Written by: Andy Wilcoxson
The trial of Slobodan Milosevic resumed on
Monday, with Milosevic present in the courtroom. Milosevic, citing Article 21
of the ICTY statute, raised an objection to the trial chamber’s attempt to
continue the trial in his absence last week.
With Milosevic present in the court, Kosta Bulatovic answered Mr. Nice’s
cross-examination. Unfortunately, the contempt charges against him are still
in force, and he will have to return to the tribunal on May 5th.
Mr. Nice’s cross-examination was rather odd. In 1994 Bulatovic had allegedly
signed a petition, and gave a newspaper interview that was critical of
Milosevic.
Bulatovic had criticized Milosevic for not intervening in Bosnia and Croatia,
and leaving the Serbian population to fend for itself against the Croats and
the Muslims. Bulatovic’s contention was that Milosevic’s failure to support
the Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia enabled Muslims and Croats to commit
atrocities against the Serbs.
I really can not understand why Mr. Nice elicited this testimony from the
witness. Mr. Nice’s case is that Milosevic’s backing caused or enabled Serbs
in Bosnia and Croatia to commit atrocities against Croats and Muslims.
Testimony that accuses Milosevic for not supporting the Serbs in Bosnia and
Croatia only goes to undermine the prosecution's case.
Mr. Nice attempted to say that the trial of a group of Kosovo-Albanians, who
had formed an illegal “police force” in 1994, was the result of Bulatovic’s
petition and newspaper interview. Unfortunately for the prosecution, the
charges were filed against the illegal Albanian “policemen” before the
newspaper article or the petition.
Apparently, the state did not need a political motivation to file criminal
charges against a group of armed vigilantes who decided to call themselves
policemen.
After Bulatovic concluded his testimony the trial heard testimony from Dragan
Jasovic. Jasovic, is a Serbian policeman who worked in the Racak area up until
NATO forced the police to withdraw from Kosovo. Previously, Jasovic had been a
prosecution witness at the Limaj trial.
According to Jasovic, the majority of policemen in the area around Racak were
ethnic-Albanians in 1998 and 1999. Unfortunately, the Albanians who worked for
the police were targeted by the KLA. One of Jasovic’s Albanian colleagues was
killed, and another was kidnapped by the KLA.
Jasovic testified that Racak was a KLA stronghold. According to information
that the Albanian population had given to the police, the KLA had a staff of
80 to 120 men in Racak.
The witness said that the KLA carried out terrorist attacks, killings, and
abductions against policemen and civilians. The KLA attacked Serbs and Roma as
well as Albanians who had friendly relations with non-Albanians. They
especially targeted people who worked for the state, or in state-owned
companies, Jasovic said.
Jasovic brought 90 witness statements to court with him; the population in and
around Racak gave these statements. The statements identify KLA members, and
speak of KLA activities in the area of Racak.
The witness asked that the identities of the people who gave the statements be
kept secret. He said that the ANA (Albanian National Army) and the KPC (Kosovo
Protection Corps), were an outgrowth of the KLA and that these organizations
would attack any individuals that they learned had cooperated with the Serbian
authorities.
Jasovic testified that the statements these people gave had been given of
their own free will, and that nobody had forced them to give any statements.
The statements are contemporaneous, and were not generated for use in this
trial. They were made for the use of the police.
During the testimony of Danica Marinkovic, Mr. Nice alleged that Albanians had
been forced, under threat of violence, to give statements to Jasovic. The
prosecution had collected statements from Albanians alleging this. However the
trial chamber ruled that the statements Mr. Nice collected were inadmissible.
Mr. Nice’s statements were not contemporaneous, and they were generated
specifically for use in the trial.
During Mr. Jasovic’s career as a policeman in Kosovo, he was never the subject
of a complaint either from Serbs or from Albanians. He will continue his
testimony when the trial resumes on Tuesday.
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