by Radovan DELIBASIC
Namely, at the beginning of March Albanian extremists ambushed and imprisoned civilians Dragan Ilic and Suzana, Nebojsa and Stojanca Petrovic on the outskirts of Veliki Trnovac when the four started out to visit the Monastery of Prohor Pcinjski. The Albanians "recognized them as Serb terrorists" who had allegedly come to plant explosives at the school in the center of the village! A week later, they captured Yugoslav Army Sergeants Milija Beloica and Sasa Bulatovic who wandered in their vehicle into territory "controlled" by the terrorists. Afterwards, numerous negotiations, agreements and blackmail attempts were initiated.
After many negotiations, the extremists agreed, as "a goodwill measure", no less, to free one of the "Serb terrorists", Suzana Petrovic, who was turned over to her family and the Serbian authorities on April 1.
Now that the drama surrounding the abducted persons was over, everyone had something to say. At a press conference in Rudar, Covic immediately said that this was the happiest press conference he had ever held.
"This demonstrates that within the framework of the Albanian ethnic community there exists a group which is disposed towards dialog and a peaceful solution. However, I would like to emphasize that the Albanian extremists have done us no great favor. They believed that by holding these innocent people this long, they would create the impression that they are doing us a tremendous favor and concession by releasing them. They were wrong. Our country is completely disposed towards a peaceful solution for the crisis in the south of Serbia. That is the major point. The second point is that the full demobilization and disarmament of Albanian extremists and armed groups must be secured. What we are guaranteeing is complete amnesty for those who have not taken part in criminal activities or committed terrorist acts. In general, dialogue will not be contingent upon further deployment of our joint security forces in Sector B of the Ground Safety Zone," said Covic.
Shawn Sullivan also agreed to talk with reporters on this occasion. Obviously he had something to say and wanted to point to the success of his mission. He said that he was happy that the mission was completed and that this time he was handing over five live captives in Merdare unlike six months ago when at this time border crossing he handed over the bodies of dead policemen. However, Sullivan echoed some of Covic's observations and admitted that among the Albanians there are some who do not want talks.
"I think that this is the beginning of a cooperation process between the communities. However, as Mr. Covic said, there are some who are not interested in peace and there is much more work to be done with them," said Sullivan.
Who exactly the people with whom "there is much more work to be done" and who believe in achieving their political goals by blackmail, torture and terrorism are, was explained by the prisoners from whose faces one could see how much they had suffered. From their stories in Merdare, all of them were exposed to brutal torture, transferred from damp basement to damp basement, tortured, and mistreated. They were more often hungry than not. They told us some of what they had been through at the press conference.
"They tortured us every day. I was plugged into an electrical outlet at least 30 times; I was jabbed with knives and forced to give whatever statements they wanted me to give. I had to do it. Those are the conditions under which I stated that I would never again return to the Yugoslav Army, that Montenegrins were deserting en masse and many other things. Now I would like to say that all of that was not true and that I will rejoin my unit as soon as I recover," said Sergeant Sasa Bulatovic.
His colleague Milija Beloica said that the Albanian extremists treated them in a way that could not be described with words nor understood by the normal mind. All this was summed up by Nebojsa Petrovic who said that if he had been offered the choice between torture and death, he would have chosen death because the torture was such that it simply could not be endured.
The press conference was concluded with the request that no further questions be asked because the prisoners were weak and needed rest and medical attention. However, it was nevertheless still possible to direct a question to Mr. Shawn Sullivan who was asked what would happen to the other 1,300 imprisoned Serbs whom the Albanians are holding prisoner. No one knows whether they are still alive or dead. Perhaps among them there are many who, like Nebojsa Popovic, wish they were dead so their suffering might end.
Commenting for Deutsche Welle Radio on the prisoners' statements that they had been tortured, humiliated and abused in every possible way, Halimi said that this was not true and that they had "the best treatment that it was possible to provide".
On the other hand, the physicians of the Kursumlija Health Center after the first examination of the patients confirmed the presence of numerous injuries and even fractures.