Posted on 06/22/2002 10:51:37 PM PDT by ABrit
Before the NATO bombing, the witness was unaware of conflicts in his village or the surrounding area, and there were indeed no Serb residents in Bela Crkva.
At about 3.30 on the morning of the 25th of March, he woke to the sight and sound of 12 green VJ tanks coming from Orahovac, stopping by the mosque in his village. He gathered his family and other relations, immediate family and other relations, and led them to a hiding place in a field on the edge of the village where some 200 other villagers were also gathered. And from this position, they initially saw tanks leaving the village, leaving them to think that it might be safe to return, which they did.
But 15 minutes later, the sound of automatic gunfire as close as 200 metres from them led the witness to gather his family again and take them to the stream that we have seen, if my understanding of the geography is correct. The stream was not so far from his house, but opposite to he direction he'd gone first for safety, for to have fled on this occasion to the woods would have taken his family in the direction of the gunfire. Some 700 villagers gathered in the stream. And the witness and his family walked for about a kilometre in the direction of Rogovo, which I have pointed out to the Chamber, occasionally taking cover because there appeared to be snipers firing in their general direction.
Other gunfire and explosions could be heard. They reached the railway bridge and took shelter underneath it. At about 9.30, they observed, coming along in the same direction as that which they had come, a squad of some 16 policemen dressed in camouflage, wearing armbands. They were all armed with AK-47 assault rifles and had foot-long knives in scabbards attached to their belts. Some policemen also had pistols in their holsters, and one of them was recognised by the witness as a policeman ordinarily conducting normal duties in Orahovac.
Shortly thereafter, the witness saw 13 Kosovo Albanian civilians who were not yet at the bridge but coming towards it, and the police in close proximity. They were fired on by the police, that 13, and only a 2-year-old boy survived. The people under the bridge were still locked into their position by sniper firing coming at their general direction. The police, who had thus committed the first 12 or so murders on this session, split into two groups and took firing positions on the banks on either side of the stream.
An Albanian-speaking Serb policeman ordered them to go towards the police, and he then gave various orders: First that they should put their hands behind their heads and get out of the stream onto the railway line; then that they should be split into groups, women and children on one side and the men divided into two groups on the other. The men were ordered to strip to their underwear before being robbed of cash, jewellery, and identity documents. And one policeman, on finding Mr. Zhuniqi's passport, asked who was Isuf Zhuniqi, and the witness identified himself, to see his passport being torn up by the policeman, along with his identity card and driving licence, the policeman saying, "He might as well be dead."
The Albanian-speaking policeman then ordered the Kosovar Albanian men to get dressed and to gather into a single group, instructed the women and children to leave, following the railway track, in the direction of Xerxe. When the women and children were about a hundred metres away but still in view, a man called Shendet Popaj was knocked to the ground and the leader of the police put his foot on Shendet Popaj's throat.
That young man's uncle - he was, I think, under 20 - his uncle, who was a doctor from Bela Crkva, spoke to the leader of the police, saying, "Leave us alone. We are simple farmers. We are not KLA." Without a word, the police leader opened fire with a short burst from his assault rifle, hitting the doctor in the chest and killing him instantly, then turning his rifle on the young man lying on the ground under his boot. One shot to that young man's head killed him instantly.
The remaining men, about 65 in total, were ordered to climb into the stream. The order to fire was then given, and so far as the witness could judge, all the policemen opened fire with automatic weapons. The witness was hit in the shoulder and fell down, with others falling on top of him, and he remained conscious but pretended to be dead during the shooting that continued immediately for some five minutes. When it stopped, policemen came into the stream and the witness heard some of them saying, and on different occasions, "Well, this one's breathing." That would be followed by a succession of single shots, and the witness remembers well over ten such shots. Later he heard one of the policemen say, "Well, now everyone is dead. Let's go."
The witness waited for some 20 minutes, until everything was quiet. He got up and discovered the number of men around him who had been killed or who had sustained horrifying injuries from the gunfire. He witnessed over 50 bodies, of whom he is able to identify by name 41 in his statement. Despite his injuries, he was able to make his way to Xerxe, where he found his immediate family, where he was given first aid, although he suffered lapses into unconsciousness for the next few days.
Police arrived. This led the witness to leave his family and go into hiding in the mountains, taking a basic medical kit with him, where he found 40 or so more villagers from Bela Crkva, also in hiding, and who informed him that the entire village can be destroyed, with only some two houses not burnt down. He felt able briefly to visit his family in Xerxe on the 31st of March, and there he walked to Nogavac, where there were many displaced persons who had been ordered by the Serbs to gather there.
He was in a barn in that village when a low-flying plane bombed it, or bombed the area, causing the roof to collapse. From that he escaped, suffering some further shrapnel injuries to his arms and head. He then lost consciousness, waking days later in Kukes, in Albania, to which he had been taken by a relation who had found him unconscious. The witness then learned of the bullet that remained lodged in his shoulder. The witness's statement states that there had been no KLA presence in Bela Crkva, but he was never a member of the KLA himself, although a younger brother of his, with whom he had not spoken for some 12 months, had been a member some time prior to the campaign.
The binder contains -- the Bela Crkva binder contains photographs of the x-rays and of the condition of the witness as injured, tabs, I think, 4, 5, and 6. That's the summary. There will now perhaps be further questions from the accused for this witness.
It's kind of like Israel vs. Arafat; except there are so many fine thinkers here on FR that I believe Israel with all my heart.
So for the benefit of those who wish to know more about that particular day's procedings, here is the most excellent account of events by Ian Johnson, who was there at the 'court':
Ian Johnson's account of 'TWO DAYS AT THE "TRIAL" OF SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC'
To spend one day at The Hague Tribunal is enough to confirm the worst of suspicions. What is actually taking place in the heart of 'democratic' Europe is a show-trial so blatant, so lacking in legality, that it brings shame to those who are participating in it and to those who refuse to challenge it…
…On the 6th June prosecution witness Mr Buyo, a KLA commander in the Racak zone during 1999, in his testimony relating to events surrounding the alleged Racak 'massacre', initially claimed that Serbian security forces had opened fire first.
However, later in his testimony when explaining the KLA's actions, he testified that his own forces had merely fired warning shots into the air so as to alert their colleagues of the approaching Serb forces.
Mr Milosevic seized on this discrepancy and pointedly asked the witness, "Why, if it was true that the Serbian security forces had fired first, was it necessary to fire warning shots into the air?" A quite reasonable assumption one would have thought. If you are under attack there is no need for any colleague of yours to fire shots in the air warning you of an approaching enemy.
Mr Milosevic attempted to drive home the significance of this discrepancy at which point, with the witness clearly in trouble, Judge May intervened and instructed, "Move on Mr Milosevic, you have laboured this point enough. Go on to another question." Mr Buyo was off the hook.
A further witness, who admitted his brother was a member of the KLA, claimed he was an eyewitness to a 'massacre' of civilians in his village near Bela Crkva
He testified that Serb forces had entered his peaceful village, separated the women and children from the men and proceeded to execute seventy men, women and children.
In his cross-examination (time limit imposed) Mr Milosevic asked why, if they killed seventy men, women and children so indiscriminately, would they bother separating them in the first place? After a lengthy silence from the witness Judge May interjected, "I don't think you can expect the witness to know that."
The witness's credibility was further undermined when he denied any knowledge of the KLA kidnapping of both Serb and Albanian residents in his village just a few weeks earlier, claiming he must have been away at the time and upon his return no villagers mentioned it to him. Up to that date the kidnapping was the biggest event to occur in his village for years, yet, as a life long resident there, he had never even heard about it.
Proceedings were taking a predictable course. It didn't take much insight to grasp the following: A) The witnesses told a well-rehearsed story. B) If the witnesses got into difficulties during the cross-examination the Judge would intervene…
Everyone knows now that this was a bad move which has created major problems in Europe, and the Hague Tribunal is merely a way for the Nato 'victors' (under the Clinton admin) to try and justify what they did. It will all peter out in a year or so and just disappear.
'A'Brit's version of events is based on his belief that Serbian people don't even have the right to be included in the human race!!?! You can almost hear the goose-stepping.
The "war on terror" carefully avoids the islamic & terrorist actions of its own muslim protectorate of Greater Albania.
The EU has just set itself in motion to create a unified Border Police. Supposedly this is to guard against the mostly muslim illegal immigration that is burying several of the member states (no longer countries, they just don't admit it yet) while at the same time protecting and maintaining a muslim expansion in Eastern Europe.
The US of course cannot follow suit because it's souther neighbor has of late taken to inserting military forces into the US, probably in support of illegal immigration as well as drug running. The EU, UN, et al, of course decry any indication that we might take action in return.
There are clear signs of criminal activity on the part of a former US president and several US and EU/NATO officials yet those same institutions have created a phoney and unlawful tribunal to prosecute the people they attacked.
Taken one at a time each of these would seem insane. Taken as a collection, along with things like animal rights, 'earth-first', forest workers who start forest fires, unaccountable accounting firms, Jessie Jackson, and our own congress, a rationl person might question his or her own sanity.
Kate you don't actually read the transcripts do you? Otherwise you would know that Milosovic was not able to undermine this witness in any way. Strange that it was on the day your commie reported on, strange he didn't mention anything about that.
The question is: what happens next? Any ideas?
think Blaair is great;....Wrong
that the Serbian nation needs to prove its worthiness (to you) that they deserve human status;.....The Serbs need to repent of their sins, I don't suppose they mention that when you go to their churches.
you post one-sided Prosecution transcripts from Den Hague;...It's an unrebutted eyewitness account.
accuse everyone of being a 'Commie';...Only those who qualify.
think that it's acceptable to post a rape story for 'Serb lady fans'....The "rape story" as you put it was part of a judgement of the ICTY, where they found numerous Serbs guilty of the crime of rape, you don't like the truth, so you seek to repress it, when Milosevic is found guilty, I will remind you again, of your support for him and his rapists. You are in fact a "Serb lady fan".
now, I wonder how you may come across on here to anyone with an IQ which runs into double figures?...They probably get the message that I don't like what the Serbs, and Milosevic have done, and I don't like people who support and condone their wicked behaviour, and if the cap fits you, then I guess you'll have to wear it.
If you're judging the entire Serbian nation (which includes Kosovo) for their collective guilt then you will have to share the collective guilt of the actions of your own government 'A'Brit'.
What you're doing is like walking between two lines of protesters at a Pro Choice/Anti Abortion rally and asking the same question - i.e., you are better off doing some research on your own rather than asking the proponents of the various sides.
And yes, I am a proponent of one of those sides.
And yes, I am a proponent of one of those sides.
Yes, the wrong one.
Your Islamazis will be the death of freedom and peace, unless we get on the ball.
Letting a Muslim testify in court is a guarantee of Perjury, unless it's a Shiara law court. Maybe we should use their standards for a rape accusation in Milosevic's trial...they need 4 CREDIBLE witnesses.
Would the witnesses be willing to use a Lie Detector, or Truth Serum (Sodium Pentathol/Sodium Amytal)?
Maybe Milosevic isn't an angel, but given who he was fighting, he has my permission and blessing.
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