08.12.2024. » 20:00
#14 Trial of Dragisha Millenković - Witness Recounts Tortures Endured in Lipjan Prison
Dragisa Milenković, accused of war crimes in Kosovo, appeared again on 08.11.2024 as defendant at the Prishtina Court.
Milenković is charged by the Special Prosecution Office for acts considered war crimes against the civilian population during the 1999 war, committed in his official capacity at Prishtina and Lipjan prisons. In the hearing held on 08.11.2024, witness Bajrush Xhemajli gave his testimony before the trial panel.
The witness recounted his experiences as a detainee in Lipjan Prison. Xhemajli stated that he had been held in Lipjan Prison from May 24, 1999, until June 10, 1999. During his testimony, Xhemajli described the harsh treatment he and other prisoners endured at Lipjan Prison. He said that upon arrival, the detainees were met with brutal treatment by the guards. The guards had created a double line through which the detainees had to pass to the prison.
“The prisoners had to pass between the row of guards, and they would all hit us as hard as they could. Woe to the one who fell, as no one would help them up,” stated witness Bajrush Xhemajli. The witness recounted that the mistreatment continued in the prison corridors, where the police used violence against them and attacked them with iron rods. The witness declared that there were 30 people in the cell and that there were no prison rules in place. “There were about 30 of us in the cell. There were no prison rules there; you were a captive. The treatment was extremely harsh. At first, there were only two sponges for sleeping, and the food consisted of a quarter loaf of bread,” said witness Bajrush Xhemajli regarding his experiences in Lipjan Prison.
“In fact, we would go to bed hungry and wake up hungry... we would faint, and when we stood up quickly, we felt dizzy... and we were allowed to go to the toilet only once a day,” added witness Xhemajli. When asked by prosecutor Atdhe Dema whether he had seen the defendant, Dragisa Millenković, in Lipjan Prison, the witness stated that he had not. “I don’t remember; perhaps he could have been there, but I wasn’t focused on who was present. Even if my own brother had been there, I wouldn’t have recognized him because the situation was extremely dire," said witness Xhemajli. Furthermore, witness Xhemajli declared that a fellow prisoner who had stayed with him had told him that the defendant Milenković had beaten him.
Regarding the cordon, the witness said it was about 30 meters long and that over 50 uniformed individuals, most of them guards, were present in that cordon. Witness Bajrush Xhemajli, who also holds the status of a victim, has not filed any legal or financial claims. Other witnesses were scheduled to testify in this hearing, but due to their absence, the Friday hearing was adjourned. The hearings related to this criminal case are scheduled to continue in the coming weeks.
The trial panel in this case consists of Kujtim Krasniqi, Presiding, and Judges Rrahman Beqiri and Arben Hoti, as members.
What does the prosecution file say?
Milenković is accused of committing acts considered war crimes against the civilian population during the last war in 1999, in his capacity as an official at the Prishtina and Lipjan prisons.
He was arrested by the Kosovo Police on June 21, 2023, an arrest that sparked protests in Gračanica. On June 22, 2023, Milenković was brought before the Prishtina Court, where he was placed under pre-trial detention. Milenković is accused of forcing prisoners, transferred from the Dubrava Prison to the Prishtina and Lipjan prisons, to pass through a cordon, during which they were beaten with sticks, fists, and kicks. According to the Prosecution’s file, the prisoners were systematically subjected to inhumane treatment, including torture, maltreatment, threats to their lives, and severe physical injuries, as well as health consequences.
In addition, the indictments states that the prisoners were also subjected to psychological violence. Milenković is accused of committing these acts in collaboration with three other officials, including the former director of the Prishtina District Prison, Lubomir Cimburović, and guards Predrag Bradić and Milivoje Ilić. According to prosecutor Atdhe Dema, these actions are in violation of the International Geneva Conventions. For the massacres, other war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo by Serbian and Yugoslav forces during the 1998/1999 war, the highest-ranking political and military leaders of the remaining Yugoslavia and Serbia have been tried, and some have been convicted.
The former president of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošević, was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Serbian and Yugoslav forces in Kosovo. Milošević was also charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. His trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), based in The Hague, did not conclude, as Milošević died on March 11, 2006, in his cell while in detention. Milan Milutinović, former President of Serbia, was acquitted of war crime charges related to the Kosovo conflict. Nikola Šainović, Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war. Dragoljub Ojdanić, former Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army, was sentenced to 15 years for crimes against humanity. Nebojša Pavković, former Commander of the Third Army of the Yugoslav Army, was sentenced to 22 years for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war. Vladimir Lazarević, former Commander of the Pristina Corps of the Yugoslav Army, was sentenced to 14 years for crimes against humanity. Sreten Lukić, former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia's Kosovo staff, was sentenced to 20 years for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war.
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