Albin Kurt has been released from Serbian prison on 7 December 2001, but 203 Kosova-Albanian prisoners remain, detained in Serbia since June 1999.

High-profile Kosovo Albanian political prisoner released

MERDARE, Yugoslavia, Dec 7 AFP|Published: Saturday December 8, 1:05 PM

A high-profile Kosovo Albanian political prisoner jailed by the regime of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic was released from a 15-year jail term late today and returned to Kosovo.
    Albin Kurti was arrested in Kosovo in April 1999 at the height of fighting between ethnic Albanian separatists and Milosevic's forces.
    He was accused of "participating in setting up terrorist groups" and convicted of involvement with the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which led the separatist fight until a NATO bombing campaign forced the forces loyal to Milosevic to withdraw in 1999.
    "The worst thing has happened," Kurti told reporters on his release.
    "I've been freed alone. My friends are still in prison in Serbia," he added after arriving by Red Cross jeep in the town of Merdare on the Kosovo border.
    "I never asked for amnesty or a pardon."
    Kurti was a student leader and spokesman for one of the main ethnic Albanian leaders, Adem Demaci, who at the time was the political representative of the now disbanded KLA in the Kosovo capital, Pristina.
    He was 25 when he was jailed in March last year.
    There was no official acknowledgement of Kurti's release in Belgrade and it was not known who had ordered him to be freed or why.
    Kurti was one of 1,300 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo still thought to be imprisoned in Serbia, most of them serving sentences for alleged terrorist activities, according to legal authorities in Belgrade.
    Serbian forces are thought to have transferred around 2,050 prisoners - the vast majority of them ethnic Albanians - back to Serbia after they withdrew from Kosovo in June 1999.
    Some of the prisoners were convicted and sentenced to jail terms, while others were freed before trial due to lack of evidence. Others were returned in exchange for Serbs held by ethnic Albanians.
    During his trial, Kurti denounced Serbian state institutions, refused to accept a court-appointed lawyer and said he did not recognise "Milosevic's justice."
    Kosovo, a southern Serbian province, was placed under UN administration in June 1999 after Milosevic's forces retreated following an intensive 78-day bombing campaign of Yugoslavia from the air by US-led NATO forces.
    The province held its first democratic regional elections last month to elect an assembly with substantial autonomy for the province.
    Milosevic was ousted from power in October last year, allowing Vojislav Kostunica to take over as Yugoslav president.
    The former president is being held in a detention centre of the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague and is due to appear on December 11 to enter his plea on genocide charges related to his role in the 1992-95 war in Bosnia.

Copyright © 2001 John Fairfax Holdings Ltd.
_______________________________________________________________________
Betreff: Our Ref - InfoDiss/PRI01E1631 : Press release
Datum: Fri, 7 Dec 2001 22:11:03 +0100
Von: "Vjosa Osmani" <Vjosa_Osmani.PRI@icrc.org>

ICRC PRESS RELEASE
Pristina, 07.12.2001

ICRC ACCOMPANIES A DETAINEE FROM A SERBIAN JAIL

Tonight, the ICRC accompanied to Kosovo one person released by the authorities in Serbia. Albin Kurti from Prishtinë/Pristina was released from Nis prison.

To date 1834 detainees have been released of whom 1675 were accompanied back home by the ICRC. During the detention visits the ICRC delegates have exchanged more than 34,318 Red Cross Messages between the detainees and their family members.

203 detainees will continue to be visited by the ICRC until their final release by the authorities.

Further info contact Nada Doumani,  ICRC Mission,  + 377 44 115 036

KUMTESË NGA KNKK
Prishtinë, 07.12.2001

KNKK SHOQËRON NJË TË BURGOSUR NGA BURGU SERB

Sonte, KNKK shoqëroi për në Kosovë një person të liruar nga autoritetet në Serbi. Albin Kurti nga Prishtina është liruar nga burgu i Nishit.

Deri sot 1834 të burgosur janë liruar prej të cilëve 1675 janë shoqëruar nga KNKK. Gjatë vizitave në burgje delegatët e KNKK kanë shkëmbyer më shumë se 34,318 Porosi të Kryqit të Kuq në mes të burgosurve dhe anëtarëve të familjes.

203 të burgosur do të vizitohen edhe më tutje nga KNKK deri sa të lirohen nga autoritetet.

Për informata të mëtejme kontaktoni Vjosa Osmani, Arbena Kuriu Misioni i KNKK, 038 28 400/501 518/501 519
_______________________________________________________________________
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters12-07-134858.asp?reg=EUROPE

Serbia frees Kosovo Albanian student leader

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Dec. 7 — Serbia released a prominent Kosovo Albanian student activist on Friday who had been in jail since NATO's 1999 war on Yugoslavia.
    Taken to the Serbian heartlands as Slobodan Milosevic's Yugoslav forces retreated from the mainly Albanian province, Albin Kurti was sentenced to 15 years in prison for terrorism.
    While most Kosovo Albanian prisoners had already been freed from Serbian jails after the ousting of Milosevic as Yugoslav president 14 months ago, Western nations and human rights bodies have been pressing for Kurti and others to be released too.
    The reformist authorities in Belgrade are still determined not to give in to the demands of some ethnic Albanians for complete independence for Kosovo.
    Kurti, in his mid-20s, was greeted by around 100 friends and family members when he arrived late in the evening in Pristina, capital of Kosovo, which is now under U.N.-led administration.
    Sporting a short prison haircut, Kurti said he did not know why he had been freed nor why it had taken so long: ''I don't know why I stayed in prison for such a long time,'' he said.
    The crowd, including many others who had seen the inside of Serbian jails, cheered and applauded him.
    ''This is a miracle,'' said his uncle, Skender Kurti.
    A spokeswoman for the International Red Cross (ICRC), Vjosa Osmani, said in Pristina that Kurti had been released from prison in the central Serbian town of Pozarevac.
    Serbian officials were not available for comment.
    Kurti was arrested in Kosovo during the air strikes NATO launched in an effort to force Milosevic to stop what it said was Serbian oppression of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.
    Like hundreds of other Albanian detainees, he was taken to Serbia proper when Yugoslav forces withdrew from the province.
    A district court in southern Serbia sentenced him in March last year to 15 years in jail for terrorism.
    Kurti was leader of the Independent Union of Albanian Students, which was set up in Pristina after Belgrade stripped Kosovo of the autonomy it had enjoyed during the Communist era in federal Yugoslavia and imposed direct rule in 1989.
    He also organised student demonstrations in Kosovo.
    Some Kosovo Albanians are still held in Serbian jails. Kurti said the international community was not doing enough for them.

Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited
_______________________________________________________________________
http://news.excite.com/photo/img/ap/yugoslavia/kosovo/20011207/pri103

http://i.atext.com/img/feeds/ap/yugoslavia/kosovo/20011207/pri103_full.jpg
Albin Kurti a Former Kosovo Student Leader Speaks with his...
Fri, Dec 07 05:06 PM
Albin Kurti a former Kosovo student leader speaks with his family members after being released from prison by Yugoslav authorities in Kosovo's capital Pristina on Friday, Dec. 7, 2001. Kurti was inprisoned by Slobodan Milosevic's regime in April 1997 after being convicted on charges on terrorism and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Photo by Visar Kryeziu (AP)
_______________________________________________________________________
http://news.excite.com/photo/img/ap/yugoslavia/kosovo/20011207/pri101

http://i.atext.com/img/feeds/ap/yugoslavia/kosovo/20011207/pri101_full.jpg
Albin Kurti a Former Kosovo Student Leader Sits on the Back...
Fri, Dec 07 04:37 PM
Albin Kurti a former Kosovo student leader sits on the back of International Red Cross car after being released from prison by Yugoslav authorities in the border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia in the village Merdare on Friday, Dec. 7, 2001. Kurti was inprisoned by Slobodan Milosevic's regime in April 1997 after being convicted on charges on terrorism and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Photo by Visar Kryeziu (AP)
_______________________________________________________________________
http://portale.web.de/Schlagzeilen/News/?msg_id=665982&show=img&img_id=665985&pos=1&of=2

http://img.web.de/c/00/0A/29/81.420
FILE - Albin Kurti, center, a Kosovo ethnic Albanian student leader, is seen in this April 22, 2000 file picture. Kurti, who was imprisoned by Yugoslav authorities in April 1999, was released Friday Dec. 7, 2001, but argued the move was a political ploy by Yugoslav authorities. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of terrorism and conspiracy against the state. He became a prominent figure among Kosovo's ethnic Albanians in 1997 when led protests as the leader of an independent student union, but later became a spokesman for the Kosovo Liberation Army, a now-disbanded rebel organization. (AP Photo/Srdjan Ilic)

© ap - Meldung vom 08.12.2001 09:52 Uhr
_______________________________________________________________________
http://www.radio21.net/english/index.htm

KOSOVA  07 December 2001

Albin Kurti, former leader of the ’90 students protest released from Pozarevac prison

http://www.radio21.net/images/foto_ditore/albin_kurti1.jpg

The former leader of the students protests in the ’90 in Kosova, Albin Kurti was released today from the Serb prison of Pozarevac. He entered Kosova, throw the Merdare border point between Serbia and Kosova, around 09:30 PM. “I’m not very happy to be free, because I have left many friends behind me, in the prisons of Serbia. Serbia must pay recompenses to Kosova and to all the victims and prisoners’ families”, Albin Kurti told Radio-Television 21.
Albin Kurti was born on March 24, 1975, in Prishtina, Kosova. He finished primary school (1981-1989) and high school (1989-1993) in Prishtina with excellent success. In the academic year of 1993/94, he began his studies at the Electrical Faculty of the University of Prishtina. He was an eminent (honors) student. In August 1997, he became involved in the Students Independent Union of the University of Prishtina (SIUUP) as a member of the presidency. He was the international officer. Albin was also a member of the Organizing Board (at University level) of the students' peaceful protests for the release of University's buildings, which were then held by Serb professors and students. This Board organized four student peaceful protests (1 October 1997, 29 October 1999, 30 December 1997 and 13 March 1998). During this time, he was invited to meetings in Washington, New York, Brussels, Copenhagen, and the European Parliament in Strasbourg with the purpose of informing the international community about Albanian students' legitimate demands. He also met with numerous highly placed individuals in international politics, including: Robin Cook (foreign minister of UK), Klaus Kinkel (ex-foreign minister of Germany), Hubert Vedrine (foreign minister of France), Robert Gelbard (special envoy of President Clinton for the Balkans), and with all the ambassadors and embassy representatives of western countries present in Belgrade. In August 1998, Albin began working in the office of the General Political Representative (GPR) of UÇK, Adem Demaçi, where he served as a translator. In early March 1999, he quit all activities at SIUUP and at the office of GPR of UÇK in order to continue his university studies. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Albin remained in Prishtina until April 27, 1999, when Serbian police arrested him. From April 27 until May 1, Albin was held in Prishtina prison. On May 2, he was transferred to Lipjan prison where he was held until June 10. During this time, he was barbarously tortured for being a "terrorist". He was accused of meeting with Richard Holbrooke (in fact, Albin had never met him) and of meeting with Christopher Hill. On June 10, after the withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosova, Albin and thousands of other Albanian prisoners were transferred from the prison in Lipjan, Kosova, to prisons in Serbia. His family had no information about his whereabaouts. On July 12, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) informed the family that Albin Kurti was being held in Pozarevac prison. On July 27, 1999, the family was informed by Franklin De Vrieze (Pax Christi Vlaanderen) about his visit to Pozarevac prison where he met with Albin. After this, during September and October, the family received two letters from Albin. The first letter was written September 13 and received on September 30. The second letter was written September 22 and received on October 18. Both letters were communicated through ICRC.    (07.11.2001)
_______________________________________________________________________
http://www.inter-liber.com/chom/vesti2.asp?d=8-12-2001&vID=8262#vest

ALBIN KURTI HAS BEEN RELEASED

Skopje, 8 December 2001 (CHOM)
After two and a half years of detention in Nis, Albin Kurti, 26 year old, former leader of the students of the University of Prishtina has been released on Friday.
It is still unknown as to when the remaining 203 other Albanian prisoners from Kosovo who are being held in prisons throughout Serbia will be released.
Albin Kurti was arrested in 1999 in Prishtina by the Serbian police forces and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by the Serbian Court.
_______________________________________________________________________
http://128.121.251.38/bnews/bnews.php?language=english&sortby=DESC&limit=15&startno=20011207201000&endno=20011206185000&np=-1

Free Serbia News

12/08/2001 15:18 GMT+2 -- Leader of Albanian students set free
Albin Kurti released from prison
One of student leaders of Kosovo Albanians Albin Kurti was released on Friday afternoon from a prison on the administrative border with Kosovo, in Merdare, and handed over to Red Cross activists.
District court in Nis sentenced Kurti to 15 years for endangering territorial integrity of FRY and teaming up for hostile activities related to terrorism. Kurti said during the trial he didn't feel guilty and had no reason to defend himself, because he didn't recognize Serbia or its courts.
_______________________________________________________________________
http://www.b92.net/archive/e/index.phtml?Y=2001&M=12&D=08

B92 NEWS  Last update: Dec 8, 2001 16:55 CET

Albanian student leader freed from Serb prison

12:10 PRISTINA, Saturday – Serbia has released a Kosovo Albanian student activist who was sentenced to fifteen years’ prison last year for terrorism.
Albin Kurti was arrested as Serb forces withdrew from Kosovo in June of that year.
Western nations and human rights organisations have been pressing for the release of Kurti and the remaining Albanian prisoners in Serbian jails.
Arriving in Pristina yesterday, Kurti told media that he did not know why he had been freed nor why he had remained in prison so long after the fall of Milosevic.
He added that the international community was not doing enough for the remaining Kosovo Albanians in Serbian prisons.

_______________________________________________________________________
BalkanWeb 2000  http://www.balkanweb.com/new/news1.htm

Kosovo: Released, Albin Kurti, student protests leader
8-Dec-2001 8:30 AM
PRISTINA (MSNBC - December 8) - Serbia released a prominent Kosovo Albanian student activist on Friday who had been in jail since NATO's 1999 war on Yugoslavia. Taken to the Serbian heartlands as Slobodan Milosevic's Yugoslav forces retreated from the mainly Albanian province, Albin Kurti was sentenced to 15 years in prison for terrorism. While most Kosovo Albanian prisoners had already been freed from Serbian jails after the ousting of Milosevic as Yugoslav president 14 months ago, Western nations and human rights bodies have been pressing for Kurti and others to be released too. The reformist authorities in Belgrade are still determined not to give in to the demands of some ethnic Albanians for complete independence for Kosovo. Kurti, in his mid-20s, was greeted by around 100 friends and family members when he arrived late in the evening in Pristina, capital of Kosovo, which is now under U.N.-led administration. Sporting a short prison haircut, Kurti said he did not know why he had been freed nor why it had taken so long: ''I don't know why I stayed in prison for such a long time,'' he said. The crowd, including many others who had seen the inside of Serbian jails, cheered and applauded him. ''This is a miracle,'' said his uncle, Skender Kurti. A spokeswoman for the International Red Cross (ICRC), Vjosa Osmani, said in Pristina that Kurti had been released from prison in the central Serbian town of Pozarevac. Serbian officials were not available for comment. Kurti was arrested in Kosovo during the air strikes NATO launched in an effort to force Milosevic to stop what it said was Serbian oppression of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority. Like hundreds of other Albanian detainees, he was taken to Serbia proper when Yugoslav forces withdrew from the province. A district court in southern Serbia sentenced him in March last year to 15 years in jail for terrorism. Kurti was leader of the Independent Union of Albanian Students, which was set up in Pristina after Belgrade stripped Kosovo of the autonomy it had enjoyed during the Communist era in federal Yugoslavia and imposed direct rule in 1989. He also organised student demonstrations in Kosovo. Some Kosovo Albanians are still held in Serbian jails. Kurti said the international community was not doing enough for them. /an (MSNBC/BalkanWeb)

Merdare, Kurti after releasing: Serbia should compensate Kosovo
8-Dec-2001 12:40 PM
PRISTINA (December 8) - "Serbia should compensate Kosovo ", stated Albin Kurti student protests leader and former spokesman of KLA representative, Adem Demaci, for Radio 21 just as he touched Albanian ground, when he entered custom point of Merdare. Very excited at first sight, but determined in his words, Kurti could not hide his torment for hundreds of Albanians who are kept still in Serbia prisons. "I am not happy that I am free, for most of my friends are still in Serbia's prisons. Serbia owes us a lot. First of all it must compensate Kosovo and the relatives of the victims and the prisoners in Serbia's jails", stated Kurti. xhe/an (BalkanWeb) _______________________________________________________________________
http://www.vny.com/cf/news/upidetail.cfm?QID=234700

Saturday, 8 December 2001 13:28 (ET)

Kosovo Albanian student leader set free

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Former Kosovo Albanian student leader Allbin Kurti, Serbia's most prominent political prisoner, was unexpectedly set free Saturday after more than two and one-half years in the Pozarevac jail.
    He was given a big welcome late Saturday when he arrived in Kosovo's capital, Pristina.
    Kurti was arrested in Kosovo in March 1999 at the start of the NATO-led bombing campaign against Yugoslavia over the repression of ethnic Albanians. He was later sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on charges of conspiring to engage in terrorist activity.
    No official statement on Kurti's release was immediately issued, but only Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica had the authority to pardon him.
    "I asked for no mercy in Serbia because no one carrying out repression over the Albanian population can condemn a man who has not created any problems," he said.
    "In prison I was broken physically but not spiritually. Now I am physically free but spiritually in jail because my friends have remained there," Kurti asserted.
    He accused Albanian leaders in Kosovo of doing little to solve the problem of Albanian political prisoners in Serbian jails. He said the reason for his arrest and conviction was his ideological orientation.
    The Yugoslav lawyers' association for human rights has long pressed the Yugoslav authorities for Kurti's release. The committee's president, Biljana Kovacevic Vuco, said Saturday, "President Kostunica's decision should be greeted as an act of political wisdom. It was really worthwhile setting Kurti at liberty because, among other things, freedom for all political prisoners is one of the conditions the international community has demanded of Yugoslavia to fulfill."
    Kurti had refused to be amnestied or to allow anybody to petition for his pardon.
    "Kurti was a symbol and I think the question of freeing political prisoners of Albanian nationality from prisons in Serbia will not be raised again," Vuco said.
    Belgrade radio B92 in a report from Pristina said Kurti was welcomed there by a large crowd of well-wishers, including a former commander of the now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, Sulejman Selimi Sultan.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International.

http://www.FreeAlbinKurti.com Albin Kurti sentenced to 15 years imprisonment NISH, March 13 - The District Court of Nish today sentenced Albanian student leader Albin Kurti to 15 years imprisonment, on charges of criminal acts against the territorial integrity of the former Yugoslavia and involvement in subversive terrorist activity. [more see :   http://www.FreeAlbinKurti.com ] NEWS ==>ALBIN KURTI <== NEWS RELEASE THE KOSOVAR POLITICAL PRISONERS FROM SERBIA NOW! Biographyof Albin Kurti  written by his brother Details and articles on Albin's background and his political and peace work  ==> http://www.bndlg.de/~wplarre/Suche-Kurti.htm

"A petition has been prepared to distribute and also to accept signatures of supporters around the world. In Kosova, over 100,000 signatures have been collected.
You may print the signature form online at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova-petitionsign.htm
or contact us for a copy."
-------------------------------
Deutsche und englische Fassung von Petition und Unterschriften-Listen bei:
           http://www.bndlg.de/~wplarre/kosova-petition-991024.htm
 
 

sign the petition online ! Unterschreiben Sie die Petition online ! Please take the time to sign the petition online at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova-petitionsign.htm to support the release of the illegally detained Kosovars currently being tortured and killed in Serb prisons.

 

sign the petition online ! Unterschreiben Sie die Petition online ! Please take the time to sign the petition online at: http://www.khao.org/appkosova-petitionsign.htm to support the release of the illegally detained Kosovars currently being tortured and killed in Serb prisons.

	Wolfgang Plarre		Homepage Inhaltsverzeichnis - Contents Seite geändert am 05.01.2000 Mail senden
	Dillinger Straße 41... 86637 Wertingen. ..
	Telefon       08272 - 98974  Fax            08272 - 98975....
	E-mail wplarre@bndlg.de