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 ANOTHER GROUP OF KOSOVO ALBANIANS ACQUITTED
13 January 2000
Judge Dusan Spasic of the Pozarevac District Court
yesterday acquitted for lack of evidence another 10 Kosovo Albanians accused of acts of
terrorism. After spending 18 months in custody, the group was today turned over to the
International Committee of the Red Cross whose representatives will escort them back to
Kosovo. Veton Muljaljija, Arben Salja, Biljbu Sehu, Mejdin Korenica, Bajram Merdja,
Nursaba Destani, Sarki Seljami, Satri Haljilji, Sehu Zekiri and Adilj Kolari, all of
Orahovac Township, were arrested from 21 to 23 June 1998 during the armed conflicts in
Orahovac. They were charged by the prosecutor of participating in armed attacks on Serbian
police officers in the period from 18-21 June 1998 when two officers were killed and
several more wounded. Although the accused tested positive in the “paraffin glove”
test during the investigative proceedings, the Court ruled that this did not constitute
sufficient evidence that they had fired on police. This was the second time that the
Pozarevac District Court rejected the “paraffin glove” test as proof of the commission
of a criminal offense. On 5 January this year, Judge Nikola Vazura made a similar ruling
and acquitted four Kosovo Albanians from Suva Reka Township. The Humanitarian Law Center
points out that, in contrast to the District Court in Pozarevac, other courts in
Serbia have sentenced ethnic Albanians to long terms in prison solely on the basis of the
“paraffin glove” test, considered by experts to be a crude and unreliable
investigative technique. |
