Balkans: September 6, 2002

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No, we said we werent going to cover Slobos trial, except for high (or very low) points. Heres one of those points. A Montenegrin soldier (who served in the Yugoslav Army in Kosovo) testified that he was ordered to kill Albanian civilians, including women and children. The former soldier, identified as K41", said he was ordered to leave no survivors. The testimony was given over a TV link from Banja Luka (Bosnia) and the mans face was blurred to hide his identity. The former soldier testified that he saw several executions in the town of Trnje (March 1999). He said his unit received orders to kill everyone in the area. According to one wire service report, K41 said the order was given by a sergeant in his unit. In one incident they killed a dozen people (civilians) in a garden. One of the people killed was a baby, hit with three bullets. His unit then burned the village. The man then told the court he was ashamed of what he did and that he was testifying in Milosevics trial because he dreamed about it every night. Milosevic cross-examined the man. Slobo denied that any civilians could have been killed and said that K41 was not telling the truth. When Slobo asked K41 why he didnt report the killings to his superiors K41 replied (quote here from AFP) "Do you want me to report them to the person who ordered me to do these killings?" (Austin Bay)


 

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