The survivor relates to the killing of civilians in Qikë

A witness from Kosovo testified at a Belgrade court to burn houses and troops of civilians killed in the massacre committed in the village of Kik in May 1999.

Witness Mustafa Hisvukaj said at Belgrade's Special Court on Thursday how he witnessed what happened after the massacre of Serb forces against Albanians in the village of Sik in May 1999.

Hisvukaj told the court that on May 14th he hid in the long bar in the village, while Serbian police forces passed by by and eventually entered a local house.

There was no accident there in an hour, an hour and a half, until the shooting stopped. After that I entered those rooms and saw bodies burned,” said Hisvukaj.

He described the finding of three other dead residents in the courtyard of Rame Gashi, who was himself killed along with a large group of other people, Hisvukaj said.

His son came to the yard where I was and said: They killed my father, he said in court, noting he didn't see the murders himself because he was hiding.

Hisvukaj said that “80 per cent of the” houses in Qik were burned that day, while Serbian forces confiscated several vehicles and seized all valuables.

A defence lawyer criticised his testimony saying Hisvukaj was talking about events he did not personally see.

He also said Hisvukaj contradicted other witnesses' testimony and proven facts.

At the previous session in March 2017, two Kosovo Albanian witnesses recalled how they were forcibly expelled from their homes.

The Serbian prosecutor has charged 11 former members of the Yugoslav Army's 177th War Crimes Unit committed in the villages of Skurik, Pavlan, Zahac and Lybenic in the spring of 1999.

The group was first sentenced in 2014 to 106 years in prison for killing at least 118 Kosovo Albanian civilians.

But the Serbian Court of Appeals overturned the verdict in 2015 and sent the case for retrial.

The trial has since been accompanied by delays and witness refusal to come to Belgrade to testify.

Two of the defendants, Milojko Nikolic and Radoslav Brnovic, have died during the trial.

One of the other defendants, Dejan Bulatovic, is sick and the case against him has been separated from the rest of the group.

Another one, Ranko Mo enemies, is on the run.

This is considered one of the biggest cases related to war crimes in Kosovo in the Belgrade courts, with hearings already under way for six years.

The next session is scheduled for 18 December.

In August 2014, the Serbian war crimes prosecutor also launched an investigation into Dragan Zivanovic, former commander of the Yugoslav Army's 125th Brigade, for failing to prevent the murder of Albanians and the destruction of houses and property in four villages.