"They killed those they caught in their homes," witnesses recount evictions from homes and torture of civilians

 Witness Ali Asllani, in the trial of former Serbian police officers Zoran Kostic and Dragan Milovic, accused of war crimes, said that he had seen the accused Milovic beating several people with a stick, among them an elderly man.

Meanwhile, witness Sylejman Mustafa said that if anyone had been caught in the house while civilians were being expelled, they would have been killed.

"I saw him take the wheelchair from an old man who hit him several times and then started hitting others," said witness Asllani, reports "Oath for Justice."

Asllani also stated that he had known the accused Milović, who was also referred to by the name Musa, since childhood and that they had good relations with him.

He said that the incident when Milović beat people with a stick was when they had gathered civilians at the city cemetery on May 22, 1999, from 10:00 to 14:00.

Witness Asllani said that he had identified the accused Milović when he was questioned by the Police, but that he did not describe his height or other physical characteristics, since he was not asked about this by the Police.

Asllani said that the beating incident occurred on May 22, 1999, but that he had told the police the date was May 2 as a result of problems with forgetfulness due to the mistreatment he experienced, for which he said he also possesses a medical document.

Sylejman Mustafa also testified at this hearing, saying that he had never seen the accused Kostić commit any abuse, but he had seen him with a weapon and that the entire region, including his neighbors, knew that he was a dangerous man.

"There are people fleeing from their homes, and whoever they caught in their homes, they killed," Mustafa said while talking about the evictions from their homes.

Mustafa said that based on what he observed with binoculars, Kostić had the Prelluzhe village police station under control and that he also financed everything related to the war in Kosovo with goods.

Witness Mustafa, during his testimony, also recalled the nationalist songs that he said Kostić and his friends sang.

"Who is saying who is lying, little Serbia, the hat on his head is shaking, we kill them, we cut off those who do not come with us, give us the gun with a bullet in the Albanian's mouth...", he quoted that he had heard Kostic singing.

Kadri Shaqiri also testified, stating that he has known the accused Milović since childhood and that he had not personally used violence against him, but that he had beaten other civilians.

"With my own eyes, I saw him beat Rexhep, Ekrem, Shabani and others... He was wearing a police uniform and carrying a weapon with him," said Shaqiri.

Shaqiri said he is angry with the questions from Milovic's lawyer, Mahmut Halimi.

According to the indictment filed on May 16, 2024, the accused Zoran Kostić during the war in Kosovo, as a member of the Serbian police forces, in complicity with other members of the Serbian police, army and paramilitary, wearing a police uniform and armed, with awareness and purpose, acting according to the plan and orders of his superiors, he participated directly in the attack against the civilian population of Albanian nationality, specifically the Ujkani family during a well-organized action, after the Serbian forces were stationed in the house of Sh. .Z, which the Serbian police and army used as a headquarters, on the critical day in the offensive of the Serbian army against the civilian population.

According to the indictment, among other members of the Serbian army and paramilitaries, there was also the accused Kostiq, who took part in looting the houses of Albanian residents, then burned the houses and killed unarmed civilians in the village of Reznik, as: IU , MU with his wife, BU, FU, SU, FU, (of the Ujkani family) also killed TU with his wife HU on the critical day, and in order to destroy the evidence and implement the plan in its entirety, they put set fire to the houses and burn the corpses of the Ujkani family (witness BU saw this event).

Further, in the indictment it is stated that on May 22, 1999, the accused Kostiq in complicity with other unidentified persons had ordered the expulsion of the Albanian population from their homes, forcing them to continue towards the city cemetery and separating the men from the women. and children, where in that crowd were members of the Dallku family - MD, AD, FD, ED, SH.D, VD, VD, VD, L.LL and three people with the surname Haliti.

On the way to the city cemetery, the Serbian policeman MC tells the accused Kostić "you know what to do with this" and there they start beating the civilians with strong tools such as metal pipe, strong wooden sticks, kondak of the automatic machine and others, then they ordered them to enter the shop of the Rashans, where there were also three other civilians HH, EH and NH, then they again ordered them to leave the bar and go in front of SP's house , where there were also some paramilitaries in mixed-color military uniforms, who had short and long weapons.

It says that the accused Kostić, dressed in a Serbian police uniform, had asked another Serbian paramilitary "do you also want this group" where there were about 12 people, but one of the paramilitaries had told him that everything has ended here and continue somewhere else , so they continued through other streets to go to the city cemetery and in front of the house of dr. Ramadan John.

The indictment says that upon arriving there, Kostiq ordered the civilians to lean their faces against the wall with their hands up, and at one point the policeman Kostiq approached the victim Sh.D and left four-five gun cartridges in the right pocket of his jacket. , and after a while he orders them to take out the things they had with them, while at that moment Sh.D took out the cartridges from his pocket, on the occasion Kostiq told him "you were carrying cartridges to kill policemen" and called a paramilitary who was hairless, tall, armed and in military clothing, long and short firearms, as well as knives, and there he separated Sh, S, V., N., and EH, bringing them into the house of Gjoni together with two other paramilitaries, and after a while gunshots were heard and Sh.D was killed, while V. was taken by four paramilitaries in a car after they found out that he had two cars at home and they took them away , in the meantime, the bombings by NATO have started and then all the people who were in the city cemetery in Vushtrri have been dispersed there.

According to the indictment, it is said that on May 24, 1999, the victim - witness VL, after being separated from his family by the Serbian paramilitary forces, was arrested and taken to the police station in Vushtrri, to be interrogated. There, the accused Kostiq hit the injured VL with a hard tool two or three times behind the head, with the reasoning that "he is a terrorist of the KLA", who is relieved by these blows.

With this, the accused Kostiq is accused of having committed the criminal offense of "War crimes against the civilian population" from article 142 related to article 22 of the RSF LP, also provided for in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, "War crimes in serious violation of common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions" from article 146, par.1 and 2, subsection 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 of the KPRK, related to article 31 of the KPRK.

According to the second provision, the accused Dragan Milović during the war in Kosovo, as a member of the Serbian police forces, during the war in Kosovo, together with others, forcibly sent some 20 thousand civilian residents of Vushtrri to the city cemetery and there the accused mistreated, beat and tortured civilians, who were gathered at the city cemetery, where among them was K.Sh., who now knew the accused Milovic and begged the accused to save him , but the same one says "I have nothing to do with you, father".

Then, it is said that the accused Milović together with some armed Serbian policemen began to separate the Albanian civilian population, as well as forcing them to place their tied hands behind their heads and kneel on their heads to the ground, repeatedly hit some with an iron cane, and some with wooden sticks and with weapons.

The indictment says that in that crowd there were also AA, K.SH, HK, FB, MM, SR, TF and others, where K.SH and AA had now seen the accused Milovic who was wearing a Serbian police uniform and police equipment, continuously hitting these civilians with a metal stick and also beating the civilians with punches and kicks, where they had managed to identify the accused Milovic.

In the indictment it is stated that the witness AA, while standing in line in the crowd of gathered people, had heard a Serbian policeman now addressing the accused Dragan "stop what are you doing so these things (cows) are not", then violently they put them in trucks and sent them to Smrekonica prison, where they were mistreated in the most brutal ways, even by other perpetrators, and after a few days of being in prison they infiltrated the Republic of Albania.

With this, it is accused that in co-perpetration he committed the criminal offense "War crimes against the civilian population", foreseen and punishable under Articles 142 and 22 of the Criminal Code of the SFRY, currently penalized under Articles 31 and 153 of the Criminal Code of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in violation of Common Articles 3 and 4 of the Geneva Conventions, dated 12 August 1949, Articles 4 and 5 (1) of Protocol 2 dated 8 June 1977, additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, all the rules of international law in force at the time of the armed conflict in Kosovo.