Tribunal Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Page 6881

 1                           Monday, 6 July 2009

 2                           [Open session]

 3                           [The accused entered court]

 4                           --- Upon commencing at 2.22 p.m.

 5             JUDGE PARKER:  Good afternoon.  Apologies of the Chamber for our

 6     late start.  More than one matter delayed us.  We are shortly to hear a

 7     witness in respect of whom there has been an application for protective

 8     measures, which was over the weekend, the application was supplemented

 9     with additional material.

10             Good afternoon, Mr. Djordjevic.  Do you wish to be heard in

11     respect of this application for protective measures?

12             MR. DJORDJEVIC:  [Interpretation] Your Honours, the reason that

13     the Defence considers that this witness does not -- that his testimony

14     does not warrant any protective measures is the fact that he had already

15     testified before this Tribunal to the facts that he is going to testify

16     about today as well.  And if indeed there were threats directed at this

17     witness, and I don't know from whom or where, and I assume that this

18     would be something to discuss in closed session, we are, as a matter of

19     course, against protective measures for this witness.

20             Of course, that might change depending on the situation.  As we

21     proceed and if we hear any arguments that may sound sound enough for this

22     witness to be questioned as a protected witness, the Defence might agree

23     to that subsequently.  For now, it is our position that it is

24     unnecessary; and based on what I read from the application submitted by

25     the Prosecution, the witness himself said that he was not willing to

Page 6882

 1     testify either by pseudonym or face and voice distortion.  Regardless of

 2     any of those protective measures, everyone would be able to actually

 3     guess who the protected witness is, and therefore, for now I believe that

 4     there is no reason for any protective measures to be issued in respect of

 5     this witness.

 6             Of course, I assume that the witness will wish to hear -- that

 7     the Trial Chamber will wish to hear the witness as well and to hear his

 8     reasons for why he is seeking protective measures, and based on that,

 9     maybe then we will be able to make a qualified decision.

10             JUDGE PARKER:  Thank you very much for your submissions and their

11     succinctness, Mr. Djordjevic.  The Chamber, at the moment, is not minded

12     to hear additional evidence, but understands clearly from your submission

13     that you are opposed taking the position that there is not demonstrated a

14     sufficient justification.

15             Is there anything further, Mr. Stamp, that you would want to put

16     in respect of this matter?

17             MR. STAMP:  No, Your Honour, I have nothing to add.

18             JUDGE PARKER:  Thank you.

19                           [Trial Chamber confers]

20             JUDGE PARKER:  The Chamber is of the view that while the

21     application is on the dividing line between sufficiently justified and

22     not, the totality of the circumstances is sufficient to persuade the

23     Chamber that there is, in the mind of the accused at least, a real threat

24     and a serious threat, which is likely to be activated if he should repeat

25     the evidence or something like the evidence which he previously gave and

Page 6883

 1     which led to an earlier threat to him.

 2             In these circumstances, the Chamber is persuaded that it should

 3     order protective measures.  It recognizes, in view of the particular,

 4     even specific aspects of his evidence, that it would be quite readily

 5     possible to identify him simply by hearing the evidence, and in those

 6     circumstances, the Chamber is of the view that the appropriate protective

 7     measure should be for the evidence to be given in closed session.  That

 8     will be the decision of the Chamber.

 9             Mr. Djordjevic.

10             MR. DJORDJEVIC:  [Interpretation] I will be very brief because it

11     is not up to me to comment the decision of the Trial Chamber.  I just

12     wanted to intervene regarding the transcript.  It says in the transcript

13     whereas in the mind of the accused and the accused could be the witness

14     or my own defendant here.  So if you look at line 23 on page 2 it says

15     "in the mind of the accused at least" so we need to direct this because

16     what should stand there in fact is in the mind of the witness at least.

17             JUDGE PARKER:  Thank you very much, Mr. Djordjevic, for

18     identifying my error.  I had intended to refer not to this present

19     accused, but to the person who for -- to avoid confusion is better

20     described as the intended witness.  And it was intended by those comments

21     to indicate that there is in his mind the Chamber accepts this concern

22     which is genuine and that it therefore influences him in a way which

23     satisfies the Chamber, according to the appropriate test that protective

24     measures are justified.

25             If the witness could be brought in.  While that is occurring, I

Page 6884

 1     would mention that --

 2                           [Trial Chamber and registrar confer]

 3             JUDGE PARKER:  If the witness could be brought in.

 4             MR. DJORDJEVIC:  [Interpretation] While we wait, Your Honour,

 5     would you allow me to address the Trial Chamber in a few words.

 6             JUDGE PARKER:  Could you allow me first to deliver another oral

 7     decision, Mr. Djordjevic.  Pending admission marked for identification

 8     are two documents tendered by the Prosecution.  They are P97 and P102.

 9     Each of those are marked pending translation.  Translations have now been

10     received.  They may be uplifted, the translations into the document in

11     e-court, and will become exhibits rather than marked for identification.

12             Now, Mr. Djordjevic, while you are speaking we will move into

13     closed session.

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22                           [Open session]

23             THE REGISTRAR:  Your Honours, we are back in open session.

24             JUDGE PARKER:  Thank you.  You suggest now we have the second

25     break, is that it, Mr. Stamp?

Page 6928

 1             MR. STAMP:  Yes, Your Honour.

 2             JUDGE PARKER:  Will half an hour be timely for the witness to be

 3     here?

 4             MR. STAMP:  Yes, Your Honour.

 5             JUDGE PARKER:  Thank you.

 6             Did I see you on your feet, Mr. Djordjevic?

 7             MR. DJORDJEVIC:  [Interpretation] Yes, Your Honour.  As the lead

 8     counsel in these proceedings, I will like to request that the next

 9     witness be questioned by attorney Marie O'Leary in the cross-examination

10     phase, and I hope that you will approve this.  Thank you.

11             JUDGE PARKER:  Thank you, Mr. Djordjevic.  We've had not only

12     written advice from you in respect of Mr. Popovic, which we granted, but

13     we've had a similarly framed advice in respect of Ms. O'Leary.  And the

14     Chamber is similarly prepared to grant that request.  So we now have the

15     benefit of hearing four counsel for the accused.

16             MR. DJORDJEVIC:  [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honours.  This

17     is our desire and wish to allow our junior colleagues to join us and to

18     become even better Defence counsel than they already have been so far.

19     They both have a lot of experience, but this will certainly be helpful in

20     their further work.  Thank you.

21             JUDGE PARKER:  Very well.  We will adjourn now.  We will resume

22     at I think at 5.40 just to be sure that the witness is available.

23                           --- Recess taken at 5.04 p.m.

24                           --- On resuming at 5.43 p.m.

25             JUDGE PARKER:  Ms. O'Leary.

Page 6929

 1             MS. O'LEARY:  Thank you, Your Honour.  Before we begin, we had a

 2     quick preliminary matter about the statement of this witness.  In our

 3     motion opposing 92 ter as a mode of testimony for Mr. Fuat Haxhibeqiri.

 4     We had made an argument that part of the reasoning to keep out his

 5     statement was that it is somewhat confused in that he makes some

 6     conclusions and statements of others that's intermixed with his own

 7     eye-witness testimony.  Additionally, he gives some opinions that are

 8     more appropriate, we feel, to an expert witness and not a fact witness.

 9             While we appreciate and do respect the Trial Chamber's decision

10     in his mode of testimony, in doing further preparations for the

11     cross-examine we would seek to have this 92 ter statement redacted to not

12     include the summaries and the opinions, as they're not appropriate to the

13     testimony of a fact witness in our opinion.

14             In particular, we take opposition to pages 6 through 9 in the

15     English pages of the statement which is 65 ter 2235, and specifically on

16     page 6 of the English version when he starts with "From my investigation

17     I have witnesses that say ..." until the dotted line.  And also on

18     page 7, then, of the English version when he says "In my position with

19     the CDHRF, I have interviewed ..." which is just under the dotted line,

20     which goes on until "... in 1998."  On page 8.

21             Furthermore, we take opposition to the last paragraph of the

22     statement on page 9 in the English version that starts with "As a result

23     of interviewing ..."

24             These passages list -- were told to him, but they're lacking in

25     detail sufficient for us to do any real cross-examine to get more details

Page 6930

 1     as we don't feel he has the information with him as it is not personal

 2     information to him.  As we can't properly challenge the details of these

 3     events and primarily seek out the perpetrators that he is accusing in

 4     these statement passages, we would ask that these portions be stricken

 5     from the record as he has no personal knowledge.

 6             We understand that the Chamber may want to wait until his

 7     testimony is finished and analyse whether that is appropriate, but we

 8     would make the motion at this time, with hope to renew afterwards, if his

 9     testimony goes as we anticipate.  Thank you.

10             JUDGE PARKER:  Thank you, Ms. O'Leary.

11             Ms. Kravetz.

12             MS. KRAVETZ:  Your Honour, it is our position that the Chamber

13     has already ruled on this matter.  This is an issue that the Defence

14     should have raised in their motion -- in their response to our motion to

15     call this witness pursuant to 92 bis.  And the Chamber's decision of

16     1st July, the Chamber stated that it decided to admit Mr. Haxhibeqiri's

17     written statement, and we consider that this matter has already been

18     ruled upon.

19             It is also our view that the issues that my learned colleague is

20     raising can be adequately examined when she questions the witness during

21     her opportunity to cross-examine.

22             So I do not believe that this is a matter that cannot be explored

23     in cross-examination.  The witness is being made available exactly for

24     that purpose.

25                           [Trial Chamber confers]

Page 6931

 1             JUDGE PARKER:  Ms. O'Leary, the Chamber is not of the view that

 2     it should take up this motion at this time.  It has decided to receive

 3     the statement, recognising that aspects of it are perhaps not in the

 4     usual form.

 5             It will be apparent, though, to all that the persuasive force of

 6     some of the statement is less than would be the case were the witness

 7     speaking of his own personal observation and knowledge, and especially I

 8     speak there because of the generality of some of the things in parts of

 9     the statement.

10             The Chamber will, in assessing what weight is appropriate to be

11     given to different parts of the statement, take into account the matters

12     I've just mentioned and will take into account the cross-examination of

13     any that may be directed in respect of them.

14             I think that is a sufficient indication of our position.

15             If the witness could now be brought in.

16                           [The witness entered court]

17             JUDGE PARKER:  Good afternoon, sir.

18             THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Good afternoon.

19             JUDGE PARKER:  Could you please read aloud the affirmation that

20     is shown to you now.

21             THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I solemnly declare that I will

22     speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

23                           WITNESS:  FUAT HAXHIBEQIRI

24                           [Witness answered through interpreter]

25             JUDGE PARKER:  Thank you.  Please sit down.  Ms. Kravetz has some

Page 6932

 1     questions for you.

 2             MS. KRAVETZ:  Thank you, Your Honour.

 3                           Examination by Ms. Kravetz:

 4        Q.   Good afternoon, Witness.  Could you please state your full name

 5     for the record.

 6        A.   Good afternoon.  I'm Fuat Haxhibeqiri.

 7        Q.   When and when were you born, Mr. Haxhibeqiri?

 8        A.   I was born in Gjakove on the 24th of March, 1956.

 9        Q.   And in 1999, where were you living?

10        A.   In Gjakove.

11        Q.   Where were you employed at the time in 1999?

12        A.   I was working for the private company Agimi.

13        Q.   And in addition to working for that company, did you conduct any

14     other sort of activity?  And I'm speaking specifically of the period of

15     1999.

16        A.   Yes.  I was an activist within the Council for the

17     Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms in Gjakove.

18        Q.   And what sort of work did you carry out for the Council for the

19     Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms in Gjakove?

20        A.   We would collect information from the ground, information

21     pertaining to cases of violations of human rights in our municipality

22     committed by the Serb forces.  In other words, we would go out on the

23     ground, document the cases, and also collect information pertaining to

24     such cases from people who would report them to our office.

25        Q.   And just very briefly, could you tell us how it was that you

Page 6933

 1     collected this information?  What would you do to collect information to

 2     pertain to such cases?

 3        A.   People would come to our office, tell us what had happened to him

 4     or her, show us photographs in case they had photographs that documented

 5     tortures committed by the police or army, and then we would forward this

 6     information to the head office in Prishtina by fax initially, and later

 7     on via telephone and other communication means.

 8             We would also go out on the ground to document such cases, and we

 9     would support this documentation with photographs in case there were

10     photographs.

11        Q.   Sir, in August of 2001 did you provide a statement to the

12     Office of the Prosecution in this Tribunal in relation to events you

13     witnessed in your municipality and that you personally investigated?

14        A.   Yes.

15        Q.   Before coming to court today, did you have the opportunity to go

16     over your statement?

17        A.   Yes.

18        Q.   And having reviewed your statement, are you satisfied that the

19     information contained within the statement is true and accurate to the

20     best of your knowledge and belief?

21        A.   Yes.

22             MS. KRAVETZ:  Your Honours, I seek to tender this statement, the

23     65 ter 02235, and I ask that that be received.

24             JUDGE PARKER:  It will be received.

25             THE REGISTRAR:  As Exhibit P1068, Your Honours.

Page 6934

 1             MS. KRAVETZ:  Your Honours, I will now proceed to read the

 2     in-court summary for this witness.

 3             The witness is a resident of Hadum neighbourhood of Djakovica

 4     town.  He was working for the Council for the Defence of

 5     Human Rights and Freedoms in Djakovica in 1999.  He describes the

 6     military buildup within the town from 1998 onwards and the positions of

 7     heavy weapons and barracks.

 8             On 23rd March, 1999, the witness went into hiding in the

 9     Blloku i Ri neighbourhood of the town after the offices of the witness's

10     organisation were searched by police and staff arrested.  In the early

11     hours of 25th March, Serb forces arrived in the neighbourhood of

12     Carshia e Madhe in the old town of Djakovica, and the witness saw

13     property subsequently burning.

14             On 26th March, 1999, properties were burned in the Blloku I Ri

15     neighbourhood where he was hiding.  He named six persons killed that

16     night.  On 2nd April, 1999 police evicted the occupants of the house

17     where the witness was hiding.  At that time, he took refuge in a drain in

18     the back garden where he escaped detection.  He remained there for four

19     days.  Having returned to his home address, he then witnessed a daily

20     cycle of burning of Kosovo Albanian property by Serb forces.

21             The witness quotes municipality figures for deaths, missing and

22     displaced persons, and property destruction for 1998 and 1999.  He

23     details results of the investigations of his organisation into several

24     deaths and expulsions within Djakovica town.

25             That's the end of the in-court summary, Your Honour.

Page 6935

 1             JUDGE PARKER:  Thank you.

 2             MS. KRAVETZ:

 3        Q.   Mr. Haxhibeqiri, I would like to ask you some questions in

 4     relation to your statement, and I would like to ask you to try to be as

 5     brief as possible in your answers so we can proceed efficiently today

 6     through my questions.

 7             I want to start by asking you questions about events that took

 8     place in March 1999 which you describe in your statement.  In your

 9     statement, you say that on 23rd March, 1999, the offices of your

10     organisation were searched and that staff was arrested.

11             MS. KRAVETZ:  And this is, for reference, at the bottom of page 5

12     of the English, and in the B/C/S version is page 6 on the top.  I believe

13     it's the second paragraph.

14        Q.   Now, you say that after this happened, this search that went on

15     in the organisation, you took shelter in the Blloku i Ri neighbourhood.

16             Could you tell us exactly where you went in this neighbourhood to

17     take shelter?

18        A.   Yes, Midjeni [phoen] Street.  Gani Efendiu was the owner of the

19     house where I took shelter.  He was a doctor by profession.

20        Q.   And was there anyone else in that house other than yourself, when

21     you went to take shelter there?

22        A.   Yes.  The owner himself, that is the doctor; his wife; and his

23     two sons, students; and another neighbour with her two daughters who were

24     also students.  I was there with the eight members of my family.

25        Q.   You say that you were there with the eight members of your

Page 6936

 1     family.  Are these eight members of your family other persons than the

 2     persons you've mentioned, or are you saying that the doctor and his wife

 3     and his family were related to you?

 4        A.   The doctor's family is a relative of my mother.  They are related

 5     to my mother's family.

 6        Q.   And why is it that you decided to go to that house for shelter?

 7     Why did you go to that house and that neighbourhood for shelter?

 8        A.   When I heard that the office was surrounded, searched, and the

 9     personnel arrested, I decided to hide, to seek shelter in this house.  A

10     house of a relative of my mother.

11        Q.   In your statement --

12             MS. KRAVETZ:  And this is at page 6 in the English on the top,

13     and it's also on page 6 of the B/C/S towards the middle of the page.

14        Q.   -- you say that some days later, on the 26th of March, you saw

15     six houses burning in the Blloku i Ri neighbourhood from where you were

16     hiding and that these houses belonged to political activists.

17             Can you tell us, when you say that you saw these houses burning

18     from where you were hiding, exactly where were you at the time when you

19     saw these houses burning?

20        A.   I was in the doctor's house, and from the second floor we could

21     see the houses burning.

22        Q.   And would it have been houses located in the proximity or around

23     the same area of where the doctor's house was, or were there --

24        A.   Yes, they were at about 60 to 100 or 200 metres away.

25        Q.   Now, you say in your statement that these houses belonged to

Page 6937

 1     political activists.  Do you know what was the ethnicity of the persons

 2     to whom these houses belonged to?

 3        A.   All of them were Albanians.

 4        Q.   Now, in your statement -- and this is moving forward in time to

 5     the beginning of April 1999, you tell us that on 2nd April, two policemen

 6     in a blue vehicle came to the house where you were sheltering.

 7             MS. KRAVETZ:  And this is, again, on page 6 of the English at the

 8     bottom, and in the B/C/S it's page 7, I believe it's the fourth

 9     paragraph.

10        Q.   And this -- you say it's in the house in Blloku i Ri where you

11     were sheltering.  And in your statement you indicate that these policemen

12     ordered the persons to leave the house.

13             Now, you've told us who all was in the house with you.  After

14     these policemen arrived, did the persons who were in the house with you

15     leave the house?

16        A.   As they were threatened, they had to leave.  I heard myself, when

17     the police ordered them to leave the house, to go to the church and there

18     there would be a bus waiting for them to send them to Albania.  They

19     ordered them to leave the car keys in the house, and made them walk in

20     the direction I already mentioned.

21        Q.   Now, do you know whether policemen went into the houses of any of

22     the neighbours of the doctor at whose house you were staying, or did they

23     only come to the house where you were staying?

24        A.   They went to each and every house and threatened the owners of

25     the house to throw grenades into their houses in case they refused to

Page 6938

 1     leave.

 2        Q.   And what did the neighbours do after these persons went to their

 3     houses, do you know?

 4        A.   All of them, all the residence of Blloku i Ri neighbourhood, had

 5     to leave in a short time.  About 20.000 to 30.000 people from the town

 6     were ordered to leave.

 7        Q.   Now, you told us that all of the residence of Blloku i Ri had to

 8     leave in a short time.  How do you know that?  Is this something you

 9     observed yourself or that you hear from others?  How do you know that?

10        A.   I didn't see anyone during the days I remained there.  I was

11     hiding in a drain behind the doctor's house.  I stayed there for four

12     days, and I didn't see a single Albanian during those four days.  I only

13     saw policemen and their respective wives who would come in the evenings,

14     loot the houses, load the cars and other vehicles with everything they

15     could find in the abandoned houses.

16        Q.   You just told us earlier that about 20-, or 30.000 people had

17     left or were ordered to leave the house and you explained that all the

18     residence of the Blloku i Ri had left.  How do you know that, that they

19     had left?  Did you see them leave, did someone tell you they left?  How

20     did you know they had left?

21        A.   Well, it wouldn't take one to do much thinking when one hears

22     such a threat, a threat that could blow up your house.  Nobody would

23     choose to remain in the house once they threatened to throw a

24     hand-grenade into the house.

25        Q.   So if I understand correctly, on 2nd April, you are saying that

Page 6939

 1     all of the residences left because you believe that they would have --

 2     they would have been -- would have obeyed the threat that was made to

 3     them; is that what you are saying?  It's not --

 4        A.   Yes.  Yes.  There was a threat.  We were not able to sleep.  We

 5     were dressed at all times.  We were at all times anticipating their

 6     arrival into our houses.  We were expecting the worst to happen as it

 7     happened in many other cases in our municipality.

 8        Q.   Why was it that you were expecting the arrival of these

 9     policemen?  What sort of information did you have that made you believe

10     that they would be arriving to your -- to the house where you were

11     staying?

12        A.   Three days earlier, more than 100 people were killed.  We had

13     heard that these many people were killed in this neighbourhood, 20 here,

14     30 there, 30 in that village, and so forth.  At that time, the land-line

15     was still working and we were able to collect information from other

16     neighbourhoods as to the number of people who had been killed and the

17     number of houses that had been burned down.

18        Q.   And just to go back to the 2nd of April, you've told us that

19     these two policemen arrived to your house.  Did you see any other

20     policemen in the neighbourhood that day when these two policemen arrived

21     to your house?  The house where you were staying, I mean.

22        A.   One of them was a local policeman, an Albanian by ethnicity.

23        Q.   And other than this Albanian that you saw, did you see any other

24     policemen or any other persons in uniform on the 2nd of April?

25        A.   No, I didn't.

Page 6940

 1        Q.   Now, you've told us that you remain in hiding for some days and

 2     that when you went out there were policemen everywhere.  Where was it

 3     that you saw these policemen?

 4        A.   On the streets.

 5        Q.   Can I ask you to be a bit more precise.  Do you mean the streets

 6     in the neighbourhood where this house was or somewhere else in another

 7     neighbourhood?  Where exactly was it that you saw these policemen?

 8        A.   When I arrived in my house, that is after three or four days of

 9     stay in my hiding place, around the 5th of April I went back to my house,

10     and there I could see policemen and paramilitaries passing by my gate.

11        Q.   And when you say you arrived in your house, in which

12     neighbourhood was this house when you arrived on the 5th of April?

13        A.   My house is in the Hadum neighbourhood in the old part of the

14     town.

15        Q.   Now, when you left the doctor's house where you were staying,

16     your relatives house in the Blloku i Ri neighbourhood, and went to your

17     house in the Hadum neighbourhood, was the area where the doctor's house

18     was located still inhabited by the neighbours?  Were they still there in

19     their houses, if you know?

20        A.   Everybody had already left that neighbourhood.  I saw some people

21     on the way, and I told them that I had to leave that neighbourhood

22     because I no longer felt safe there, that I had to go to my own house.

23        Q.   And who were these people that you met on the way that you spoke

24     to?

25        A.   Citizens of Gjakove.  Albanians.

Page 6941

 1        Q.   Now, you've told us that on the 5th of April you returned to your

 2     house in the Hadum neighbourhood.  And earlier you had told us how you

 3     had seen -- while you were still at the doctor's house you had seen some

 4     houses burning belonging to some political activists.  When you went from

 5     the Blloku i Ri neighbourhood to the Hadum neighbourhood, did you see any

 6     other houses that had been damaged by fire?

 7        A.   Yes.  There I also saw houses that were damaged by fire.  About

 8     200 of them including some small businesses.  These houses were set on

 9     fire on the 24th and the 25th of March.

10        Q.   And when you say that about 200 houses had been set on fire

11     including --

12        A.   Yes, 200.

13        Q.   Which neighbourhood are you speaking about were these houses and

14     small businesses were located?

15        A.   Hadum neighbourhood.  Carshia e Vjeter also called.  In other

16     words, around my house, more than 15 shops were burned.  My uncle's

17     house, who is in the same courtyard with mine, was also burnt down; it

18     was a new house.  And at about 500 metres from my house, there were many

19     other houses and small shops burned down, and I could see all of them

20     with my own eyes.

21        Q.   Is the Hadum neighbourhood in the old town of Djakovica, what is

22     known as the old town?

23        A.   Yes.  It is part of the old town.  It is known as the old town.

24     It is -- it has oriental architecture.  It is a protected area.

25        Q.   Is there a mosque located in the old town of Djakovica,

Page 6942

 1     Mr. Haxhibeqiri?

 2        A.   Yes, the mosque itself is called the Hadum mosque.  It was built

 3     about 400 years ago.

 4        Q.   And do you know -- were you able to pass by the mosque and see in

 5     what condition it was on the 5th of April?

 6        A.   Yes.  I passed by the mosque, and I could see it from my house

 7     because it is at 50 metres' aerial distance from my house.  The auxiliary

 8     buildings of the mosque were also burnt down.  And the mosque itself, the

 9     inside part was damaged.

10        Q.   And were you able to obtain any information while you were there

11     as to what had happened to the mosque, how it had been burnt down?

12        A.   No, there was no one I could ask at the time because people had

13     already been expelled from the old town; they were made to go to Albania.

14     As I said, there was no one there.  There were only policemen.  There was

15     no witness as to the burning of the mosque.  That same night, six persons

16     were killed.  They were killing people, expelling people, and burning

17     buildings at the same time in the old neighbourhood.  They were made to

18     leave under threat.  So the first killings occurred on the 24th of March.

19     That is to say, on the 25th of March at 1.00 a.m. these activities began,

20     the houses were being burnt by them.

21        Q.   I just want to clarify some of your answers, and we'll take it

22     step by step.  First of all, when I was asking you about whether you had

23     you had seen any damage to houses.  You spoke about 200 of them and --

24     including small businesses, and you said these houses were set on fire on

25     the 24th and 25th of March.  How do you know that?  From where did you

Page 6943

 1     obtain this information?

 2        A.   From my brothers.  They had informed me by phone.  They told me

 3     that the shop where I was working was also burnt down including other

 4     shops in that area.

 5        Q.   And can you tell us something about who these shops belonged to,

 6     and I'm speaking about this --

 7        A.   They belonged to Albanians.  All of them.

 8        Q.   What about the houses that you say were set on fire?

 9        A.   They belonged to Albanians, all of them.

10        Q.   And you said you obtained this information from your brother,

11     your brothers.  Where were they that they were able to know about this?

12        A.   They were at home when the houses were being set on fire.  Once

13     they saw that, they fled their homes and went to other safer

14     neighbourhoods.

15        Q.   And you have also spoken about killings and you said that the

16     killings began on the 23rd of March and then continued from then.  How do

17     you know this?  Who told you that there were killings going on in

18     Djakovica town?

19        A.   The killings began on the 24th of March immediately after the

20     NATO bombing began at midnight or shortly after midnight.  This was

21     planned and organised killing, organised by the Serbs --

22        Q.   Mr. Haxhibeqiri, I'm sorry to interrupt you.  What I'm asking is

23     who told you about this?  How did you obtain this information?  Was it

24     something you saw yourself?  Did somebody speak to you about this?

25        A.   I was informed via telephone and also by the residents from that

Page 6944

 1     neighbourhood.  That's how I learned about this.

 2        Q.   And when you say that you were informed by the residence from

 3     that neighbourhood, which neighbourhood are you speaking about?

 4        A.   The residence of Hadum neighbourhood.

 5        Q.   And what did the residence of Hadum tell you was happening in

 6     that neighbourhood?

 7        A.   Three of them were friends of mine, and they lived just

 8     30 to 50 metres away from my home, and three others.  I heard down the

 9     phone line from people.  They told me the names of the people who were

10     killed.

11        Q.   And did they tell you how they obtained this information as to

12     who had been killed in that neighbourhood?

13        A.   Of course, when your brother tells you the names of the people

14     who were killed, I knew that it was from a safe source.  It was all

15     witnessed.

16        Q.   Now, I understand from your statement that you stayed in your

17     house until the end of the war; is that correct?

18        A.   Ten days I stayed with my uncle in a different neighbourhood,

19     Hanke [phoen] it's called.  I stayed there for ten days because I ran out

20     of food, so I went there.

21        Q.   And after those ten days, did you return to your house in the

22     Hadum neighbourhood?

23        A.   Yes.  I stayed there almost all the time.

24        Q.   Now, you have told us that you, when you returned to the Hadum

25     neighbourhood, you observed some damage that had been done to the mosque.

Page 6945

 1     During the time that you were there until from the end of the war, was

 2     any additional damage done to the Hadum mosque that you were able to

 3     observe or witness?

 4        A.   Yes.  On the 7th or on the 8th, I'm not sure, I was in the

 5     courtyard of my house when the minaret of the mosque, because of what I

 6     believed was an internal explosion, collapsed.  At that moment, I went up

 7     on the second floor and from the roof I was following the developments;

 8     and within five a minutes the minaret collapsed, and I saw no one there.

 9             Whereas the mosque itself was damaged, half of it.

10        Q.   And were you able to obtain any information as to how -- who had

11     caused this damage to the minaret of the mosque?

12        A.   No, because that was on the 7th of May when there was fighting in

13     the Cabrat hill which is on the west side of the town.  There was

14     fighting between the KLA and the Serb forces.  And as a consequence of

15     the fighting, more than 100 people were killed.  About 100 houses were

16     burned down.  And more than 300 people were arrested.

17        Q.   Is the Cabrat hill located in the proximity of the mosque, or is

18     it in a different area of the town?

19        A.   It's not far.  From my house it's as the crow flies about

20     300 metres away.

21        Q.   And how did you know that these persons were killed in this

22     fighting?

23        A.   Three of those killed and two of those arrested were sons of my

24     uncle; I'm talking about those three killed.  And two of those arrested

25     include my brother, and the son of my uncle was also arrested on the

Page 6946

 1     street.  They were expelled from the houses where they were staying.  And

 2     those who were not separated from the column of the people, obviously the

 3     elderly, they continued in the direction of Albania.  But the younger

 4     people were arrested in front of the municipality assembly hall.  And

 5     there were more than 300 people who were taken to the suburbs of the

 6     city.  They were inside a carpenter's shop, and they were held there for

 7     about 6 days.

 8             155 of the 300 ended up in the prison of Peja.  For six days,

 9     they were given no food, or they were given insufficient food.  It is

10     just two slices of bread for 36 hours, and they gave no water to them or

11     gave them very little water, which was not enough.  And when they were

12     weakened after those 6 days, they were taken to Peja prison.

13             MS. KRAVETZ:  I would like to have Exhibit P823 up on the screen.

14     And this is a map --

15             THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I would like to continue with what

16     I was saying for another 30 seconds, if I may.  Just to complete the

17     picture.

18             And from the prison of Peja, they were moved to the prison of

19     Dubrava.  26 of the 155 who were detained, they were killed, they were

20     shot, with the exception of two who died because of the bombing.  The

21     rest were executed by the personnel of the Dubrava prison by the Serb

22     prison wardens.

23        Q.   Mr. Haxhibeqiri, I'm going to stop you there just because we have

24     very limited time.  I know you have a lot of information to give the

25     court, but your statement is already before the Chamber and unfortunately

Page 6947

 1     we can't explore each one of these instances.

 2             MS. KRAVETZ:  If we could have P823 up on the screen, and I want

 3     page 29.  This is a map of Djakovica town.

 4             THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I haven't got the map up yet on my

 5     screen.

 6             MS. KRAVETZ:  And I would like to stay in the bottom half of the

 7     map, if we can.

 8             THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] That's fine.

 9             MS. KRAVETZ:  I would ask the usher to please assist the witness

10     in making markings on the map.

11        Q.   Mr. Haxhibeqiri, I want you to make a couple of markings on this

12     map.  We see at the bottom of the map -- do you have the map before you?

13        A.   Yes.

14        Q.   We see at the bottom the map a Roman numeral VII, and it's marked

15     Blloku i Ri.  Is this the area where you say you were hiding?

16        A.   Yes, yes.

17        Q.   Can you just -- I know the map is not very detailed, but could

18     you mark, approximately, the area where it is that you were staying

19     during the events that you've described with an X.  If you can draw --

20             MS. KRAVETZ:  If the usher could kindly assist the witness to --

21        A.   Midjeni Street is this one.

22        Q.   You can draw on the screen.

23        A.   Right here.

24        Q.   Now, you've told us that you saw six houses that were burned that

25     belonged to political activists.  Could you just draw a circle to

Page 6948

 1     indicate the area where it is that these houses were burning.

 2             MS. KRAVETZ:  Just for the sake of the record, the witness has

 3     marked an X where the house -- the doctor's house was.

 4             For the sake of the record, the witness has drawn a larger dot to

 5     the top right of where the X was to indicate the area where the houses

 6     were burning.

 7        Q.   Now, you've told us that you returned to the Hadum neighbourhood

 8     on the 5th of April.  Do we see that up on the screen here?  If you can

 9     just draw a circle around where that neighbour is located.

10        A.   Right here.

11        Q.   Could you just draw a bigger circle so we know which area we are

12     talking about.

13        A.   That's it.

14        Q.   Now, you've told us that you saw shops that were burned down and

15     houses that were burned.  Where exactly in this area were the shops and

16     the houses that you saw had been burned?  If you are able to tell on this

17     map.

18        A.   If this is the mosque, my house should be somewhere here.

19        Q.   Could you draw a number 1 there where your house is located.

20        A.   [Marks]

21        Q.   And you mentioned the mosque.  Can you draw a number 2 to

22     indicate where the mosque was located.

23        A.   If it's this one, I'm not sure.

24        Q.   Now, the shops and businesses that you spoke -- the houses and

25     shops that you spoke about, where are they located in relation to your

Page 6949

 1     house?

 2        A.   If the road is this one, then all those were along this road.  It

 3     continues up to here.

 4        Q.   We can't see anything unless you mark it on the map, sir.  So if

 5     you could just draw a line to indicate the road.

 6        A.   The road is in red actually, but I'll do it.  It continues

 7     further down from the mosque.

 8        Q.   So you're saying that the shops and houses you saw were along

 9     this road that you've marked in red?

10        A.   Yes, on both sides of the road.

11        Q.   Thank you.

12             MS. KRAVETZ:  The witness has drawn a line across the area that

13     he has circled as being the Hadum neighbourhood to indicate the road

14     along which he saw shops and business -- and houses burned down.

15             Your Honours, I wonder if we could have this map admitted.

16             JUDGE PARKER:  It will be received.

17             THE REGISTRAR:  As Exhibit P1069, Your Honours.

18             THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] The road is named after

19     Ishmajl Qamali [phoen], so it's Ishmajl Qamali road.

20        Q.   Thank you for that.

21             MS. KRAVETZ:  Your Honours, at this stage I have no further

22     questions for the witness.

23             JUDGE PARKER:  Thank you.

24             Ms. O'Leary.

25             MS. O'LEARY:  Thank you, Your Honour.

Page 6950

 1                           Cross-examination by Ms. O'Leary

 2        Q.   Good evening, Mr. Haxhibeqiri.  My name is Marie O'Leary, I'm

 3     representing the Defence of Mr. Vlastimir Djordjevic this evening.  With

 4     me is our lead counsel Mr. Dragoljub Djordjevic and

 5     Mr. Aleksandar Popovic.

 6             Now, I've been over your statement, so I have a couple of

 7     questions to just clarify some matters.  First of all, I want to learn a

 8     little bit more about the Council for Defence of Human Rights and

 9     Freedoms in Gjakove.  I tried to visit the site, but it appeared to be

10     under construction at the moment.  But it still is a functioning

11     organisation; correct?

12        A.   No.

13        Q.   No.  When --

14        A.   Please.  Time after time when there are projects, projects to be

15     involved with, we do get involved; but the nature of the work that we

16     were involved in has dropped down and the interest has decreased

17     somewhat.

18        Q.   So you are now --

19        A.   The nature of the work has changed, so it's not as it used to be.

20        Q.   So you are now engaged on a more sporadic basis, as needed?

21        A.   Yes, that's correct.

22        Q.   And when was -- I'm going to refer to it as the CDHRF.  When was

23     that founded?

24        A.   If I'm not mistaken, in 1991.

25        Q.   Were you a part of founding this organisation?

Page 6951

 1        A.   No.  I started sometime during the end of 1995.

 2        Q.   And you were involved with the organisation primarily from

 3     1995 to 2001; is that correct?

 4        A.   Yes.

 5        Q.   And you were chairman of the CDHRF for three years, 1998 to 2001?

 6        A.   To start with, I wasn't; but after the war, yes, I was.

 7        Q.   How did you come about this position?  Is there an election of

 8     the members, or is it volunteer?

 9        A.   It was an election.  I was elected.

10        Q.   And how many members were there at approximately that time?

11        A.   38.

12        Q.   Thank you.  And are you still active with the CDHRF when needed?

13        A.   The central headquarters in Pristina, when they get a project,

14     for example, the general election, so we are engaged for the duration of

15     the two months into and up to the election.

16             In that case, I would call on the staff, and, of course, this is

17     on specific projects.  Because otherwise, I'm involved with my own

18     things.  Now, we mainly are engaged when there are elections.  At a

19     national level.

20        Q.   Who determines what projects you will be involved in, what you'll

21     take on?

22        A.   It's the Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms in

23     Prishtina.  We are a sub-council.

24        Q.   Thank you.  And if we could have your statement up on our screen

25     so you can see --

Page 6952

 1             MS. O'LEARY:  Which is now P1068.  Going to page 2 in the English

 2     version, I believe it's also 2 in the Albanian version; 5 in e-court in

 3     the English version.

 4        Q.   I want to talk a little bit about the goals that you've talked

 5     about of the organisation, particularly in 1998 and 1999.  And if I'm

 6     reading in the English while we wait for a second the Albanian should pop

 7     up on the left, but you're saying in paragraph 3 of the English:

 8             "Part of the aims of the organisation is to collect evidence,

 9     data, and information of abuses of human rights."  Is that correct?

10        A.   Yes.

11        Q.   And is that -- and you'll have it on your screen on the left

12     there if it's a little bit easier to refer to.  But was that abuses at

13     that time of Albanian citizens or it is all ethnicities?

14        A.   Only Albanian.

15        Q.   If that was part of the goal of the organisation, you said part

16     of the aims, what were the other aims beyond collecting evidence, data,

17     and information of abuses?  What else did you engage in in 1998 and 1999?

18        A.   The main activity was collecting the correct information about

19     the violation of human rights that was taking place in our municipality.

20        Q.   And just to clarify, from your prior statement, just a few lines

21     before, that would be just the abuses against the human rights of the

22     Albanian citizens; correct?

23        A.   Yes.  Only the human rights of the Albanians because it was only

24     the Albanians who reported these violations.  We didn't receive reports

25     of violations from other ethnicities.  Partly from the Roma, although it

Page 6953

 1     was a minor proportion.

 2        Q.   Then I want to talk a little bit more about the interviews and

 3     how they were conducted.  First of all, these were done in conjunction

 4     with the ICG; correct?  The statements that were taken?

 5        A.   No, this statement was taken from the international Tribunal here

 6     at the Hague.

 7        Q.   Correct.  Sorry if I jumped ahead a little bit there, but in this

 8     statement here actually --

 9             MS. MARIE O'LEARY:  At page 7 of the English, if we could go to

10     that, and again at page 9; but if we could look at page 7 of the English.

11        Q.   You state that as a result of interviewing over 1.000 people in

12     Gjakove, you had done some interviews, I believe, with the

13     International Crisis Group, I think it is, your organisation had, and you

14     had participated personally; is that correct?

15        A.   Yes, yes.

16        Q.   And in stating that you interviewed over 1.000 people in Gjakove,

17     you actually only personally interviewed about 100 people; correct?

18        A.   That's correct.  There were about 10 or 11 of us who were

19     interviewing people, and each one of us interviewed people in our

20     respective areas, covering villages or neighbourhoods.

21        Q.   When you say "respective areas" do you mean geographically or

22     professionally?

23        A.   Geographically.

24        Q.   And this was done all over Kosovo or just in the Djakovica

25     municipality?

Page 6954

 1        A.   It relates only to Gjakove.

 2        Q.   So in this 1.000 interviews that were taken in the Gjakove

 3     municipality, you said at some point you had read through them or you

 4     were familiar with the information contained in the other 900 statements?

 5        A.   Almost all of them.

 6        Q.   Were you reviewing them for anything specific, or was it just to

 7     compile further reports for your organisation that you went over the

 8     other 900?

 9        A.   To have information about what was going on across the

10     municipality.  To get all the statistics, the numbers of those killed,

11     those arrested, and detained, because the crimes were not evidenced.

12     Some of them still are unknown and remain a mystery.  Because there were

13     people -- corpses being brought from Batajnica, and to this day we still

14     have people who are missing and we don't know their whereabouts.

15        Q.   When you say - and to go back a couple of lines here - you say

16     "those arrested, and detained," are you speaking about Albanians who were

17     arrested and detained, or are you speaking of Serbs who were arrested and

18     detained?

19        A.   We are talking about Albanians only, because if you were

20     Albanian, you were persecuted, you were beaten up, you were killed, and

21     everything -- the worst happened to you because you were Albanian.

22        Q.   Did you do any research or interviewing about those arrested and

23     detained Serbs who may have been perpetrators?

24        A.   I've recorded all the evidence given by people who came to my

25     office, and there were no Serbs who reported to my office.

Page 6955

 1        Q.   Now, it seems -- and reporting to your office, it seems that

 2     there were two ways that you garnered information.  One was that people

 3     would come through your door to your office, and the second was that you

 4     actually went out on the ground, I believe, you said today in the

 5     transcript.  When you went out on the ground -- well, is that correct?

 6        A.   Yes, that's correct.  When we went on the ground and when we came

 7     across cases of Serbs being injured, we were not allowed by the Serb

 8     police and military to get any close to that case because they did not

 9     recognise our council.

10        Q.   When you were on the ground and going out to interview people,

11     how did you select the interviewees?

12        A.   There was a representative of the ICG with us when we went out on

13     the ground.  And he was guiding us.  And it was them who provided us with

14     a form and the questions and the questionnaire.  And on the basis of what

15     was included in the questionnaire, we carried out the interviews.  We

16     identified the villages, and they helped us out in conducting these

17     interviews.

18             In the villages where we went, there were very few people

19     remaining because the villages were burned down.  But the people we met

20     during those visits, we asked them and they told their story.  The

21     majority of the population of those villages were expelled from their own

22     homes.  They were sent to Albania, and they had not returned to their own

23     villages because they had no home to stay.

24        Q.   So the ICG was directing whom would be interviewed; is that

25     correct?  You are nodding yes?

Page 6956

 1        A.   Yes.

 2        Q.   And did you have specific names on a list when you went into a

 3     village, or did you randomly encounter the people who were still there?

 4        A.   No.  It was just people who we came across.  And they were very

 5     few.  And they felt they had been victimised, they were tortured, and

 6     their houses were burned down.  Of the 84 villages in our municipality,

 7     more than 60 were burned, up to 90 per cent of them.  So up to

 8     90 per cent of the 60 villages were burned.

 9        Q.   I assume you are getting the statistics that you are giving now

10     at this time from your organisation?

11        A.   No, it was the municipality that provided me with the details.

12     We also got some statistics from Mother Teresa Association.

13        Q.   And did the ICG give you any sort of training, or did anyone

14     engage in any training before you went out and did these interviews?

15        A.   Yes.  Days before we went out, yes.

16        Q.   What did that training involve?

17        A.   Yes, they were lawyers and they instructed us on the way -- how

18     to conduct the interviews.  Although, from our side, five or six were

19     professionally lawyers.

20        Q.   Were you instructed to look for specific things?

21        A.   But the basis was the questionnaire, we were instructed to stick

22     to the questionnaire.

23        Q.   Okay.  And this questionnaire, when you were filling in the

24     questionnaire, which is what you did when you spoke with them; correct?

25        A.   Yes.

Page 6957

 1        Q.   Were you filling it out verbatim or were you paraphrasing what

 2     the person was telling you?

 3        A.   There were cases that we were literally writing what they were

 4     saying.  Most of the things that we would put down was authentic.  We

 5     would literally put down what they said; it was verbatim.

 6        Q.   And you said that you were --

 7        A.   So we would note down the words of the witness as they said them.

 8        Q.   On -- these were on handwritten forms; correct?

 9        A.   Yes.  It was handwritten.

10        Q.   Do you recall on these forms, having done so many of them, what

11     were the questions that were asked?

12        A.   Yes.  There were included all the crime categories.  We mainly

13     asked, Was your house burned down; have you been beaten up; have you been

14     insulted; has any of your relatives been killed; anyone detained; anyone

15     raped; have you been evicted from your home?

16        Q.   Was the first question on the form "Are you ready to testify at

17     The Hague Tribunal, yes or no?"

18        A.   Yes.

19        Q.   And then they went on, as you said, to specify different crimes

20     that they could discuss that they had been victims or witnesses of;

21     correct?

22        A.   Yes, has your house been burned down; who evicted you, was it the

23     police, was it the paramilitary, or the army.  If it was the police, who

24     were the police officers.

25             So this is roughly what questions we put to them because so much

Page 6958

 1     time has passed and I cannot exactly remember.

 2        Q.   That's completely understandable.  When it asked for the author

 3     of the crime, did it say, for example, the VJ, the police, the

 4     paramilitary, or civilian?

 5        A.   Yes, that's correct.

 6        Q.   Were there any other options listed for perpetrators of the

 7     crime?

 8        A.   Let me think.  We asked, When did you leave your village; when

 9     were you expelled; were your documents torn.  Because most of the people

10     who were sent to Albania, their identity cards and documents were taken

11     away from them and burned.

12        Q.   Mr. Haxhibeqiri --

13        A.   So the document was burned in the eyes of all the people who were

14     being sent across the border to Albania.

15        Q.   It's okay.  We have a lot to cover that's in your statement,

16     obviously, so I just wanted to go step by step.  And I was simply

17     wondering if there were any other options other than those four listed as

18     perpetrators of the crime, that you can recall?

19        A.   Yes, you said earlier, civilians.

20        Q.   Yes.  So I take it that means that those four were the categories

21     that could be checked in for that?

22        A.   I can't remember.  But you have the questionnaire in front of

23     you, so you may tell us.

24        Q.   I don't actually have the questionnaire in front of me, that's

25     the problem.  That's why I'm asking you.  I am --

Page 6959

 1        A.   Can bring it in tomorrow if you want.

 2        Q.   That would be --

 3        A.   Of course I can do that.

 4        Q.   I'm actually going from your testimony in the Milutinovic trial

 5     where you discussed the form, Mr. Haxhibeqiri.

 6             MS. MARIE O'LEARY:  At page 1242, if anyone wanted the reference

 7     on that.

 8        Q.   And I was just going through it in that manner since I didn't

 9     have the form with me.  But if you have it with you, you can bring it

10     tomorrow and perhaps we can discuss that then.

11             One more question then as far as in this vein right now:  Do you

12     know who drafted this form that you were using?

13        A.   I said it earlier, it's the ICG.

14        Q.   Thank you.

15             MS. O'LEARY:  Your Honour, I was about to move on to a new topic.

16             JUDGE PARKER:  It seems a very convenient time.

17             MS. O'LEARY:  Thank you.

18             JUDGE PARKER:  We must adjourn for the night now,

19     Mr. Haxhibeqiri, and we continue tomorrow, I believe, at 2.15; and we

20     will therefore adjourn overnight.  A Court Officer will assist you with

21     further details, and we will look forward to the balance of your evidence

22     tomorrow.

23                           --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at 7.00 p.m.,

24                           to be reconvened on Tuesday, the 7th day of

25                           July, 2009, at 2.15 p.m.