By Vesna Peric Zimonjic in Belgrade
Published: 27 October 2005
Nine Serbian policemen have been arrested for killing 48 ethnic Albanian civilians in 1999 in the town of Suva Reka in Kosovo.
The bodies of the victims, all members of one family, were found in a mass grave at the police compound of Batajnica near the Serbian capital, Belgrade, in 2001. The grave contained the remains of more than 1,000 bodies of ethnic Albanians.
"As far as we know, 48 people were killed in Suva Reka," a spokesman for the war crimes prosecution office, Bruno Vekaric, said. "Fourteen were below the age of 15, one was a pregnant woman aged 24 and one was a very old woman," he added.
The killings of members of the Berisha family happened on 26 March 1999, in a pizzeria in Suva Reka, two days after Nato air raids against Serbia began.
According to the testimony of a survivor, Vjollca Berisha, Serb policemen rounded up people there, allegedly searching for weapons. Then they fired into the crowd with automatic rifles.
Mrs Berisha's two children, aged seven months and two years, died in the massacre. She and her remaining son survived, pretending to be dead.
The arrests of the nine policemen yesterday are the first since the gruesome discovery of the remains more than 180 miles (300km) from Kosovo.
The executions of possibly around 10,000 ethnic Albanian civilians, the transporting of bodies and clandestine burials in Serbia in 1999 was one of the best-kept secrets of the regime of the former leader Slobodan Milosevic. Freezer trucks were used in the operations, aimed at covering up the atrocities against non-Serbs in the rebellious southern province.
Milosevic loyalists have hampered judicial efforts to deal with war crimes. This was confirmed by the fact that six of those detained were on active duty until their arrest.
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5 comments:
"Mrs Berisha's two children, aged seven months and two years, died in the massacre."
I guess there is nothing you can comment on this!
they were arrested to get judged by a serb judge? when the virdict his guilty, will they get $300,000 or $500,000 reward?
We all know it won't be a fair trial, these persons should be courted in Kosova, maybe by an international judge.
SRBI NEMOJTE DA SE SVADJATE OVDE NA OVOM SAJTU NEGO AJDE DA NAPRAVIMO MI SAJT DA NJIH OGOVARAMO MI SE SADA BORIMO NA NJIHOVU TERRITORIJU NJIHOV SAJT ALI ZA POBEDU TREBAMO DA SE BORIMO NA NASOJ TERRITORIJI. sVAKI DAN PUNO LJUDI CITA OVI SAJT I SVAKI DAN ALBANSI NAGOVORE NEKOLIKO LJUDE DA BUD ZA NEZAVISNU DRZAVU KOSOVA
NAZALOST JA NEZNAM KAKO DA NAPRAVIM SAJT A ONI KOJ ZNA NEK NAPRAVI ZATO STO AKO NENAPRAVI NECEMO MORATI DA SE BORIMO PREKO INTERNETA NEGO NA RATISTU!!!!!
Serb,
You already have sites pulling all sorts of racist propaganda, Serbianna, Kosovo.com, etc, all these sites are full of "interesting facts".
You may "fight" us on the internet too, but you cannot in any way change the will of the Kosovars, i.e. not to have anything to do with people like you.
Now go eat ice-cream...
dude i cant wait for kosovo to become independent, yes it is the cradle of serb civilisation, the serb churches are the only things in kosovo that are worth anything, yet i would give all of them up for not (thank god) having to see albanians travel around serbia in their smelly outfits wearing black shoes with white socks anymore. i mean i cant explain to you what joy serbs feel when they fly to belgrade now and not have to share the same plane with hordes of albanian familes 12 or 13 of them at once, the women with their white headscarves and long skirts yelling at the kids, the kids dressed as snoop doggy dog wearing shirts they bought in their local 99cents store and the fathers wearing fake gold while grandpa sleeps with his shoes off (stinkin up the entire plane) and his little white egg shaped hat falling over his face. goodbye already please. serbia will finally win the battle with cancer and then u will be able to shot and kill each other over heroin and whores that u trade.
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