9 May 2000

On 8 May, the District Court in Kraljevo found Agim, Kasim and Mustafa Ahmetaj and Nazuf Deljiljaj guilty of seditous conspiracy and sentenced the three Ahmetaj brothers to 18 months in prison and Deljiljaj to 19 months. Immediately after sentencing, the four Kosovo Albanians, all from Rezala village in Srbica Township, were discharged on account of jail credit as they had been in custody since their arrest on 24 September 1998.

The Ahmetaj brothers and Deljilaj were accused of membership in the Kosovo Liberation Army and of opening fire on several occasions on members of the Serbian police force in the Srbica area. A police officer was slightly wounded in one such attack on 23 May 1998. At the trial, the four defendants denied having committed the criminal offenses they were charged with. Their defense counsel, including a Humanitarian Law Center staff attorney, moved for acquital because of lack of evidence. The only evidence presented by the prosen Aliaga, Besnik Mejzini, Behar Koshi, Halil Guta, Adrijatik Vokshi, Naser Shunjaku, Mustafa Ukaj, Adnan Koshi, Imer Guta, Arbnor Koshi, Perparim Zajnulahu, Fatimir Tafarshiku, Lulzim Qerimi, Feriz Bozdaraj, Luan Dzeka, Menduh Duraku, Adrijatik Pula, Bekim Lota, Ferat Lujani, Agim Muhadzeri and Dukadjin Pula. Altogether 105 defendants have been heard since the trial opcks on members of the police force and army and in which a police officer and two soldiers were killed and several o

thers wounded. The court did not question the defendants about these incidents but generally about their activities from the beginning of the NATO intervention.

When all the defendants are heard, the court will consider the evidence presented by the prosecution and defense. The trial is expected to close on Friday, 12 May when Judge Goran Petronijevic is to pronounce judgement after hearing the closing arguments of the prosecution and defense.

HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE

HLC ATTORNEYS QUESTIONED BY POLICE

9 May 2000

Teki Bokshi and Mustafa Radoniqi, attorneys on the staff of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) offices in Kosovo, were taken in by police in Nis for the second time since the opening of the trial of the so-called ôDjakovica Group.ö Boskhi and Radoniqi were picked up by three uniformed officers at the Ambasador Hotel in Nis half an hour after midnight on 8 May and taken in a police van to the police station, allegedly for an identity check. Another attorney on the defense team, Dragan Zonic, who was also staying at the hotel, was not disturbed. The two attorneys were questioned about the reasons for their stay in Nis, their papers were checked and half an hour later they were driven back to the hotel.

Bokshi and Radoniqi are among the lawyers who are defending a group of 145 Kosovo Albanians from Djakovica whose trial opened in Nis on 18 April after they had spent a year in custody. They are the only ethnic Albanian lawyers defending Kosovo Albanians before courts in Serbia. They have been detained and questioned by poliN RE-ARRESTED

9 May 2000

Momcilo Veljkovic and Radojko Lukovic, activists of the Otpor [Resistance] organization, were re-arrested last night in Pozarevac, 12 hours after being released from custody by the investigating judge. Natasa Bogovic and Bojan Toncic, reporters of the non-government daily Danas, and Mile Veljkovic, brother of Momcilo Veljkovic and a correspondent of the non-government BETA news agency and Blic daily, were arrested together with the two Otpor activists. Veljkovic, Lukovic and another Otpor activist, Nebojsa Sokolovic Were first arrested on 2 May and released by the investigating judge on 8 May. During this period, they were not allowed any contact with their lawyers û attorneys of non-governmental organizations and others û or with their family members. The Yugoslav Constitution guarantees the right to a lawyer from the moment of arrest. Under the Criminal Procedure Code, however, an accused has the right to a lawyer only from the time he is brought before the investigating judge. The three Otpor activist

s, as indeed all arrested persons, were thus denied the right to defense lawyers while in police detetion.

The three activists were questioned by Investigating Judge Bosko Papovic of the Pozarevac District Court: Veljkovic in Pozarevac and Lukovic and Sokolovic in the Belgrade Prison Hospital. Seventy-two hour detention orders were issued for Veljkovic and Sokolovic while police presented no dention order to Lukovic. Since police detention can last only 72 hours under the Criminal Procedure Code, it ensues that Veljkovic aession of the JUL local committee for Pozarevac on 4 May, Ivan Markovic, secretary of the partyÆs Directorate, said ôa group of hooligans with the fascist emblem of Otpor fired at Milan Lazic and injured his brother Sasa by striking him on the head with a pistol butt.ö

Questioned by the investigating judge

When they were questioned by the investigating judge on 8 May, the three Otpor activists still bore signs of physical injuries. Momcilo Veljkovic had a bleeding wound on his head. He received medical attention only once, immediately after his arrest on 2 May, when doctors closed the wound with ten stitches. Nebojsa Sokolovic had bruises around both eyes, a broken nose, injuries on the back of his head, right ear, chest and shoulder. Radojko Lukovic also had a broken nose and numerous cuts and swellings on his face. The Otpor activists described to the investigating judge what occurred on 2 May and how they were injured. Veljkovic and Lukovic said they entereol. Veljkovic managed to grab the gun and throw it some distance away and then tried to escape through the door. As he was running from the cafe, he saw Marko Milosevic getting out of a car, also with a gun in his hand. According to Veljkovic, Milosevic loudly encouraged his friends to continue beating the already injured Otpor activists. In the

meantime, Milan Lazic and another four men who were in the cafe punched and kicked Lukovic who was down on the floor.

Nebojsa Sokolovic, who happened to be on the street, told Ivanovic to beating Veljkovic or he would kill him. Ivanovic, Tadic, Milos and Sasa Lazic reacted by setting upon Sokolovic, beating him mostly about the head until he nearly lost consciousness.

Media fined

The Belgrade dailies Danas and Blic, the Vreme news magazine and Studio B Television were fined for their reporting of the attack on and arrest of the Otpor activists. Magistrate Milica Radosavljevic of Pozarevac ordered Studio B to pay a fine of 200,000 dinars (approximately US$ 9,000) and its editor in chief Dragan Kojadinovic 80,000 dinars. The misdemeanor proceedings were instituted on the basis of charges filed by Sasa Lazic, a member of JUL and paders, the organizationÆs network in Serbia, ties with opposition parties, and their political stands. Otpor members are frequently targets of attacks by bullies in civilian clothes. Indications are that these are members of the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Yugoslav Left.

HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE

INVESTIGATION INTO OTPOR ACTIVISTS FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER OF JUL MEMBERS

10 May 2000

Radojko Lukovic and Momcilo Veljkovic, activists of the Otpor organization in Pozarevac, were arrested again about 1 a.m. on 9 May on suspicion of the attempted murder of Sasa and Milan Lazic, members of the Yugoslav Left (JUL). They were remanded in custody at the Pozarevac jail. An arrest warrant was also issued for Nebojsa Sokolovic who, however, has not yet been apprehended. All three were first arrested on

2 May in Pozarevac after a fight with JUL members but were released by the investigating judge on 8 May.

The Pozarevac District Prosecutor, Jovan Stanojevic, has requested a judicial investigation into Lukovic, Veljkovic and Sokolovic for allegedred an investigation into Lukovic, Veljkovic and Sokolovic and their detention pending the results.

Lukovic and Veljkovic were arrested in their apartments in Pozarevc and taken to the local jail. Nebojsa Sokolovic has not yet been apprehended. Their lawyers, including Igor Olujic of the Humanitarian Law Center, will appeal the detention decision within the 24-hour period prescribed by law. The court must rule on the appeal within 48 hours.

Another four Otpor activists, including two minors, were arrested during the protests staged in Pozarevac today against the re-arrest of Lukovic and Veljkovic. They are: Vladimir Stokic, Milos Gajic, Bojan Trailovic and Stevo Vecerina.