Former paramilitary tells chilling details of massacre of Albanian civilians in 1999
A former member of Serbia's notorious paramilitary unit testified Thursday in Belgrade how members of his unit massacred 19 ethnic Albanian civilians during the conflict in Kosovo in 1999
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, December 12, 2008
Four members of the Scorpions paramilitary group are being tried by a Belgrade court for allegedly gunning down 19 civilians - including women, children and the elderly - in the northern town of Podujevo in March 1999.
"I saw the civilians coming out of a house," the witness, identified only as "P1" said, testifying behind a curtain to protect his identity.
"First came an elderly man, then two women with children in their arms, followed by a girl and a boy.
Then, hell broke loose," he said, with paramilitaries shooting and shouting: "Up against the wall, lets kill them all!"
The killings took place following the start of the NATO bombing.
The four ex-paramilitaries were arrested last year. Another former Scorpion, Sasa Cvjetan, was convicted of the Podujevo killings in 2004 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
