13.09.2024. » 11:11
#4 Trial of the accused for the Dubrava Prison massacre, witness: Prisoners hid in wells, and grenades were thrown there too
At the trial of Gavrilo Milosavljević, accused by the Prosecution for the Dubrava Prison massacre, the first witness testified.
Milosavljević is accused of, in his capacity as an official at Dubrava Prison, individually and in collaboration with others, for applying repressive measures of killing, beating, mistreatment, torture, and cruel and inhumane treatment of Albanian civilian prisoners.
Today, on September 11, 2024, witness Avdi Mehmeti, responding to the Prosecution's questions, recounted that in May 1999, he was imprisoned at Dubrava Prison and experienced the massacre that occurred there.
Regarding the critical day, the witness testified that on that day, some prison guards at the watchtower had called for him to line up on the sports field, saying that they wanted to transfer them to another prison, and he went out into the yard.
"There were several rows; I don’t know exactly how many, but I was in the last row," witness Avdi Mehmeti said.
Continuing his testimony, he revealed that after the lineup on the sports field, hand grenades started being thrown, and the attack came from outside the prison walls.
"Those in the first row suffered the most," witness Avdi Mehmeti said.
He stated that after that day, shooting resumed, and according to him, they were shot with automatic rifles and "Zolja (mortar or an RPG)."
"Who were the people that were shooting?" asked prosecutor Ilir Morina.
"They were prison guards, I'm sure of it," was the answer from witness Avdi Mehmeti.
"I don’t know how many were killed, but as someone who experienced it, I regret that the numbers of victims are being manipulated," the witness Mehmeti added during today's session.
He further testified that the prisoners had hidden in wells, and grenades were thrown into the wells as well.
At the end of his testimony, witness Avdi Mehmeti said he did not know the accused, Gavrilo, as his captor and that he first heard about him when he was arrested in 2022.
Prior to today's session, during the first witness's testimony, opening statements were made, first by prosecutor Morina and then by defense attorney Dejan Vasić, who is defending the accused Gavrilo Milosavljević.
During the opening statements, prosecutor Morina revealed that witnesses will be presented who individually recount their personal experiences from the day of the event, and a total of 21 witnesses are planned.
Meanwhile, defense attorney Dejan Vasić, during his opening statement, said that Gavrilo had returned to the Istok/Istog municipality and had fought for more than two decades to regain his mother's apartment from a usurper, while his mother had died under unknown circumstances. He was arrested at the moment he finally regained ownership of the apartment.
This case is being handled in the Special Department by the trial panel consisting of Vesel Ismajli, the presiding judge, and two members – Arben Hoti and Kujtim Krasniqi.
The next court session on this matter is expected to be held in October.
The indictment against the accused Gavrilo Milosavljević was filed on November 29, 2023, while the initial hearing was held on December 7, 2023.
During the initial hearing, the accused Milosavljević, after the reading of the indictment by the Prosecution, stated that he understood the charge but declared that he was not guilty.
What does the Prosecution's file say?
According to the Prosecution's file, during the period 1998-1999, during the war in Kosovo, the accused Gavrilo Milosavljević, in his capacity as an official at Dubrava Prison, individually and in collaboration with others, applied repressive measures of killing, beating, mistreatment, torture, and cruel and inhumane treatment of Albanian civilian prisoners.
According to the indictment, Gavrilo Milosavlević, in collaboration with Serbian police units, carried out the mass killing of Albanian prisoners. On the day of the incident, they ordered 1,000 prisoners to gather in the prison yard, known as the "sports field," under the pretense that they were going to count the prisoners and transfer them to a safer place to protect them from NATO bombings.
Furthermore, according to the indictment, immediately after the prisoners were lined up, the Serbian police units opened fire with all kinds of weapons, including "Kalashnikovs," machine guns, mortars, and other weapons, while grenades were thrown from behind the prison wall.
From this killing operation, which began on May 22, 1999, and lasted until May 24, 1999, 109 prisoners were killed, and 108 prisoners were wounded as a result of these attacks.
Additionally, according to the indictment, the accused Milosavljević, in collaboration with other Serbian military officials, went almost daily to the "B" and "C" pavilions (the Dubrava Prison pavilions), where they cruelly and inhumanely beat Albanian civilian prisoners, physically and psychologically maltreating them without any reason other than the fact that they were Albanian.
For these actions, the accused Gavrilo Milosavljević is charged with committing the criminal offense of war crimes against the civilian population in collaboration with others.
For the massacres and other war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo by Serbian and Yugoslav forces during the 1998-1999 war, several former top political and military leaders of the Yugoslavia and Serbia were trialed and some of them convicted.
Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Serbian and Yugoslav forces in Kosovo.
Milošević was also accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in Croatia.
His trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague did not conclude as Milošević died on March 11, 2006, in a detention cell.
Millan Milutinović, the former president of Serbia, was acquitted of war crimes charges during 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 in prison for crimes against humanity.
Nebojša Pavković, former commander of the Third Army of the Yugoslav Army, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war.
Vladimir Lazarević, former commander of the Priština Corps of the Yugoslav Army, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for crimes against humanity.
Sreten Lukić, former head of staff of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs for Kosovo, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war.
You can find the full verdict in English at the link:
https://www.icty.org/x/cases/milutinovic/acjug/en/140123.pdf.
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