MACEDONIA: ALBANIAN MAN CLAIMS HIS FATHER WAS BEATEN TO DEATH DURING INTERROGATION BY MACEDONIAN POLICE.

Record ID: 566140

  • Title: MACEDONIA: ALBANIAN MAN CLAIMS HIS FATHER WAS BEATEN TO DEATH DURING INTERROGATION BY MACEDONIAN POLICE.
  • Date: 11th June 2001
  • Summary: CENTO, MACEDONIA (JUNE 11, 2001)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: EXTERIOR OF AJETI FAMILY HOME 0.06 2. MV/CU: METUSHA AJETI LYING ON MAKESHIFT BED AT ENTRANCE TO HOME/ SHOWING BRUISING INFLICTED DURING BEATING/ RELATIVES AND FRIENDS LISTENING TO METUSHA/ METUSHA SITTING UP TO SHOW FURTHER BRUISING (3 SHOTS) 0.46 3. GV/PAN: FRONT WINDOW BROKEN DURING RAID ON HOUSE/ DAMAGE TO LIVING ROOM AND BEDROOM DURING RAID/ DAMAGE TO BEDROOM AND LIVING ROOM OF ADJACENT HOUSE, ALSO BELONGING TO FAMILY, DURING RAID (6 SHOTS) 1.33 4. GV/MV/PAN: FEMALE FAMILY MEMBERS SITTING WITH THE BODY OF XHELAZ AJETI (2 SHOTS) 1.51 5. CU: (SOUNDBITE))(Albanian) METUSHA AJETI SAYING: "I heard my father screaming for around half an hour, being beaten by the police. I didn't scream because I did not want my father to be worried about me. After a while I couldn't hear my father's voice. I asked one of the policemen what happened to my father and he told me 'your father was released'." 2.12 6. GV/PAN: FAMILY MEMBER UNCOVERING THE BODY OF XHELAZ AJETI 2.21 7. MV/CU: (SOUNDBITE)(Albanian) METUSHA AJETI SAYING: "I was unconscious and they (the police) threw water over me - my spirit returned. They put a plastic bag over my head - I couldn't breathe. They were trying to beat me to death. I don't know how a man can beat someone like that." (2 SHOTS) 2.42 8. GV/MV: FEMALE FAMILY MEMBERS SITTING BESIDE BODY (2 SHOTS) 2.57 9. GV/PAN/GV: XHELAZ AJETI'S BODY CARRIED FROM HOUSE BY MALE FAMILY MEMBERS/ MEN PREPARING TO WASH THE BODY PRIOR TO FUNERAL (2 SHOTS) 3.24 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 26th June 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CENTO, MACEDONIA
  • Country: Macedonia
  • Reuters ID: LVA1P05DWS9NPTA7AX5VL0N3B2QF
  • Story Text: An elderly ethnic Albanian man has died and his son has
    been severely beaten after what their family claims was 12
    hours of interrogation by Macedonian police.



    Metusha Ajeti lay on a makeshift bed on the front porch
    of his home, seeking to escape the early summer heat as family
    members tried to make him more comfortable.

    In keeping with Albanian tradition, a sheep was
    slaughtered and its skin and meat wrapped around Metusha in an
    attempt to the ease the pain of the deep bruising and
    cigarette burns which covered his body.

    The 36-year-old businessman claims his injuries were
    caused by Macedonian police who arrived in the early hours of
    Monday morning (June 11), setting up a cordon around the
    predominately ethnic Albanian village on the outskirts of the
    capital Skopje.

    Ajeti says the police forced their way into his house and
    the one next door, also owned by the family, ransacking the
    rooms and stealing money before taking him and his father away
    with hoods over their heads in a police van.

    The pair were taken to a nearby police station where Ajeti
    said he was beaten and tortured for almost twelve hours. He
    says the police accused him of financing the ethnic Albanian
    National Liberation Army (NLA) and siphoning European Union
    funds to buy weapons for the rebels, a charge he denies.

    The NLA rebels say they are fighting to end what they call
    discrimination by the majority Slavs in everything from jobs
    to education. Ethnic Albanians, a third of the population,
    also want greater language rights.

    Ajeti claims the beating was only interrupted when the
    police stopped for an occasional cigarette and one policeman
    told him his bulky frame was good for beating.

    "I heard my father screaming for around half an hour,
    being beaten by the police. I didn't scream because I did not
    want my father to be worried about me," Ajeti said. "After a
    while I couldn't hear my father's voice. I asked one of the
    policemen what happened to my father and he told me 'your
    father was released'."
    The body of 67-year-old Xhelaz Ajeti lay inside the house,
    his body also showing extensive bruising and burn marks from
    cigarettes along with a large gash on the crown of his head.

    Metusha Ajeti says that when he lost consciousness his
    attackers threw water over him to revive him.

    "They (the police) put a plastic bag over my head - I
    couldn't breathe. They were trying to beat me to death," Ajeti
    told Reuters. "I don't know how a man can beat someone like
    that."
    The family say they were given no information about the
    men's whereabouts after they were taken away. Twelve hours
    later a family friend told them Metusha Ajeti and his father's
    body were at a local hospital.

    (DP/JD)

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