(WiPC/IFEX) – On 9 December 1999, Flora Brovina, a Kosovo Albanian poet, pediatrician and women’s rights activist, was sentenced to twelve years in prison. On 21 January, her legal defense filed an appeal to the Serbian Supreme Court against the judgment. International PEN continues to call for Brovina’s release. On 21 January 2000, Rajko Danilovic, […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – On 9 December 1999, Flora Brovina, a Kosovo Albanian poet, pediatrician and women’s rights activist, was sentenced to twelve years in prison. On 21 January, her legal defense filed an appeal to the Serbian Supreme Court against the judgment. International PEN continues to call for Brovina’s release.
On 21 January 2000, Rajko Danilovic, Flora Brovina’s defense lawyer retained by the Belgrade based Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC), filed an appeal to the Serbian Supreme Court against the twelve year sentence served against his client in December. Brovina was convicted of “terrorism”.
The appeal calls for the Supreme Court to either acquit Brovina, or to order her release on bail pending a retrial on the grounds that there had been serious violations of due process during the trial hearings. One of the irregularities cited in the appeal was that the conviction was based on evidence obtained from Brovina under interrogation. Another irregularity is that material that had not been made available to the defense prior to the trial was read out at the court. The lawyer sees these irregularities as being in breach of the Serbian Code of Civil Procedure.
Other complaints by the defense are that the courts view any Kosovo Albanian institution’s activities as potentially “seditious” with the objective of Kosovan secession. These institutions include organisations such as the League of Albanian Women, of which Brovina was a senior member. The defense notes that the League’s activities are, however, non-partisan and solely dedicated to the promotion of women’s rights. Similarly, all protests and demonstrations held in Kosovo were seen as “hostile acts” against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Brovina had been influential in a number of protests in the late 1990s against Serb human rights abuses.
The HLC states “that most of the contents of the statements read out [in the court] were untrue and [that Brovina] used the metaphor of the elephant which admitted to being a giraffe to describe the mental torture she was subjected to.”
International PEN was formerly seeking clarification on reports stating that journalist Halil Matoshi, who works for the Albanian-language “Zeri” newspaper, had been arrested in June in Kosovo and transferred to a prison in Serbia. PEN has since received confirmation that he was held for some time in Pozarevac Prison without charge. This is the same prison where Brovina was held until her transfer to Nis. On 1 February, International PEN learned that Matoshi was freed on 28 January, and has returned to his family.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
- condemning 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
Slobodan Milosevic
President
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.
