35th witness begins in judgment against Thaci and others, witnessing with protective measures

In Kosovo Specialised Chambers ( The DPS) in The Hague has begun testimony from the 35th witness (in code 4444), in the case against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselin, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, who is testifying with protective measures.

According to the chairman of the court, Charles Smith III, the testimony of this witness, who is a witness to the Special Prosecutor's Office, will last one day.

Judge Smith III said the SPS had spent an hour questioning this witness. While, the protection of the victims has envisioned 15 minutes and the protection of the accused for 4 and a half hours.

The witness's questions have begun to appear before the Special Prosecutor's Office.

witness ending Dragan Ivanishevic in trial of Thaci and others

(Updated, 14:55) - In Kosovo Specialised Chambers ( DPSC) in The Hague has finished witnessing the Specialised Prosecutor's Office, Dragan Ivanishevic, in the trial of Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

During his testimony, witness Ivanishevic was briefly questioned by Jakup Krasniqi's lawyer, Victor Baiesu, who called these questions more clarifications regarding statements given today by the witness, reports the “Justice Bettim”.

The focus of attorney Baie's questions was on the recognition witnessed by Velko Markovic.

Asked whether he could confirm that the person he saw being kidnapped was Velko Markovic, witness Ivanishevic said he couldn't say for sure it was him then.

I couldn't say then for sure that it was Velko Markovic, I simply described it based on his descriptions and characteristics, then later when his father came to see me I came to the conclusion that it was for Velko Markoviq”, Ivanishev said.

A map from SPS was presented to the Witness, asking him to mark several locations he had mentioned during his testimony. After marking this document was accepted as material proof.

Ivanishevic was also questioned by the court through judges, Christoph Barthe, Gwenawl Mettraux and Fergal Gaynor.

Justice Barthe asked the witness that regarding the statement he said he drank alcohol at a bar in Milosevo before being kidnapped.

I've had 4-5 cups of brandy. I don't know what you call this but it's a glass they usually use for brandy. They're little glasses for rakhi... I drank the last glass, maybe half an hour to 15 minutes before I left. It would have been better to say half an hour before I left. I had eaten before. I had gone home, had eaten at home, left home, and went to meet some friends”, said witness Ivanishevic.

Ivanishevic said he felt he was under the influence of alcohol but had no problem driving or walking.

I just felt a little bit of alcohol, but I didn't mind walking or driving. I could just have a little bit of influence on body”, Ivanishevic said.

Asked what the reason for his kidnapping was, Ivanishevic said because of ethnic causes.

I can't say anything, I just know there were kidnapping cases before I got kidnapped, and there were kidnapping cases after I took them. Even cases of murder have been carried out, reasons for ethnic causes. That was the reason. Before this case happened to me, there were murders, there were kidnappings after my case. These are done for ethnic reasons, for ethnic reasons”, Ivanishevic said.

The Witness said that his cousin had heard that the remains of Velko Markovic had been found and that they had told their country The KLA.

I heard they were found. I heard him from my cousin who shot at meeting a relative of Markovik and when he heard his last name from my cousin, he made the link and asked if he had anything to do with me and so he realized that I was actually his neighbor and he told my cousin that his bones (Markovics) were found and that the KLA had shown where the bones were, which were then sent to a centre between Merdare and Kostunica”, the witness said.

According to him, in 200 or 2001 the remains were found and sent to a forensic centre.

“in 2000 or 2001 were found, many of the remains that were found are called there because they had a forensic centre and relatives came to identify”, said witness Ivanishevic.

Otherwise, the afternoon session of today's session will continue with the beginning of testimony from the 35th witness in the matter to Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.

Misetiq-witness: You didn't say in a 1999 statement to the police that you saw KLA emblems on people who kidnapped you.

(Responsed, 13:05)- During questioning by Hashim Thaci's defender, lawyer Luka Misetic has asked witness Dragan Ivanishevic about a statement he gave to the police in 1999 following the kidnapping he claims.

Misetic has told the witness that he did not mention in this statement that he saw KLA emblems in the uniforms of people who stopped him.

The statements you gave to the police are not stated in the statement that the people who were wearing washed uniforms had KLA emblems in uniform. Why doesn't that say in your 1999 statement? You have signed a statement that makes no mention of any identification or identification of the KLA, right?

The Witness said that he did not appreciate this statement at the time.

I did not assess this statement as important at the time”, the witness said.

Misethic asked whether the sighting of the emblems was possible was not stated by witnesses during witnessing, or could it be the opposite so that this detail could not be recorded as a footnote.

Your witness is that you told the police there was an enigma. The NLA, but the fact is that this detail is not contained or included in your statement is that you haven't told the police, or the opposite you have told it but they haven't put it as a footnote”, Misethic said.

The witness insisted, however, that he said it and if this part is not included in the statement by the police, I don't know.

I said they had an identifying emblem, if police included it or not in the statement I gave, that I don't know”, the witness said.

The witness said it was not common for people with KLA emblems to see in the territories where the Government controlled.

The “was not common. Until then I hadn't seen him. Until they kidnapped me, only on television did I see”, he said.

Misetic also stopped at the kidnapping of Velko Markovic, who, according to the witness, did this by the KLA.

“As you testified before the court you said that Mr. Markovic was first taken to Fushe-Kosovo and seen from there in Majuna. You said that, didn't you?

While Ivanishevic said he did not say Markoviqi was kidnapped in Fushe-Kosovo.

I didn't say Markovitch was kidnapped in the Fushe-Kosovo. I saw them kidnap me myself, I saw him in the car, near Novosela, I didn't see where he was, where he was stopped”, the witness said.

Otherwise, Thaci's defence, through lawyer Luka Misetic, has completed questions for witness Dragan Ivanishevic.

While questions about the witness have begun Jakup Krasniqi's defense through the lawyer, Victor Baiesu.

Thaci's defence questions witness the killing of 1,000 civilians in Vushtrri on May 2nd 1999

(alarmed, 12:40) -During the interrogation of witness Dragan Ivanishevic, Hashim Thaci's defender lawyer, Luka Misethic asked whether he had heard of the killing of 1,000 civilians killed on May 2nd of 1999 in Vushtrri.

No, it's the first time I've heard that. It's the first time I've heard of these 1000 people”, the witness said, reports “The Justice Vow”.

Initially, the question was rejected by the Special Prosecutor's Office, while lawyer Misetic said he is trying to figure out what the witness's participation in the events of May 2nd 1999.

However, the question was allowed by the chairman of the court, where Misethic asked the witness if he was aware of the murder of civilians in the Vushtrri area.

No. I heard they were killed civilians and I don't know the date and I don't know how many people. I heard there was an individual murder”, the witness said, stressing that he heard from people who were associated, but not persons from his unit.

I can't tell you exactly if I heard from the people I knew. The people I associated with”, the witness said.

Witness Ivanishevic says he served at the “Territorial Protection” in Vushtrri when the war began

(Updated, 12:18) - Witness Dragan Ivanishevic during his testimony in the trial of former President Hashim Thaci and others, has said that by the time the war started, he was mobilised into the army and served at the “territorial guard”, in Vushtrri.

I mobilized, mobilized, certainly when the war began. From March 25th of the year (1999) to June 14, 1999. It was the territorial protection unit in Vushtrri”, Ivanishevic said.

These statements, he did by answering Thaci's defence questions through lawyer Luka Misethic, reports “Justice Vow”.

Ivanishevic said he was in the Vushtrri area, but has sometimes gone to offer help in other countries too,“I have been to this area. Sometimes we went to offer help elsewhere. I was in Vushtrri all the time, but I was also in the surrounding villages. I've been to my village. I have also been in several places, in countries that sent us for help”, said witness Dragan Ivanishevic.

ZPS presents a note of Markovik's disappearance, Ivanishevic says they match what he saw on February 9th.

During the witness's interrogation, Dragan Ivanishevic, the Specialised Prosecutor's Office presented a note on the disappearance of Velko Markovic.

Witness Ivanishevic said the notes on Markovic's disappearance match what he saw on February 9th 1999.

The “is in line with what I've seen”, said witness Ivanishevic, reports “The Justice Vow”.

The Witness had described when abducted that he was in the trunk of a “car White Lada” along with Velko Markovic.

And when he spoke to Marcovic's father, the witness said he was told that his son was driving such a car.

He told me. He confirmed that he was driving that car. That model. Same color I'd seen, exactly the same model. So also as a model and as a color with what I had seen. He confirmed that his son was driving a car of this type”, said witness Ivanishevic.

On the other hand, ZPS presented an O document The SEU's investigation into the kidnapping that was allegedly Veljko Markovic and Djuric Nebojsa.

In addition, the ZPS also presented a report on Nebojsa Djurovic's disappearance, in which he reportedly disappeared while in Velko Markovic's vehicle, “Old 17 or 18-year-old white Lada”

The Witness said that the information in this report harmonizes with what he had seen. These three documents presented by SPS were accepted as material evidence and classified as public.

Otherwise, the prosecutor finished questioning the witness, asking to explain exactly what happened when he escaped from the vehicle.

The Witness said that as he left, someone was following him and shooting.

I jumped out of the trunk, fell on my feet, and started walking away from the car. I heard them say stop, open the doors, I could be about 30 yards away. I fell and fell and ran. I heard steps and I realized that someone was following me, and when he saw me again, he shot me again again again... I decided to take the girl around, I wasn't falling apart, I was afraid I might have met”, said witness Ivanishevic.

On the other hand, the witness said that by leaving he had arrived at Vushtrri.

Witness Ivanishevic: The man who was in the car with me told me that the same thing was gonna happen to me like Miso Begovich.

(Updated, 11:30) - During his testimony, witness Dragan Ivanishevic said that member of The NLA who was in the car with him told him not to be afraid because it would happen the same thing as the person Miso Begovitch.

While I was driving my car, it was sitting next to me. Among the questions he asked me, he told me that don't be afraid. It would happen as it did with Miso Begovici”, Ivanishevic said.

While for Begovic, Ivanishevic said he had been kidnapped by the KLA and released with OSCE assistance.

I knew he was released with the help of the OSCE. 3 days or 4- 6 days after being kidnapped. This was also on television”, Ivanishevic said.

The Witness said Bagovitch had met after he was released.

“From what he said later when we met, what created me as an impression he didn't know where he was stopped just because when he was released and taken somewhere near his village, near Qyqavica”, he said.

On the other hand, the witness indicated what Begovic had told him after he was released from the KLA.

“Yes. He said they had taken some men from the KLA, even knowing someone who had questioned him at the KLA base from Vushtrria. He didn't mention my name, maybe he mentioned it to me, but I don't remember this person. Misha must be some sort of name cut or nickname. We look at something like Mijo if his full name is Milos or Milovan, I don't know his full name. I recognize his son from his face, from his face, and I also know his relatives”, the witness said.

He said that by the time he was in the car with this KLA member, the impression was made that he had nothing in his hand.

He asked me, among other things, about my cousin. I was impressed that they had worked together somewhere. He asked me where he's working right now. Then he wanted to calm me down, he said don't worry, we'll do the same as Begoviqi. I got the impression that he had nothing in his hand, that's what I said by relying on the voice he had or the tone he used while he was talking to me, said among other things the witness said.

The Witness is presented with the 2001 list of missing persons in Kosovo, where the name of Velko Markovic and Nebojsa Djuric is found.

(Supported, 11:07)-The Specialised Prosecutor's Office (ZPS) has presented the witness with a list of missing persons at events in Kosovo, which was established in March 2001, where it figures the name of Velko Markovik and Nebojsa Djuric.

According to the ZPS, missing persons on this list are chronologically placed on the day of extinction, reports the “Justice Trust”.

“is a list of missing persons regarding an event in Kosovo produced in March 2001. The missing persons on this list are set in chronological form on the date of extinction. Ivanishevic is just two notes in this document, which date February 9th 1999, and is for Nebojsa Djuric and the other for Velko Markovic, and it is said that each is last seen in Fushe-Kosovo”, the prosecutor said.

Before this list was presented, however, the witness had been asked when and how long Markwick and Djuric have been last seen.

Have you ever learned when and at what time, Markovic and Nebojsa were last seen?

While, the witness had responded that for the last time they were seen on February 9th on an evening when they left a cafe in Fushes-Kosovo.

For the last time in one evening they were in the cafe and when they left the cafe about 4-5. The coffee shop was in Fushe-Kosovo. On February 9,”, the witness said.

The witness said that at the time he was in the KLA car, with Markovicin, he looked like 35 years old.

It was dark, but I'd say it was about 35 years old, I'm not sure it was hard to see. I would almost say it was 35 years”, the witness said.

While for his kidnapping, the witness had said they were taken from Pristina and sent to Vushtrri near a country called Novoselle. According to the witness, Novosella was about 30km from Pristina.

According to SPS, Dragan Ivanishevic had declared that he and Velko Markovic had been kidnapped by the KLA in 1999

(Re updating, 10:47) -- The Prosecutor's Office specialised during Thursday's session read the summary of statements witnessed by witness Dragan Ivanishevic, who reportedly had declared that on February 9, 1999, along with a person named Velko Markovik had been kidnapped by the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Witness Dragan Ivanishevic was driving from Pristina on the evening of February 9, 1999, when he was kidnapped by several armed men in KLA uniform. Within an hour or so, The NLA transported the witness from one country to another with a “White Lada” The witness's kidnapping coincided with the KLA kidnapping of Velko Markovic. The Witness saw Markovic that day several times and when they were held together behind a car “Lada”, taking them from one place to the next”, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor said that, according to the statements, the witness had managed to escape, while Markovic had remained banned, reports the “Bet on Justice“.

During this time, Markovic told the witness, among other things, that he was a police officer, but that he would tell the kidnappers that he would work on the railway. Mr. Markovic and the witness managed to open the trunk, and the witness left, while Markovic continued to be banned from KLA”, the prosecutor said.

On the other hand, the ZPS said the witness had learned from others that Markovic was last seen on February 9th 1999 and that he had not returned home.

“Pass escaped, the witness learned from others, including from Markoviq's family that Markovic was last seen on the day the witness was kidnapped when he stopped a “car. White Lada” The Witness learned that Marcovic worked as a policeman for the railway, the same information Markwick himself had told him when they were carried together in the trunk of a “car Lada” The Witness learned that Markovic had not returned home”, the SPS told him.

Serbian witness Dragan Ivanishevic begins on Thaci, others

In Kosovo Specialised Chambers ( DPSK) in The Hague has begun witness 34th, Dragan Ivanishevic with the (W04043) code in the case against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselin, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

The 34th witness is witness to the Specialised Prosecutor's Office, which has begun questioning the latter, reports the “Justice Vow”.

According to the chairman of the court, Charles Smith III, the testimony of this witness will last all day.

According to the court, the Specialised Prosecutor's Office has set aside an hour to question this witness, the defense of the accused has envisioned two and a half hours, while protecting the victims will not pose questions.

Several statements by the witness, submitted to the SPS were accepted as material evidence that were classified as public.

Today's hearing on the matter against Thaci and others is continuing from time to time with a lack of English translation.

Otherwise, the Specialised Prosecutor's Office, on September 30th, 2022, has handed over the confirmed amended indictment against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi, which consists of ten points of charges, where the latter are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On April 29th 2022, the Specialised Prosecutor's Office had handed over a amended indictment to Hashim Thaci, Kadri Wessel, Rexhepi and Jakup Krasniqi, where four indictees have committed war crimes even in Gjilan, Budakov and Semtish.

On November 9th 2020, in their first appearances, Hashim Thaci's Jakup Krasniqi has been declared innocent of the charges placed on them. Wessel has also been declared in his presentation on November 10th, as has Rexhep Selimi on November 11th.

The incident against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselin, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi is confirmed on October 26, 2020.