Halil Matoshi - freigelassen

Halil Matoshi wurde am 28 Januar wieder freigelassen:

Serbia Releases 22 Kosovo Albanians

The Associated Press
Saturday, Jan. 29, 2000; 10:10 a.m. EST

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Twenty-two ethnic Albanians have been released from several jails in Serbia and allowed to return to Kosovo, the independent news agency Beta reported Saturday.

Serb authorities handed the group over to officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who took them Friday to Pristina, the capital of the NATO-controlled southern province.

The agency quoted some of the Albanians as saying that they were "exposed to horrible mistreatment" during captivity and that "conditions in the jails were bad."

After a medical examination in Pristina, all were allowed to go to their homes, the report said.

The 22 had been detained at different times since war broke out in Kosovo between ethnic Albanians and Serb government troops. They had been charged with "hostile activities" against the state, allegedly for taking part in the movement to make Kosovo an independent state.

Among those released was Kosovo Albanian author and journalist Halil Matoshi.

There are no reliable figures for the number of Kosovo Albanians held in various prisons in Serbia, but estimates vary from 1,800 to 7,000. Kosovo Albanian leaders and human rights activists have repeatedly called for their release.

Halil Matoshi freigelassen