Suva Reka witness recalls murder of his family

Hisni Berisha described how 48 members of his family had been killed in the Suva Reka massacre yesterday. The war crimes trial began on October 2 last year before the Special Court in Belgrade, and the case itself opened the question of mass graves in Batajnica, at a special forces assault course. Suva Reka witness recalls murder of his family The witness, Hisni Berisha, who also saw the victims of the Suva Reka massacre, recognized three of the eight accused, as they had been police officers at the location. The witness described the events that took place in Suva Reka at the end of March and start of April, 1999. He saw the police officers leading members of the Berisha family out from their house, and directing them towards the guild center where the crimes were carried out. He did not see the actual execution. Berisha was driven out of Suva Reka in 1999. “They forced us to leave our houses, and set off for Prizren in a seven-kilometer long column. The police and army fired sporadically at the column and I know one boy was wounded. We went through a blaze, everything had been set alight,“ recalled the witness. On his return to Suva Reka in June 1999, he started looking into what had happened to his family. “I went to the house where this 100-year old woman used to live. I didn’t think she would be able to move around, and that I would find something. I found a bloody blanket, everything had been demolished, photos were lying on the floor,“ he continued. Before this, he had visited the local pizzeria where the victims had been killed. “I saw blood everywhere in the pizzeria. Things were scattered everywhere, on the floor, children’s shoes, a dummy, a stick, I knew they had been killed there. There were lots of empty shell casings lying around, and a bloody stretcher that had been used to carry the victims away,“ Berisha recounted. The witness came to the trial in Belgrade accompanied by two policemen and members of his family. According to the charges, and Berisha’s testimony, the police officers led from their houses and killed 46 members of the family on March 26. They locked the civilians, including a woman of 100, toddlers and a pregnant woman, inside the pizzeria before tossing inside two hand grenades. They then fired shots at anyone who was still showing signs of life. The bodies were first taken to Prizren, then later exhumed and on the orders of Hague accused Vlastimir Djordjevic transported and buried in a mass grave in Batajnica, at the special forces’ assault course, some 10 kilometers from the center of Belgrade. First accused Radoslav Mitrovic, until his arrest in October 2005, was deputy commander of the Gendarmerie, while at the time of the crime he had been commander of a special forces unit in Nis. All the accused are former members of the police or security services.

Suva Reka witness recalls murder of his family

The witness, Hisni Berisha, who also saw the victims of the Suva Reka massacre, recognized three of the eight accused, as they had been police officers at the location.

The witness described the events that took place in Suva Reka at the end of March and start of April, 1999.

He saw the police officers leading members of the Berisha family out from their house, and directing them towards the guild center where the crimes were carried out. He did not see the actual execution.

Berisha was driven out of Suva Reka in 1999.

“They forced us to leave our houses, and set off for Prizren in a seven-kilometer long column. The police and army fired sporadically at the column and I know one boy was wounded. We went through a blaze, everything had been set alight,“ recalled the witness.

On his return to Suva Reka in June 1999, he started looking into what had happened to his family. “I went to the house where this 100-year old woman used to live. I didn’t think she would be able to move around, and that I would find something. I found a bloody blanket, everything had been demolished, photos were lying on the floor,“ he continued.

Before this, he had visited the local pizzeria where the victims had been killed. “I saw blood everywhere in the pizzeria. Things were scattered everywhere, on the floor, children’s shoes, a dummy, a stick, I knew they had been killed there. There were lots of empty shell casings lying around, and a bloody stretcher that had been used to carry the victims away,“ Berisha recounted.

The witness came to the trial in Belgrade accompanied by two policemen and members of his family.

According to the charges, and Berisha’s testimony, the police officers led from their houses and killed 46 members of the family on March 26.

They locked the civilians, including a woman of 100, toddlers and a pregnant woman, inside the pizzeria before tossing inside two hand grenades. They then fired shots at anyone who was still showing signs of life.

The bodies were first taken to Prizren, then later exhumed and on the orders of Hague accused Vlastimir Đorđević transported and buried in a mass grave in Batajnica, at the special forces’ assault course, some 10 kilometers from the center of Belgrade.

First accused Radoslav Mitrović, until his arrest in October 2005, was deputy commander of the Gendarmerie, while at the time of the crime he had been commander of a special forces unit in Niš. All the accused are former members of the police or security services.