• eine Auswahl ihrer Gedichte
• eine kurze Biographie
• EIN VERLETZTER VOGEL BIN ICH
  Flora Brovina in der kosova-albanischen Lyrik

 
Dear friends,

a public platform against the verdict to dr Flora Brovina was held in Belgrade, in Center for Cultural Decontamination, on Saturday, December 18th. The speakers were: Ajri Begu, Brovina's husband, Husnija Bitici, Brovina's attorney, Barbara Davis, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Natasa Kandic, Humanitarian Law Center, Radmila Lazic, PEN Yugoslavia, Gradimir Nalic, Yugoslav Committee for Human Rights, Stanislava Zajovic, Woman in Black, and Jelena Santic, Group 484. 

All participants of the platform explained who Flora Brovina is, what was she doing in Kosovo as director of League of Albanian women,  what was her "crime", how this shameful trial looked like. Barbara Davis brought from Kosovo "an evidence" of her terrorism - little pullover for babies, knitted by activists of League. Ajri Begu said that there were 2 announcements from the government of Republic of Kosovo, which said that Brovina was never a Minister for health in their government, Radmila Lazic read one of Brovina's poems, Stanislava Zajovic spoke about how she met Brovina, as a leader of women's liberation, Jelena Santic said that a true humanist was sent to prison only because of her nationality and that she is a true symbol of the fight for freedom, Gradimir Nalic announced that there is going to be an article in daily newspaper Danas about her trial named "Flora and Fauna", explaining that the people who sent her to jail were animals.

After the public platform all participants and audience signed the petition for her amnesty, which was first addressed to President of FRY Slobodan Milosevic, but Natasa Kandic stated that he is not the right addressee because he is on trial in Hague for war crimes, and that it should be addressed to Justice department of FRY and to all courts.

Best wishes,
for Jelena Santic
Dragana Gavrilovic

IFEX- News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ACTION ALERT UPDATE - FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

15 December 1999

Poet sentenced to twelve years in prison

SOURCE: Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), International PEN, London

**Updates IFEX alerts of 11 November, 9 November, 30 August, 23 June and 30 April 1999**

(WiPC/IFEX) - On 9 December 1999, Flora Brovina, an ethnic Albanian poet, paediatrician and women's rights activist, was sentenced to twelve years in prison in a court in Nis, Serbia. International PEN considers Brovina to be convicted solely for her condemnation of Serb human rights abuses in Kosovo, and for her humanitarian work in Pristina before and during the NATO bombardment of Serb forces in the region. It is calling for her release.

Brovina was convicted of "terrorism", the key accusation being that she provided medical attention to members of the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA). She was also accused of providing uniforms to the KLA. Amnesty International referred to the trial evidence being extremely weak based mainly on statements made by Brovina under duress. On 9 December, she claimed in court that she had been subjected to eighteen sessions of interrogation that lasted from early morning to 5pm, without breaks or food. She said that she was so exhausted that she would have signed anything. She added that her statement made under interrogation had not been read out to her before she signed it. Even a prosecution witness giving evidence at the court admitted that medical material confiscated from Brovina's clinic could have been used in peace-time as well as war, and added that KLA officials had sought and received treatment in Pristina Hospital.

The trial has led to widespread condemnation both inside and outside Serbia. Amnesty International condemns the decision as "outrageous" and considers that Brovina is being made an example of by the Serb authorities. The Serbian PEN Centre, which was among a number of local non-governmental organisations and international observers to Brovina's trial, issued a public statement which was carried in the Belgrade daily newspapers "Glas" and "Danas". It referred to the continuing tensions within Kosovo where attacks are being carried out against the remaining Serb population, most notably the murder in late November of Serb professor Dragoslav Basic. Professor Basic was travelling in his car in Pristina with his wife and mother-in-law when he was stopped by a group of ethnic Albanians who dragged him from the vehicle and shot him dead. The two women were also pulled from the car and beaten as ethnic-Albanians stood by. Serbian PEN sees Brovina's conviction as exacerbating the "increasingly difficult position of Serb inhabitants" in Kosovo. It stated that "[Dr Brovina] should not be convicted for carrying out her duty as a doctor. The conviction will not prevent the further persecution of the Serbs in Kosovo but will aggravate their position even more". The Centre called for good will to be put in practice by both sides towards  an end to "the spreading of hatred and revenge". It called on the Serb authorities to order  Brovina's release.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to authorities:
- condemning outright the twelve-year sentence against Brovina who is held solely because of her legitimate and non-violent humanitarian activities and for her long-running campaign against Serb abuses in Kosovo - calling for her immediate and unconditional release

APPEALS TO:

His Excellency Slobodan Milosevic
President of Yugoslavia
Savezna Skupstina
11000 Belgrade
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Fax: + 381 11 636 775

For those meeting difficulties with this contact number, try:

Zivadin Jovanovic
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Fax: + 381 11 367 2954

PEN also recommends that letters of protest be sent to the Serb embassies in your own countries.

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact Sara Whyatt at the WiPC, International PEN, 9/10 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7AT, U.K., tel: +44 171 253 3226, fax: +44 171 253 5711, e-mail: intpen@gn.apc.org

The information contained in this action alert update is the sole responsibility of WiPC. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit WiPC.

 
PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF OSCE CONFERENCE
by Sudee Jacquot Marsh
Prishtina

December 09, 1999

December 10, International Human Rights Day, honored here in Kosova for the first time by an OSCE sponsored International Human Rights Conference. Yesterday was Flora Brovina’s third hearing and I didn’t know the outcome as it wasn’t on any international news.  I watched and I was unable to get through to Ajri Begu.  So, I only found out about her 12 year prison sentence when I was in the crowd undergoing a security protocol for the conference.  When I found out from a Kosovar conference attendee, I was stunned, couldn’t believe it.  I felt like turning around and leaving, to be anywhere else than this conference with the subject matter now feeling like a farce.
     Instead, I stayed and registered, hoping this group would at least be a forum for addressing the issue of Kosovar citizens imprisoned or missing in Yugoslavia for purely political reasons.  I saw many of my Kosovar women friends who are and have been activists for human rights issues, although none so well know as Dr. Flora Brovina.  They seemed sad but contained.
     The first speaker, Bernard Kouchner, started his speech by quoting from Mary Robinson that today was not a day for celebration.  He brought up the atrocity of Flora’s  sentence and asked for us to stand for a moment of silence to honor all the victims of the war and 10 year repression.  He went on to emphasize the sad state of human rights in the world today mentioning Chechnya and Sierra Leone among numerous other countries.
     The second speaker was Daan Everts, Ambassador, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the UN, and OSCE Head of Mission in Kosova.  He also was an effective speaker acknowledging the pain and losses Kosovars had suffered during the last decade.  He talked about Flora and her courageous work assisting women and children in Kosova.  He stated though that a just war was not fought to win an unjust peace, and the need to establish a culture of human rights.
     The two keynote speakers were less inspiring and spent a lot of time blaming about Kosovars responsibility to be tolerant and stop their own violence against their ethnic minorities.  All of this acceptable when personalized by acknowledging what Kosovars have gone through but a bit irritating when so academic and theoretical.  It got a bit much for me, so I left.
     Outside of the conference which was at the Government Building, crowds were forming and a march was beginning.  What looked to crest at tens of thousands of sad peaceful protesters marched and held banners up reminding us all about those Kosovars missing or imprisoned in Serbian prisons.  Old women with pictures of husbands and sons and young people with pictures of fathers and brothers.  I saw Uranik at the head of one procession with a sign saying free my mother.  He is Flora’s 21 year old son and he proceeded over to greet me and counsel me to not give up hope.  He couldn’t enlighten me to where his father was and I was unable to locate him in the masses of protesters.
     At 6 pm I finally was able to see Ajri Begu at his home.  He was exhausted and pale.  He told me  that the Serbian judge had called forth the reported witness from Montenegro to Flora’s crimes.  The witness refused to say anything and Ajri became convinced that Flora would be released.  Instead, the judge dropped the charge of article 136 and added the charge of 139 which is more specific to crimes during war and carries a longer maximum sentence.  When he announced the sentence of 12 years, Ajri found himself clapping because the whole trial was such a farce and he couldn’t stand pretending any longer.  He reports that Flora remained strong and said whatever she did she would do again as it was her job to heal and care for the sick and wounded.  By that time it was 3 PM and too late for Ajri to be allowed to visit Flora for his regular every two week half hour visit.  He had to return to Kosova for urgent meetings the next day on financial issues with people for the World Bank.  One of Flora’s sister, who had traveled from Turkey for the trial, remained to try and visit Flora the next day.  A day of  Human Rights as usual in Milosevic Yugoslavia!

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:  Words of FLORA BROVINA
Date:       Wed, 15 Dec 1999 04:26:05 +0100

 

WORDS OF FLORA BROVINA TRIAL IN NIS
9 of December '99

On this trial Flora Brovina, Albanian poet and medical doctor, was sentenced to 12 years of inprisonment by serbian authorities. This is what she said:

"I dedicated my whole life to children and children do not choose their ethnicity, children do not know what ethnicity they are if their parents do not tell them. With my patients, I have never divided them according to their ethnicity, according to religion or the ideological choice of their parents. I feel proud because of this and even if I was not an Albanian woman I would have done the same thing. I am one of the persons most involved in humanitarian work in Kosovo; I have sacrificed my health in order to help women and children. If I were free, I would have had much work, I would help those that are suffering more now; now it is not Albanians that are suffering the most, now it is others, and I would work with all my strength in order to help them, Serb, Roma people.

My duty has been to dedicate myself also as a woman, as a doctor, as a poet to the emancipation of the Albanian woman, to her consciousness, to women's human rights, to help them fight for their freedom, to understand that without independence economics cannot succeed nor can freedom. In the League for Albanian Women, I have created bridges of friendship in the country and in the whole world. We have cooperated the most with Serbian women. Serbian women have given me the strongest support, perhaps they knew our problems best, and they have presented our problems best. The Albanian women of Kosovo should never forget this.

I am very sorry that the court underestimates the role of women in the world. It is very important that women enjoy the same equality as men. I will never renounce the right to fight for the rights of women. I will always fight for women's rights.

What the court has accused me of having fought for the secession of Kosovo and the annexation of Albania, I repeat: My country is where my friends are and where my poems are read. My poems are read in Switzerland, India, Brazil, Poland, in each of these countries it is as if I am in their own house. My poems have been published in the Encyclopedia of Poets of Yugoslavia (ex-Yugoslavia) and it is something very important for Albanian women. 

The Albanian community has never behaved in this manner with their neighbors, women, and children. Right now in Kosovo, they have gone back to revenge at the end of the twentieth century. I am very sorry for not being free, for being in jail, for not being able to influence more what is happening now in Kosovo, for not being able to do more to lend a hand, to help those that are expelled, displaced. I believe that they will do it as if I were with them; I hope that they will make it because they are women, I hope that they behave in a just manner. I would do anything for them so that they could return to their houses, I would do anything so that the Serbian community and the Albanians reconcile. The intellectuals of Kosovo should give their support to reconciliation, other communities have also fought, they have made even larger wars between each other and now they have reconciled."

Flora left the court walking slowly; the police showed with harsh and arrogant words to the family and friends of Flora that they were not permitted to have any contact with her. Flora's two sisters that arrived from Kosovo, the poet Radmila Lazic, and I went to accompany Flora up to the police car. For a moment, we succeeded in putting the palms of our hands on the window of the police car. At that moment one of the policemen said with an insolent voice, "She's in safe hands. . ." Two policemen were in the front seat of the vehicle. Before my eyes surged imprisoned women: Leyla Zana, Kurdish, imprisoned in Turkey, Rigoberta Menchu, Aung Suun Ki . .. . . We waved goodbye to Flora until the police vehicle was gone, while we could see it. I was in a state of "black shame," as Ana Ahmatova says, because each one of us could have been on her place.

Stasa Zajovic
Women in Black
Belgrade, 14. december 99

      Protest in Prishtina to demand the release of Dr. Flora Brovina

A protest was organized today in front of the Faculty of Medicine in Prishtina, demanding the release of Dr. Flora Brovina, held in prison in Serbia.
Belgrade authorities have accused Dr.Brovina for "terrorism" and a Serb court in Nish, has started and postponed her judgement.

Dear friends,

here are the information about this week political trials in Serbia.

 a.. Trials for Albanian students of Belgrade University, arrested during NATO bombing, will be held on Tuesday, Nov.23rd, and Nov.24th, 26th, in Belgrade, at 9h.
Students are: Petrit and Driton Berisha, Shkodran Derguti, Driton Meqi and Abdulah Isama

 a.. On Thursday, Nov.25th, in Nis, at 10 h, the continuing of the trial of Mrs. Flora Brovina, doctor and humanist, arrested for alleged cooperation with Albanian terrorists 

 b.. On Tuesday, Nov.23rd, in Leskovac, at 11h, the continuance of the trial of Ivan Novkovic, worker of TV Leskovac, who called citizens to come to anti-regime demonstrations, live on July 1st We got these information from Humanitarian Law Center, Belgrade. Group 484 will attend these trials and inform you about it.

Just reminding you that 
Bogoljub Arsenijevic Maki, painter and organizer of anti-regime demonstrations in Valjevo, is sentenced to 3 years in prison; 
Nebojsa Ristic, owner of independent TV SOKO from Soko Banja, is sentenced to 1 year in prison, for putting the poster in his office window - Free Press, Made in Serbia...

Best regards,

Jelena Santic
Group 484 coordinator

attached is picture of Flora Brovina

From: Grupa 484 [mailto:grupa484@beotel.yu]
Sent: Friday, November 12, 1999 1:20 PM
Subject: trial to dr flora brovina

REPORT

TRIAL TO DR. FLORA BROVINA IN NIS 

11th of November 1999, at 10 o'clock in Nis, started the trial process to Dr Flora Brovina, who is children's doctor, poet and the member of the Alliance of Albanian Women from Pristina. 
The participants to the trial were the following: Barbara Davis, the UN Representative for Human Rights for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, UN Legal Adviser for Human Rights, lawyer Nikola Borovic, Miodrag Stojanovic, president of the Committee for Human Rights Nis, Radovan Dedijer, lawyer of the Fund for Humanitarian Right, Jelena Santic, coordinator of Group 484 and about ten journalists. 
Mrs. Brovina's husband was also present. 
The judges were Dragoljub Zdravkovic and Marina Milanovic, who was leading the process. 

The prosecutor was deputy of district public prosecutor, Miodrag Surla.
The advocates were Zivojin Jokanovic from Pristina, and the other one did not come because he had not get the bill of indictment. 

Dr Flora Brovina was brought into the court by four policemen who had tied her with handcuffs. She was pale, with twisted hair, in wide trousers and red jumper. Although she sent us gentle smile, she looked very depressed. During all the time of the testifying she was talking very quiet. 
The deputy of district public prosecutor has read the bill of indictment, and the text is the following: 
On the base of Article number 45, subsection number 2, point number 3 and Article 261 of the Law on Criminal Process, we open the bill of indicment for, etc. Than the prosecutor has started to read about Dr Brovina's participating in organizing of women, demonstrations and other activities in 1992, in order to destruct the Federal Republic Yugoslavia and pronounce the Independent Republic of Kosovo. In March 1998, she became the Minister of Health in the Government of Kosovo, she planed the terrorist actions and help to the OVK, by which she made the criminal act of associating to act hostile, from the Article 136, subsection 1 and from the Article 125 of the Criminal Law of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. 
Dr Flora Brovina refused the bill of indictment and only admitted that she is the founder and president of the Alliance of Albanian Women. She was explaining precisely the backwardness in which Albanian women in Kosovo live and that she was working on the emancipation of those women.
After, she talked in details about the work of the Alliance that took example by Belgrade women's groups with which she has been cooperating. They were helping children and women, mostly. She organized the demonstrations during 1998, because of the arrestment of the editor of women's journal, because the front page was suspicious. The spontaneous demonstrations began when one pregnant women was killed in the police action (in the village of Drenica) in March 1998. She was reveiving the help for the work from the OXFAM that had the same program for Serbian women from Kosovska Vitina. The name of the program was the Women to Women. She explained very well how they were knitting jumpers and giving them to the OXFAM, which had been was giving them the material. From the sale money they were helping women. As children's doctor she was working with the children and helping them with traumas. They had the working space and two rooms for women and children who had no place to go after they left the hospital. They were giving humanitarian aid, such as:
clothes, shoes and hygiene packages, that was given by the Macedonian Red Cross. She is not the founder of the Ministry for Health, because Bukosi has his own Government, but in 1998, they founded the Council for Crisis Situations (various sorts of disasters). The arm conflicts already have started. She said very clearly that she is against the war and if she was not Albanian, she would do the same. 
After that , the judge juror Dragoljub Zdravkovic was asking questions for a long time, such as: how many jumpers, of what weight, a total of wool, of what weight is one jumper, etc.
Brovina answered all these questions very precisely and she added that they were getting food supplies from the Macedonian Red Cross, and the distribution of clothes was going through the Mother Teresa. They have received the package of black textile, but they did not need it. One time, one young man from the OVK has came and asked if they sew uniforms for the OVK. Dr. Brovina has refused. 
To the question of the prosecutor: Which kind of disasters (March 1998)? Brovina has already answered. To the question did she worked on the field, she gave the answer, no. To the question if she was in the villages of Likosane, Ciraz and Glavno Selo, she answered, yes. Than she explained that she was looking for four year old injured girl, whom she found in Glavno Selo in the hospital. To the question if were any other injured people, she answered, yes, in the other departure of the hospital. To the question if she were on the meeting of the Parliamentarian Party of Adem demaci, she answered, no.
The prosecutor was asking for lot of names, for which Dr Brovina said that some of them she knows and some of them she does not know. The prosecutor asked her what she was doing during the bombing (she was arrested at 20 of April 1999, during the bombing of NATO). She answered that she was very ill from angina pectoris, that her husband was in Belgrade, searching for coronographia for her. She was alone. One member of a jury asked if they were helping Albanian families whom some of the members had been killed from the OVK. She answered that they were never asking about the way of murder of any person. The prosecutor was asking if she took a photo of herself, because they had found the photos. She said that she does not know of which photos he was thinking of. Than he said that the photo was found at her, on the photo is her in Glavno Selo with the member of the OVK. She said that she did took a photo, and that person is husband of her friend. The trial is postponing for 25th of November, so that the evidences on taken medicines, that Dr Brovina had, can be collected. The lawyer suggested to call that doctor at Monday, because he has his phone number, but that suggestion was refused. 
After the end of the trial Brovina's husband asked the judge to talk with his wife, and judge accepted this. But, after the policeman, who was tiding Brovina, said no, judge refused also. That is absolutely against normal principles in the court, because the policeman could not tell the judge what he should do. Four policemen tied Brovina and took her out of the court. 

Impressions:
No one of the material evidences is not given today, only they had mentioned the photo (with whom Slobodan Milosevic was taking photos, and Milan Milutinovic was with Mr. Taci in Rambuije).
All questions were asked in order to provocative, but Dr Brovina was answering quietly, with arguments and logically. It looked to me like the trial with the well known end, and the actors play their games. In such manner the members of a jury were selected, also. I think that all the trials in Serbia a like this one. 

Mr. Kafka is our life and our destiny.

Jelena Santic, coordinator of Group 484

Betreff:              [balkanhr] HLC: NO VALID EVIDENCE AGAINST FLORA BROVINA
Datum:              Tue, 16 Nov 1999 00:25:51 +0200
    Von:              Greek Helsinki Monitor <helsinki@greekhelsinki.gr>
Rückantwort:              balkanHR@greekhelsinki.gr
 

HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE

NO VALID EVIDENCE AGAINST FLORA BROVINA

12 November 1999

The Humanitarian Law Center considers that the evidence presented at the trial of Dr Flora Brovini at the District Court in Nis is far from conclusive.  Dr Brovini, chair of the League of Albanian Women in Kosovo, is charged with conspiracy for the purpose of hostile activity and terrorism.  The prosecution's case against Dr Brovini is based exclusively on a receipt for a quantity of knitting wool, medicines and medial supplies, and a photograph showing Dr Brovini with a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army that were allegedly found in her possession.  At the trial, Dr Brovini denied all counts of the indictment. She said the League of Albanian Women was a legally registered peace organization which provided relief aid to women and children from war-affected areas.  She added that the materials found on the League's premises were received from domestic and foreign humanitarian organizations, and that customs documentation exists to prove this. 
The trial was adjourned until 25 November when the court is to hear the testimony of a witness, Dr Dobrasin Krdzic, in order to determine the quantity and kind of medical supplies found at the League's offices.  Since the defense does not deny this fact, the proceedings are thus being unnecessarily prolonged. As a result, Dr Brovini, who suffers from a serious heart condition, will remain in custody. She was arrested on 10 April this year. 

Betreff:             [balkanhr] IFEX/WiPC: Trial against Flora Brovina postponed in Serbia
Datum:             Mon, 15 Nov 1999 21:17:57 +0200
    Von:             Greek Helsinki Monitor <helsinki@greekhelsinki.gr>
Rückantwort:    balkanHR@greekhelsinki.gr
 

IFEX- News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ACTION ALERT UPDATE - FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

11 November 1999

Trial against Flora Brovina postponed

SOURCE: Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), International PEN, London

**Updates IFEX alerts of 9 November, 30 August, 23 June and 30 April 1999**

(WiPC/IFEX) - Flora Brovina, a Kosovar Albanian pediatrician and poet who was arrested in Pristina in April 1999 and subsequently sent to a prison in Serbia in June, was due to stand trial in the city of Nis on 11 November. However, the trial has been postponed for two weeks and will now be held on 25 November. International PEN shares other international organisations' concerns that the trial against Brovina may fall foul of international standards of fairness.

According to a British Broadcasting Company (BBC) World Service Report dated 11 November, Brovina's trial was postponed by two weeks on request of the prosecution. The BBC states that human rights monitors observing the trial consider the charges of terrorism and assisting the KLA to be purely political. It further quotes Brovina's lawyer's belief that the trial's postponement is an attempt to divert international interest in the case. The United States State Department has also expressed concern about her case.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to the president:
- expressing your continued concern about her case
- expressing the view that the charges of terrorism and assisting the KLA are purely political
- expressing the belief that the trial's postponement is an attempt to divert international interest in the case

APPEALS TO:

His Excellency Slobodan Milosevic
President of Yugoslavia
Savezna Skupstina
11000 Belgrade
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Fax: + 381 11 636 775
E-mail: slobodan.milosevic@gov.yu

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact Sara Whyatt at the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN, 9/10 Charterhouse Buildings, London EC1M 7AT, United Kingdom., tel: +44 171 253 3226, fax: +44 171 253 5711 e-mail: intpen@gn.apc.org

The information contained in this action alert update is the sole responsibility of WiPC. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit WiPC.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Suite 403, Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622   fax: +1 416 515 7879
alerts e-mail: alerts@ifex.org   general e-mail ifex@ifex.org
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/

FYI, public statement issued Nov. 10--

AI INDEX: EUR 70/122/99 
        News Service 211/99

PUBLIC STATEMENT

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY): Dr Flora Brovina faces unfair trial

Amnesty International is concerned that tomorrow’s trial of Dr Flora Brovina, an Albanian physician from Priština, will not meet international standards of justice and that Dr Brovina, as well as some other 2000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo detained in Serbia on charges of terrorism, will not receive a fair trial.  Dr Brovina has reportedly been denied the opportunity of confidential meetings with her lawyer, in contravention of international human rights standards on fair trial. She is also said to be in poor health, suffering from angina.

Charges against Dr Brovina, when investigations opened, included “association for the purpose of hostile activity”, “damaging the territorial integrity of the FRY” and “terrorism”. Dr Brovina was a founder of the League of Albanian Women in Kosovo and is accused of assisting in the manufacture and supply of uniforms and other material for the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the main ethnic Albanian armed opposition group. 

Although Dr Brovina has, like many Kosovo Albanians, been reported as “sympathising with” the KLA, she has denied any involvement with the organization. Amnesty  International is not aware of any statements she has made advocating the use of violence, or of any evidence of her direct involvement in violent acts.

Serbian police arrested Dr Brovina on 22 April 1999, but information as to her whereabouts was not provided until June, when her family was told she was detained in Pozarevac prison in Serbia.  However, during the period in which her family feared that she had "disappeared", ethnic Albanian prisoners released from Lipljan prison, informed them that Dr Brovina had been held with them.

Amnesty International is calling upon the Yugoslav authorities to ensure full respect for Dr Brovina’s rights, in particular her right to an adequate defence in a trial which meets international standards. 
ENDS.../
******************************************************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London,  UK, on 44 171 413 5566 or visit our website at http://www.amnesty.org

Betreff:         IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 92
Datum:         Sat, 13 Nov 1999 23:23:22 +0000
    Von:         Institute for War & Peace Reporting <info@iwpr.net>

WELCOME TO IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, NO. 92, November 12, 1999

SERBIAN JUSTICE ON TRIAL

The prosecution of a Kosovo Albanian human rights activist on terrorism charges has exposed serious gaps in the rule of law in Serbia.

By Laura Rozen in Nis

Flora Brovina, a paediatrician, poet and human rights activist from Pristina, appeared in court in Nis, Serbia, November 11, to face charges of "conspiring to commit hostile acts" and terrorism.
     There has been considerable concern that Dr. Brovina, one of the most prominent Kosovo Albanians in Serb custody, will be denied a fair trial by the Serbian authorities.
     One incident at the end of the day's court proceedings added credence to these concerns.
     According to one international observer, who wishes to remain anonymous, Brovina's husband, Ajri Begu, asked the judge if he could speak to his wife as she was led away.
     One of the judges said, "Go right ahead." But when Begu approached his wife, the police taking Brovina out of the room said he was not allowed to speak with her. Legally the police do not have the right to tell a court what to do, but in this instance their arbitrary decision went unchallenged.
     "It was obvious which was more powerful: a court decision or police instructions," said Nikola Barovic, a Belgrade attorney and legal advisor to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR). "The police are stronger than the court. The police said no and it was no, who cares for the judge. That frightens me."
     Barovic has voiced fear that the rule of law in Serbia is disintegrating. Cases of people convicted and sentenced to long jail terms on the basis of little or no evidence are on the increase, as are incidents of police ignoring or failing to implement court rulings.
     Brovina, 50, was arrested on April 20 in Pristina and later transferred to Pozarevac. She had been working for several months at a clinic for internally displaced refugees.
     "The whole indictment is based on items confiscated from Dr. Brovina's medical clinic," explained Radovan Dedijer, a lawyer with the Humanitarian Law Centre in Belgrade.
     "The 'crucial evidence' is some medicines they have taken from her office, a photo of Dr. Brovina with a member of the KLA [Kosovo Liberation Army], and wool donated by the British charity Oxfam, which the refugee women were using to knit sweaters. She is accused of making the sweaters for the KLA," he says.
     One of Brovina's two defense lawyers, Husnije Bytyqi, an Albanian from Belgrade, requested the trial be postponed as he had yet to receive a copy of the indictment against Brovina. His request was denied.
     Brovina, who is reported to have suffered a stroke while in police custody, appeared dishevelled but otherwise well. She was escorted into the dock in handcuffs by three large security guards.
     In her defense statement Brovina said her clinic was properly registered and was providing medical help "to children and women who were mostly refugees who had fled to Pristina". She said she was not a member of the self styled 'Kosovar government', but a member of a council on the emergency situation in Kosovo, in the capacity of medical adviser.
     If convicted Brovina faces a prison term of between one and 10 years.
     Human rights groups are eager to ensure that the fate of Kosovo Albanian prisoners less well known than Brovina are paid due attention. At least 1,900 Kosovo Albanians are known to be in Serbian custody.
     The UNHCHR has called for the immediate release of four vulnerable groups of prisoners: women, minors, the elderly, and the sick.
     Lawyers with the Humanitarian Law Centre found a five-month-old baby on one visit to prisoners in Pozarevac. The baby's mother, Igbale Xhafaj, 20, from Urosevac, gave birth in her prison cell in May.
     Serbian authorities have confirmed that there are currently 12 Kosovo Albanian women and 25 minors in Pozarevac prison. Aside from the baby, the youngest prisoner is Sabri Muzliu, 5, from Strubllove, a village near Glogovac, who is being held along with her sibling Shemsi, 14.
     Another concern for human rights groups is the lack of transparency in the Serbian prison system. Lawyers complain prison authorities simply deny an individual is in their custody and refuse to provide information on their whereabouts or well being. There is some evidence that deaths in custody often go unreported.
     Rumours abound of families buying the release of relatives and of prisoners being murdered in custody.
     Now stories are surfacing of private prisons run by ethnic Albanians in Kosovo where missing Serbs may be being detained.
     On November 3, the Belgrade newspaper Danas reported claims by the owner of a private detective agency in Kragujevac that the father of an ethnic Albanian had approached him to search for his missing son.
     According to the news story, the father offered to pay $20,000 or to arrange a prisoner exchange. The father allegedly offered to secure the release of 10 kidnapped Kosovo Serbs. 
     The father claimed he knew of two private prisons - one in an old brick factory in the village of Poljance, 12 km outside Srbica in central Drenica, the other in the village of Tuslija, above Devic monastery. The report claimed the Serbian prisoners were hidden from KFOR forces in the mines.
     Barbara Davis of the UNHCHR says the commission is investigating these reports, but they are as yet unconfirmed. KFOR has already shut down two KLA-run private prisons in the cities of Prizren and Gnjilane.
     Davis' commission is trying to compile a comprehensive list of all detained people, of all ethnic communities, and to identify those considered vulnerable in order to press for their immediate release.
     "It's not just peoples' lives that are being ruined in these trials," says Davis. "It's the entire state of rule of law. And whether or not there can be rule of law and respect for the rule of law is at stake."
     The conviction of Kosovo prisoners on the basis of no evidence, as well as the growing number of arrests of Serbian pro-democracy activists on no legitimate charges, has convinced some human rights activists that there can be no rule of law in Serbia without major political change.
     "Elections on the republic level is the only way to stop this chaos," Barovic, the lawyer, added. "Only with a change of government will there be a chance to reform Serbia's legal system."
     Brovina's trial is scheduled to resume on November 25.

Laura Rozen, a regular contributor to IWPR, is a journalist specialising on the Balkans.

HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER COMMUNIQUE

NO VALID EVIDENCE AGAINST FLORA BROVINA

12 November 1999

The Humanitarian Law Center considers that the evidence presented at the trial of Dr Flora Brovini at the District Court in Nis is far from conclusive.  Dr Brovini, chair of the League of Albanian Women in Kosovo, is charged with conspiracy for the purpose of hostile activity and terrorism. 
The prosecution’s case against Dr Brovini is based exclusively on a receipt for a quantity of knitting wool, medicines and medial supplies, and a photograph showing Dr Brovini with a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army that were allegedly found in her possession.  At the trial, Dr Brovini denied all counts of the indictment. She said the League of Albanian Women was a legally registered peace organization which provided relief aid to women and children from war-affected areas.  She added that the materials found on the League’s premises were received from domestic and foreign humanitarian organizations, and that customs documentation exists to prove this. 
The trial was adjourned until 25 November when the court is to hear the testimony of a witness, Dr Dobrasin Krdzic, in order to determine the quantity and kind of medical supplies found at the League’s offices.  Since the defense does not deny this fact, the proceedings are thus being unnecessarily prolonged. As a result, Dr Brovini, who suffers from a serious heart condition, will remain in custody. She was arrested on 10 April this year. 

NY TIMES 
November 12, 1999

In Courtroom, Kosovo Doctor Denies Charge of Terrorism 

By CARLOTTA GALL

NIS, Serbia -- The most prominent Kosovo Albanian in Serbian custody went on trial here Thursday, facing charges of terrorism and separatism. 
     Dr. Flora Brovina, 50, a physician and founder of the League of  Albanian Women in Kosovo, was arrested last spring during the NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. During the court session Thursday, she rejected the prosecution's accusations that she assisted rebels who  fought for Kosovo's independence. 
     "I do not accept that I was a terrorist against the state," she  said. "What was my mistake? That I did not ask the nationality of the children  that I helped? I will help anyone, any time, any way I can." 
     After three hours, the court was adjourned for two weeks to allow the prosecution to call a witness from the neighboring province of Montenegro. The trial will resume Nov. 25. 
     Dr. Brovina, who said she had heart problems, appeared pale and  tired. But she spoke for some 30 minutes in her own defense, pleading to be regarded as a medical professional and not as a political activist. 
     Dr. Brovina, one of about 2,000 ethnic Albanians detained during Belgrade's yearlong attempt to suppress rebellion in Kosovo, was arrested on April 20 in Pristina, Kosovo's capital, a month after  the start of the NATO campaign. In June, as Yugoslav authorities withdrew and NATO forces prepared to take control, she and other prisoners were transferred out of Kosovo to jails elsewhere in Serbia. 
     She has been charged under two articles of the Yugoslav criminal  code, with terrorism and conspiring to perform hostile acts. As founder  of the League of Albanian Women, she was accused of supporting the separation of Kosovo from Yugoslavia and "helping terrorist gangs  of the Kosovo Liberation Army." 
     The prosecution says that she organized several political  demonstrations and provided medicine, clothing and other assistance to the rebels. Prosecutors also said that, as minister of health in Kosovo's  Albanian shadow government, she helped plan terrorist activity. 
     "What is in that indictment is not me," Dr. Brovina said in court  Thursday. "The only thing I accept is that I and some friends formed the  League of Albanian Women. It is an independent organization and is not  interested in organizing demonstrations, separatism or military affairs. It is  just like any other women's organization." 
     She also denied that she was health minister in the shadow  government, and said that she was in charge of medical issues for the women's .
     She explained her efforts to help Kosovo's Albanian women, saying, "They are the worst-treated citizens of Yugoslavia and suffer a poor education, a high birthrate and frequently have to give birth without medical assistance." 
     She denied any involvement with the Kosovo Liberation Army, and said no one in her family was involved with the rebels or in any  political party. Her husband, Ajri Beku, is an economist and banker, and her two sons are students, one in Texas. She said she had demonstrated only in the name of peace. 
     "If you are antiwar, you cannot be a terrorist," she told the judge. 
     Western governments and human rights organizations have voiced concern about Dr. Brovina's case. This week, the State Department spokesman, James P. Rubin, said he doubted she would receive a fair trial. 
     "We want to express our concern over the apparent abuse of the legal system in this case and others, and condemn Serbia's actions as a continued demonstration of Serbia's disregard for international  norms of behavior," Rubin said. 
     Barbara Davis, a representative of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Belgrade, was present at the court session today, and said she had raised the issue recently with Serbia's health and  justice ministers. 
     A Serbian lawyer advising the United Nations commission, Nikola Barovic, said he was not dissatisfied by the court proceedings, but  said he had not seen any evidence so far to support the charges against  Dr. Brovina. The terrorism charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years. 
     Dr. Brovina's lawyer, Zika Zokanovic, a Serb originally from Kosovo, agreed that the trial was fair but he protested strongly at the postponement, suggesting it was a delaying tactic of the  prosecution. 
     Natasa Kandic of the Humanitarian Law Center, based in Belgrade and Pristina, said hundreds of Kosovo Albanians had been tried in  Serbia in recent months, and that most had been convicted. 
     "Probably the Serbian authorities decided to organize trials and keep Albanians in prison because they think it is a manifestation of  Serbian sovereignty," she said. "It is important for them to show they have  power and that Kosovo is part of Yugoslavia." 
_______________________________________________________________________
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/letters/l18ser.html

November 18, 1999

Harassment in Kosovo

Related Articles:  In Courtroom, Kosovo Doctor Denies Charge of Terrorism (Nov. 12, 1999)

To the Editor: 

The prosecution of Dr. Flora Brovina by Serbian authorities for providing medical care to members of the Kosovo Liberation Army is part of a long campaign to harass and intimidate Kosovar Albanian doctors in violation of international law (news article, Nov. 12). 

For months before the NATO bombing, Physicians for Human Rights investigated and reported on arrests, prosecutions and killings of Kosovar Albanian doctors who were upholding their professional obligations to provide medical treatment to sick and wounded civilians and combatants outside of combat, all duties protected by the Geneva Conventions. The attacks against the Kosovars were the most systematic and targeted attacks on health workers we ever documented, and appeared to be intended to undermine the health care infrastructure of the Kosovar Albanians. 

LEONARD RUBENSTEIN
Executive Director Physicians for Human Rights
Boston, Nov. 15, 1999 

Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company

Thursday, November 11, 1999 Published at 14:43 GMT 
World: Europe

Prominent Kosovo Albanian's trial postponed 

The trial in Serbia of a prominent Kosovo Albanian human rights activist, Flora Brovina, has been postponed on the request of the prosecution until later this month November 25th. 
     Dr Brovina, who founded the League of Albanian Women, appeared in court in the southern city of Nis on charges of terrorism and assisting the Kosovo Liberation Army. 
     She denied the accusations, saying that her organisation had purely medical and humanitarian aim.
     United Nations officials and human rights activists monitoring the trial described it as purely political. They said they had seen no evidence to convict Dr Brovina. Her lawyer said the postponement of the trial was a tactic to try to divert international interest in it. 

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

http://sg.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/afp/article.html?s=singapore/headlines/991111/world/afp/Kosovo_human_rights_activist_is_tried_in_Serbia.html

Thursday, November 11 11:51 PM SGT 

Kosovo human rights activist is tried in Serbia

NIS, Yugoslavia, Nov 11 (AFP) - 

A Kosovo Albanian human rights activist on Thursday denied charges of "terrorism" at the start of a trial condemned by the United States as an abuse of justice.
     Flora Brovina, a 50-year-old pediatrician, is charged with joining groups "with a view to terrorist activities," aimed at achieving the "secession of Kosovo" from Serbia and Yugoslavia, according to Serb authorities.
     If found guilty, she could be jailed for up to 15 years, her lawyer Zivojin Jokanovic told AFP, after the trial, held in the southern Serbian town Nis, was adjourned until November 25 after a prosecution witness failed to show up.
     In court Brovina denied the charges of "terrorism," saying she considered herself a "great humanist," who "has done nothing wrong... just helping children."
     Wearing a sweater, slacks and shoes without laces, Brovina spoke calmly in Serbian, refusing an Albanian translator.
     But she burst in tears as she insisted: "Even if I were not Albanian, I would do the same. And as Albanian, I would help Serbs who have fled Kosovo because it is my job."
     Brovina is also accused of providing food and help to members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), considered a terrorist organisation by Belgrade.
     In September, the KLA was officially transformed into a civilian protection corps under the auspices of the United Nations.
     "I don't know anybody from the KLA. None from my family was a member of the KLA," she said denying the charge.
     "I am and I will remain against war," she added.
     Barbara Davis, head of the UN human rights office in Belgrade, was present at the trial as well as representatives of non-governmental human rights group, the Humanitarian Law center.
     Ajri Begu, Brovina's husband, who was also present, told AFP he considered the trial "political."
     Brovina, a poet and founder of the League of Albanian Women, was arrested April 20 at her home in Kosovo's provincial capital, as NATO forces launched air strikes against Yugoslavia.
     The trial has been condemned by the United States, and various human rights groups as the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
     US State Department spokesman James Rubin said Wednesday that Washingron was concerned "over the apparent abuse of the legal system in this case."
     "As far as we can tell, the only thing she has done is to provide pediatric and medical services to women and children in Pristina during the (Kosovo) conflict."
     Rubin said Washington was deeply concerned about the fate of others who were "languishing" in Serbian prisons, regardless of their ethnic origins.
     Serbian Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic said recently that some 2,050 Kosovo prisoners, mainly ethnic Albanians, were detained in Serbia, many of them accused of being members of the KLA.

Copyright © 1999 AFP

 
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International *
News Service 211/99
AI INDEX: EUR 70/122/99
10 November 1999

PUBLIC STATEMENT

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY)

Dr Flora Brovina faces unfair trial

Amnesty International is concerned that tomorrow's trial of Dr Flora Brovina, an Albanian physician from Pristina, will not meet international standards of justice and that Dr Brovina, as well as some other 2000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo detained in Serbia on charges of terrorism, will not receive a fair trial. Dr Brovina has reportedly been denied the opportunity of confidential meetings with her lawyer, in contravention of international human rights standards on fair trial. She is also said to be in poor health, suffering from angina.

Charges against Dr Brovina, when investigations opened, included "association for the purpose of hostile activity", "damaging the territorial integrity of the FRY" and "terrorism". Dr Brovina was a founder of the League of Albanian Women in Kosovo and is accused of assisting in the manufacture and supply of uniforms and other material for the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the main ethnic Albanian armed opposition group.

Although Dr Brovina has, like many Kosovo Albanians, been reported as "sympathising with" the KLA, she has denied any involvement with the organization. Amnesty International is not aware of any statements she has made advocating the use of violence, or of any evidence of her direct involvement in violent acts.

Serbian police arrested Dr Brovina on 22 April 1999, but information as to her whereabouts was not provided until June, when her family was told she was detained in Pozarevac prison in Serbia. However, during the period in which her family feared that she had "disappeared", ethnic Albanian prisoners released from Lipljan prison, informed them that Dr Brovina had been held with them.

Amnesty International is calling upon the Yugoslav authorities to ensure full respect for Dr Brovina's rights, in particular her right to an adequate defence in a trial which meets international standards.

ENDS.../

U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesman
Press Statement

Press Statement by James P. Rubin, Spokesman
November 10, 1999 

Upcoming Trial in Serbia of Albanian Kosovar Activist Dr. Brovina

Human rights organizations report that Dr. Flora Brovina, 50, a Kosovo Albanian pediatrician and activist whose clinic in Pristina provided medical services to women and children still in Pristina during this spring's conflict, will be tried before a Serbian court on Thursday, November 11 in the southern city of Nis. Dr. Brovina was arrested on April 20, 1999, and charged with committing terrorist acts. 

Dr. Brovina, founder of the League of Albanian Women, is only one of thousands of Kosovar Albanian detainees who were transferred on legally questionable grounds from Kosovo to Serbian prisons last summer, in advance of KFOR's entry into Kosovo. Some estimates run as high as seven thousand and Serb authorities acknowledge holding some 1900 such persons. Serbian prisons contain, as well, members of the Serbian opposition, students, independent journalists, and citizens charged with draft evasion. 

The United States is especially concerned about the fate of dozens of women and children among the thousands now languishing in Serbian prisons. The youngest prisoner is reported to be only four months old--born during his mother's incarceration. Many other prisoners are under 18 years of age. Prisoners who have been released--regardless of their ethnicity--tell of beatings while in detention, lack of sufficient food and of appropriate medical care. 

Human rights groups have extensively documented the shortcomings of the Serbian legal system, concluding that a Kosovar Albanian, especially a prominent and active figure such as Dr. Brovina, cannot expect to receive a fair trial under the Milosevic regime. The same could be said for Serbs who actively resist the regime. Therefore, the United States registers its concern over the apparent abuse of the legal system in the case of Dr. Brovina, and others, and condemns Serbia's actions as a continued demonstration of Serbia's disregard for international norms of behavior. Such behavior inhibits efforts at stabilizing the region. 

[end of document] 

Seite geändert am 20.12.1999

Mail senden