Source: Humanitarian Law Center and Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo
9 April 1999 → Dubrava Prison → Death from a Heart Attack
Idriz Zhutaj suffered a heart attack while transferring coal from one location to another.
16 May 1999 → Dubrava Prison→ Disappearance
Ukshin Hoti, a university professor, was released one day before the completion of his prison sentence for the criminal offense of endangering the territorial integrity of the FRY and Serbia. He left through the prison gate accompanied by guards and a prison officer. His whereabouts have been unknown ever since.
Haki Dinaj was temporarily released without any legal basis on 16 or 17 May 1999. His whereabouts have been unknown ever since.
17 May 1999 → Dubrava Prison→ Killing after Release
Shkëlzen Pepshi and Rasim Plava were killed after leaving the prison. Pepshi was released after serving his sentence, while Plava had been granted a three-day leave of absence.
19 and 21 May 1999 → Dubrava Prison → NATO
In NATO air strikes, 25 Albanian prisoners and the deputy prison governor were killed, while at least 50 prisoners were wounded.
Abdullah Tahiri, Afrim Krasniqi, Ahmet Hoxha,
Ali Kelmendi, Anton Maksuti, Artan Gjekaj;
Bahri Kryeziu, Besnik Kastrati,Blerim Hoda;
Enver Topalli; Fadil Bezera, Gazmend Gashi,
Gazmend Kolgeci,Gjokë Ndrecaj; Hasan Hoda,
Hasan Shala;Mejdi Dalloshi; Mujë Tafilaj,
Myhedin Guta; Naim Kurmehaj, Nexhmedin Kaliqanaj;
Nexhat Pllana, Nexhat Kokollari;
Shani Shala; Sylëjman Badallaj i Zejnullah Elshani.
22 May 1999 → Dubrava Prison → Transfer of Control of the Prison to the Special Police
Shortly after the transfer of Albanian prisoners to Serbia, HLC founder Nataša Kandić [then Executive Director of the HLC] and attorney Mustafa Radoniqi, who represented Albanians accused of membership in the KLA on behalf of the HLC, met with the former commander of the guards at Dubrava Prison, Miki Vidić, from whom they received the following information:
Upon entering Dubrava Prison on the morning of 22 May 1999, a Serbian MUP special unit referred to a decision of the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Serbia authorizing it to take control of the prison.
Later that day, at an undetermined time, the then prison governor Aleksandar Rakočević and the aforementioned commander of the guards travelled by private vehicle to Novi Pazar, contacted the Ministry of Justice, and Deputy Minister of Justice Zoran Stevanović confirmed to them that the MUP special unit had taken control of the prison on the order of the Minister of Justice and at the request of the President of the state.
During the trial before the ICTY [2 June 2005], Slobodan Milošević, relying on a report of the Peć SUP, sought to prove that all prisoners in Dubrava Prison had been killed by NATO bombs. The prosecutor then presented him with a document that prison governor Aleksandar Rakočević had sent to the Ministry of Justice in Belgrade [undated], which states, among other things:
“On 22 May 1999, at approximately 5:00 a.m., a special MUP unit arrived and entered the closed section of the institution, and upon their order the security personnel were withdrawn to the outer perimeter around the circular wall. We do not know what they were doing there, but detonations were heard. The same MUP unit returned again at approximately 5:00 p.m. and on 23 May at around 5:00 a.m.”
The HLC believes that this letter to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia was drafted retrospectively in order to protect Minister of Justice Dragoljub Janković by creating the impression that the special police had not entered the prison on the basis of a ministerial decision and that he learned of their presence only after 23 May 1999.
22 May 1999 → Dubrava Prison→ Suicide by Hanging
At the moment when a police officer from the guard tower ordered the prisoners to line up on the sports field for transfer to another prison, Rrahim Murseli, who had been brought to Dubrava Prison from the prison in Niš, reacted with fear. Prisoners who were standing next to him recalled that he said he “would not go back to Niš alive.” After the shooting had stopped, the prisoners found him hanged.
22 May 1999 → Dubrava Prison → Police Executions
At 5:40 a.m., a police officer from a guard tower used a loudspeaker to order the prisoners, who had spent the night on the sports field, to line up for transfer to other prisons. At 6:00 a.m., the order was repeated, and the same officer warned the prisoners that they had ten minutes to form ranks.
Approximately 800 prisoners complied. Some had spent the night inside prison buildings, while others had remained on the sports field. They lined up in about ten rows, after which gunfire erupted from the guard tower, the prison walls, and openings in the walls created by NATO bombing.
Following the gunfire, the prisoners were attacked with hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenades (zoljas), and mortars. Fifty-nine prisoners were killed and at least 100 were wounded.
Adem Jasiqi, Afrim Sahiti, Agim Elshani,
Ali Gashi, Arsim Zogjani, Avni Gashi,
Avni Thaçi, Avdylgafurr Luma;
Bajram Berisha, Bajram Kiqina, Besim Kabashi,
Besim Paçarizi; Dan Leku, Danush Kurtaj,
Dervish Sylaj; Enver Zogaj; Fadil Beqiraj,
Fazli Kabashi; Gazmend Imeri, Gjon Gjini;
Habib Mehani, Hamdi Ademaj, Hajdar Pepaj,
Halit Ademaj, Xhemajl Eminazeri, Xhevdet Bistrica,
Hysen Ademi; Ibër Gërgoci, Ibër Metaj,
Ilir Damonaga, Isuf Berisha, Ilir Luzha, Isuf Hoxha;
Kadri Morina, Krist Përvorfi; Man Karavidaj,
Muhamet Shala, Mehmet Qunaj, Metë Osmanaj,
Musa Morina; Naim Zahiti, Nazmi Shala,
Nasuf Bylykbashi, Napolon Guta; Ramë Ibrahimi,
Ramiz Bajrami, Ramiz Memia; Petrit Kiqina,
Sahit Krasniqi, Sahit Brahimi, Suad Brava,
Sefedin Hoti; Qaush Ahmetaj, Qemajl Bytyqi;
Valdet Sopi, Xhafer Gllareva, Tefik Raka,
Zahir Agushi i Zekë Hasanmetaj.
23 May 1999 →Dubrava → Killings with Grenades
Masked members of the Serbian MUP special unit threw grenades into shafts where prisoners were hiding. They fired at prisoners hiding behind water pipes and boilers in the boiler room. They killed eight prisoners and wounded more than ten.
Arsim Krasniqi,Fejzë Spahiu, Gani Lekaj;
Januz Krasniqi, Lulzim Hajda Lush Përlazi;
Nikollë Kolaj i Zef Kqira.
24 May 1999 → Lipljan Prison→ Beating to Death
On 24 May 1999, a Serbian MUP unit transferred the surviving prisoners by bus to the prison in Lipljan. Upon their arrival, guards kicked and beat prisoner Gani Morina with batons. He died later that evening or the following day as a result of the injuries inflicted on him.
One guard, Zoran Kolić, was identified. The Kosovo Court of Appeals sentenced him to 14 years’ imprisonment.
10 June 1999 → Zabela Prison→ Beating to Death
Following the signing of the Kumanovo Agreement, Serbia transferred approximately 2,500 Albanian prisoners from all prisons in Kosovo to prisons in Serbia.
Bujar Himaj was seriously wounded on 19 May 1999 during the NATO bombing of the prison. Both of his legs were in casts. When the bus carrying prisoners arrived at Zabela Prison, the guards ordered everyone to get out. Bujar was unable to do so. One guard dragged him outside, after which the guards beat him until he died. They then ordered two Roma prisoners to “remove the cattle.”
11 July 1999 → Niš Prison → Death from Illness
Ali Musa died in Niš Prison. The ICRC informed his family that he had died of an illness.
4 August 1999 → Sremska Mitrovica Prison → Death Following Denial of Medical Treatment
Ali Kajtazi suffered from psychological problems. He was wounded on 22 May 1999 when police officers fired on prisoners and threw grenades at them. He refused treatment by Serbian doctors and died in prison.
8 August 1999 → Belgrade District Prison Hospital → Death from Illness
Tefik Salihu was wounded on 22 May 1999. Following his transfer to Serbia, he was held at the Belgrade District Prison Hospital. The ICRC informed his family that he had died of a heart attack.
Convictions After Death
Zahir Agushi and Agim Elshani were killed on 21 May 1999, when NATO bombed Dubrava Prison for the second time.
Nine months after their deaths, on 1 February 2000, a panel of the District Court in Leskovac, presided over by Judge Goran Petronijević, convicted Zahir Agushi and Agim Elshani of terrorism and aiding perpetrators after the commission of a criminal offense.
According to the judgment, on 11 September 1997, Zahir Agushi and Agim Elshani participated in the preparation and execution of a mortar attack on the police station in Klina/Klinë, during which two projectiles were fired at the police building. During the attack, KLA member Adrijan Krasniqi was killed, while police officers returned fire.
According to the judgment, Agim Elshani participated in planning the attack, was present during the preparations, checked whether there was a police checkpoint on the road to the village of Janošica, and assisted in repairing a machine gun. He was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment.
According to the court’s findings, after the attack Zahir Agushi assisted the perpetrators by making his Ford Taunus available to Alush Agushi for the transport of the body of the deceased Adrijan Krasniqi and for concealing the perpetrators of the attack. He also checked police checkpoints and assisted in hiding the perpetrators. The court found him guilty of aiding perpetrators after the commission of a criminal offense and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment.
On 8 June 2000, the Supreme Court of Serbia upheld the first-instance judgment.
Hysen Ademi was killed on 22 May 1999 when members of the Special Police, who had entered the prison that morning, opened fire on prisoners assembled on the prison sports field after they had been ordered to line up for transfer to other prisons.
Eight months after his death, on 10 January 2000, a panel of the District Court in Leskovac, presided over by Judge Goran Petronijević, sentenced Hysen Ademi to 15 years’ imprisonment for terrorism, “because from his house in Molić/Mulliq he opened fire on members of the Yugoslav Army who were carrying out regular supply operations to the Košare border post, thereby endangering the lives of members of that border unit.”
Metë Osmanaj was also killed on 22 May 1999 on the prison sports field when members of the Special Police, who had entered the prison that morning, fired from guard towers and prison walls at prisoners standing in formation.
A panel of the District Court in Leskovac, presided over by Judge Brankica Dašić, on 24 January 2000 sentenced Metë Osmanaj to four years’ imprisonment for association for hostile activities in connection with terrorism because he participated in forming a group belonging to the “terrorist organization known as the KLA, which carries out attacks against members of the Serbian MUP, the Yugoslav Army, citizens of Serbian and Montenegrin nationality, as well as members of the Albanian national minority who demonstrate loyalty to Serbia, thereby creating a sense of insecurity among citizens.”
The judgment stated that it had been proven that he participated in establishing a KLA group in the village of Istinić/Isniq, was issued an automatic rifle, two magazines and 100 rounds of ammunition, stood guard at the entrance to the village, and did not participate in attacks against members of the Serbian MUP.
Conclusion
The documented facts show that the crime in Dubrava was not the result of wartime chaos, but of the organized actions of state authorities of the Republic of Serbia. The killings of prisoners did not end in Dubrava; they continued after the surviving prisoners had been transferred to other prisons.
