Bajrush Xhemaili, a former detainee, testified on Friday about the brutal treatment he endured while imprisoned in Lipjan during the 1998-1999 conflict. Speaking before the Basic Court in Pristina, Xhemaili described how, upon arrival at the prison, guards and prison officials formed a cordon and subjected prisoners to cruel treatment.
“Through that line, the prisoners were forced to pass, and they beat us with whatever they could. Woe to those who fell; no one would help you up. You had to get back up on your own and keep going,” Xhemaili told the court.
Dragiša Milenković, a former prison guard in Pristina and Lipjan, is accused of torturing prisoners in an inhumane manner during his time at the facilities. Xhemaili, who also served as the former mayor of Ferizaj and as a member of parliament, recounted that the abuse continued within the prison corridors. He said guards, armed with metal rods, would strike prisoners on the head as they were led to their cells.
According to Xhemaili, there were about 30 prisoners per cell, with no rules or order. “We were like slaves, no house rules, no food. No one gave us anything,” he recalled.
The conditions were dire, Xhemaili testified. Prisoners were given only two mattresses to share, a quarter loaf of bread, and a small pot of soup for five people, which they divided among themselves.
When questioned by Special Prosecutor Atdhe Dema, Xhemaili stated that he did not remember seeing the accused, Milenković, at Lipjan Prison, as he was not focused on identifying individual guards at the time. However, he had heard from others that Milenković was involved in the abuse. He also mentioned that the prison director at the time was Ljubomir Čimburović.
Xhemaili described the prison’s cordon as approximately 30 meters long, with more than 50 uniformed individuals, mostly guards, who were particularly brutal.
The indictment, filed on December 26, 2023, by the Special Prosecution of Kosovo, charges Milenković with committing war crimes against civilians. The indictment accuses Milenković, along with other prison officials—Ljubomir Čimburović, the former director of the Pristina District Prison, and guards Predrag Bradić and Milivoje Ivić—of systematically torturing Albanian prisoners at the Pristina and Lipjan prisons during the war. They are accused of using various tools, including batons, metal rods, electric cables, and water pipes, as well as physical violence such as kicking and punching, leading to severe injuries, physical and psychological trauma, and prolonged periods of starvation.
The indictment further details how, between May 24 and June 10, 1999, at Lipjan Prison, Milenković and his co-defendants subjected Albanian prisoners—who had been transferred from Dubrava Prison—to systematic abuse, including forced beatings, starvation, and psychological torture.
Milenković is also charged with illegal possession of weapons after a police search of his home in Gračanica on June 21, 2023, uncovered a pistol, ammunition, a knife, and a metal rod.
Milenković faces charges of war crimes against civilians, as well as illegal possession of firearms under Kosovo’s Penal Code.
