Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told police record, and no continuous interpretation was provided during the trial. In another example, from Gnjilane, the OSCE-KVM reported: Another problem is that the interpretation mainly went one way, from Albanian to Serbian. The presiding judge very often read long parts from the statements that the accused were supposed to have given and this was not translated from Serbian to 27 Albanian. In general, when a defendant was asked before the conclusion of the procedure whether he/she had 28 understood everything that was said, the affirmative answer given hardly ever reflected the truth. Procedural breaches also occurred in relation to the legal obligation of the judges to confront the accused with the testimonies of others. Since the accused persons had not heard the testimonies of others when they were questioned, the judges should have provided them with a summary of the other testimonies and allowed them the opportunity to give answers as to possible inconsistencies. Presence of armed police in the courtroom Throughout the trials monitored by OSCE-KVM, the presence of armed police in the court and in the court building was extensive and their demeanour normally intimidating, particularly for the accused persons and witnesses. The following example, taken from the trial of the "Pec group", describes a typical situation. During the entire trial, the presence of some 15 heavily armed policemen (machine-guns, hand guns, bulletproof vests) gave the trial not only the air of a "high security - serious crime - dangerous terrorists" atmosphere, it also intimidated defendants, those family members present and international monitors alike. During the final pleadings, a guard was playing with his automatic gun which fell with a crack to the floor, sending a frightening chill through the room. The policemen giggled for some minutes, the judge did not react at 29 all. Evidence presented Article 347(1) ZKP states: "The court shall base its verdict solely on the facts and evidence presented in the trial." As noted above, in most trials for offences of a political character monitored in Kosovo the accused persons, and sometimes the witnesses, would claim in court that they had been tortured and threatened in order to compel them to tell the Investigating Judge whatever the police wanted. In contravention to Yugoslav laws, neither the presiding judge nor the prosecutor made any further 30 inquiries into these allegations, and routinely admitted the statements into evidence. Ultimately, a large number of the accused persons were convicted mainly on such tainted evidence. http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/ch10.htm (9 of 18)12/5/2003 11:52:22 AM