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Drewienkiewicz acknowledged, however, that a fierce battle had taken place between KLA guerrillas and Serb forces at Racak and that there had been a "lapse" of some 15 hours overnight before Western observers viewed the scene.

15 hours with the Serbian police absent from the town and the KLA already back in as soon as the police left. So the KLA had 15 hours alone in the town to...

It's quite incredible that there are so many thick heads when it comes to exposing the fact that there was no massacre at Racak by Serbian forces!!!. It's like telling a child [in this case, children] over and over again of the truth, but, like spoiled brats, don't want to accept it.

The "OSCE LIED ABOUT RACAK," which was the headline of Il Manifesto, the Italian newspaper dated 9 April 2000. It reported "There was no massacre in Racak, says today the Italian daily Il Manifesto, citing the results of the inquiry recently launched by the German daily Berliner Zeitung. The evidence clearly shows what really happened: there was no mass murder in Racak. Those were probably the bodies of the KLA terrorists who died [in the battle] on January 15th."

Some people just can't hack the truth.

Racak is still an unresolved question for me. There were 45 dead bodies, with lots of opportunity to fiddle with them by either side, and confirmation and conflicting stories of who they were and how they got there.

What I'd like to see is the coroner's forensic reports or testimony by the coroners themselves. It is fairly easy to identify whether a gunshot to the back of the head was the cause of death [ie evidence of a massacre], or made sometime after death [ie evidence of a staged massacre], parrafin tests on the hands of the dead to see if they recently fired weapons [ie soldiers / rebels vs. civilians], time of death, cause of death, etc.

I also seem to recall that forensic reports were prepared but have never been released. Anyone know if that's true, and if so, why haven't the reports been available? I'm willing and I believe most right thinking Freepers would accept proven facts. I'm just still wating for them.

Also, does anyone know when, or if, the ICTY plans to call the coroners? They are usually one of the first witnesses in a murder trial - they tend to establish the date, time and cause of death and rule out a lot of defenses.

BTW, the general's testimony does not appear to establish the required command responsibility link to find Milosevic ordered a 'massacre', identity of the perpetrators [If Serbian soldiers, then which ones, or was it paramilitaries, the mafia, jealous lovers, etc.] or accepted NATO's interpretation of a 'massacre' to justify punishment of the unidentified perpetrators.

Anyone have an idea how to prod the Hague to release transcripts, discontinued when the score was Milo 2, der Hague 0? After all, its' still being pouted as the 'biggest trial' of the century. People are interested in the 'ending'.

ABrit sounds like he has an inside track and could help out, and explain what's going on.

The Serbian police know better than to go into KLA territory at night, especially when they are returning to a scene of previous heavy fighting. Most of the actions happend by day as 'night time is the right time' for the KLA. I also wonder where the reports of nightime gunfire (which judging from the report was not exactly 'minimal') are, if they exist and by whom.

VRN

From the indictment:

a. On or about 15 January 1999, in the early morning hours, the village of Racak (Stimlje/Shtime municipality) was attacked by forces of the FRY and Serbia. After shelling, the forces of the FRY and Serbia entered the village later in the morning and began conducting house-to-house searches. Villagers, who attempted to flee from the forces of the FRY and Serbia, were shot throughout the village. A group of approximately 25 men attempted to hide in a building, but were discovered by the forces of the FRY and Serbia. They were beaten and then were removed to a nearby hill, where they were shot and killed. Altogether, the forces of the FRY and Serbia killed approximately 45 Kosovo Albanians in and around Racak. (Those persons killed who are known by name are set forth in Schedule A, which is attached as an appendix to this indictment.)

No, I don't have an inside track, these excerpts come straight from the ICTY website.

Looks like the ICTY have produced an independent eyewitness who says he saw men who had been shot in the head.

Milosevic disputes this, but he is not an eye witness.

What I don't think a lot of you understand is that this was the straw that broke the camels back.

No matter how small the straw, it was in fact the weight of what had gone before which did the damage.