, but the witness still claimed his story was true. Presiding judge Richard May, told the defendant that if he believes the witness made up his story, he should ask him. “Well I think they both made it up”, Milosevic answered. “I didn’t make it up. I couldn’t possibly make something like that up. I came to tell you the truth, and show you my burns”, Avdiu said, showing his scars.
He said policemen, after shooting the men, threw hay on the bodies and set it on fire. After a while, when the heat became unbearable, he jumped out the window and hid in the nearby house of his uncle.
In the second part of the trial, former OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission chief, William Walker testified, emphasizing that the victims he had seen in Racak appeared to be civilians and that there were no indications that they were involved in combat. Speaking of visiting Racak on January 16th 1999, a day after the police had entered the village; Walker said he saw bodies of older men, with gray hair, in typical peasant clothes, and then a pile of dead bodies in a ditch above the village. He said he saw “multiple bullet wounds on the heads, faces and bodies”, and a lot of bloodstains soaked in the clothing. According to him, blood on the ground indicated that the victims had been killed at the spot. “I saw no evidence of uniforms, no military insignia, weapons or ammunition shells, no sign of combat”, he said. He said the OSCE mission received first information on Racak from general Dusan Loncar, who said that 15 KLA members had been killed in a security forces operation on January 15th. The witness said he saw “two dozen” bodies at the spot, and that he was told there are more a little further, but the did not want to look. Walker stated that what he saw was in complete accordance with what the eyewitnesses and women from Racak had said, and completely opposite to the claims of general Loncar. The villagers had told him, he said, how the police entered the village, separated the men from the women, and then took them out of the village. “My conclusion was that the government’s version doesn’t fit what I had seen, which fits with what the villagers had told me. The men were captured by the police, took them out of the village and the next morning they were found dead”, Walker said. He said, speaking f his meetings with Milosevic that he was informed “in detail” on the events in Kosovo. “I never questioned that he had complete control over Kosovo”, Walker stressed. Trial resumes tomorrow at 9:30 with the cross-examination of Walker.
06/11/2002 18:09 GMT+2 --
- one of the first two witnesses told the court that the two rooms where they put the 110 men were both 4 x 4 meters.
-Walker stated a bad leg, frost and slippery slope as reasons why he din't wanted the look to these bodies. He thus only saw half of the racak victims (and so did we on the video that was made. Does anybody else has links to photo's video. There almost nothing i can find while a whole press core was present!
Wish the hell the 'tribunal' release of the 'Video Achives' be more timely and dependable. I probably won't be able to watch Walker until tommorrow if I'm lucky.
In a previous cross examination, of the 'Canadian General', Milosevic brought out the discrepancy that two numbers are being reported, 40 dead and 45 dead in Racal. And said he would address it later. Did he bring it up with Walker?
All one has to do is watch CNN's [hardly a pro-Serb outfit] "The Valley", to see that most KLA members did not wear uniforms or military insignia. Walker knows that.
Also, after a military action isn't it normal to pick up weapons? Are you going to leave them there for the next terrorist to pick up? Surely, walker knows that.
Dead people are often a sign of combat. Doesn't Wlaker know that?
The blood of many thousand are on the hands of the scum Walker. How can he look himself in the mirror!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.