Serbs used Nato bombing to cover slaughter, court hears

Serb prison guards used Nato bombing as cover to slaughter more than 150 ethnic Albanian prisoners in Kosovo, a prosecution witness told Slobodan Milosevic’s war crimes trial today.

But the former Yugoslav president denied there had been any massacre, and again accused of Nato of atrocities as it forced Yugoslav forces out of the province in 1999.

Musa Krasniqi was being held in the Dubrava prison at the time. He said on the morning after Nato bombs hit the building on May 21, the inmates were told to gather in a courtyard to be taken to another jail.

As they waited, the Serb guards opened fire from a machine gun position in a watchtower.

In total, 153 prisoners were slaughtered, including many convicted for only petty offences, Krasniqi told the court in The Hague.

He said 19 prisoners were killed by Nato bombing – the rest were murdered as the Serb authorities tried to blame Nato for their deaths.

Milosevic, who is acting as his own defence council, called the story a “manipulation” of facts.

“This massacre obviously did not take place,” he said.

It was the second day of hearings since the Milosevic trial resumed after a month’s recess.

The former president is accused of five counts of war crimes in Kosovo in 1999, and faces more charges related to the earlier wars in Croatia and Bosnia, including genocide.