REPORTER: Bronwyn Adcock
General Nebojsa Pavkovic lives surrounded by the memorabilia of a glorious military career.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): On this pistol is engraved Commander of the Third Army.
It was an incredibly successful career, only seven of these medals have ever been awarded in the entire history of the former Yugoslavia.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): This is the Freedom Medal, one of our highest honours. It's awarded for outstanding leadership to the highest commanders of the Yugoslav armed forces.
At the height of his success, General Pavkovic rubbed shoulders with the most powerful man in the former Yugoslavia. Yet he later proved he was no crony of Milosevic.
In the year 2000, Milosevic lost the election and tried to cling to power by ordering the army onto the streets. His General refused him, and Serbia moved forward to democracy.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): It wasn't a difficult decision, it was the only proper one, made by a true soldier who stands by his people.
The General's reputation as a professional soldier is now in jeopardy. The War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague has just indicted General Pavkovic for crimes in Kosovo. He's accused of responsibility for the death of thousands of civilians and the forced deportation of hundreds of thousands more.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I can't accept this indictment because I have always carried out my duties proudly and responsibly... serving firstly Federal Yugoslav Army and later the Yugoslav Armed Forces. That's why it's absolutely unacceptable for me.
It's late December and General Pavkovic is still a free man, because the Serbian Government is refusing to extradite him to The Hague. He's decided to run in parliamentary elections to be held in two weeks time, so he's on the campaign trail.
There are four accused war criminals standing in this election. Including former president Slobodan Milosevic who's been nominated from his prison cell in The Hague.
It's an extraordinary development for a country supposedly on the road to reform. The crucial question is whether Serb voters will back these men at the ballot box. Today's visit is to a monastery.
This place is of great significance to the entire Serbian nation and to the General personally.
Inside this tomb lies the body of the famed 14th century Serbian king who unsuccessfully fought to keep Kosovo in Serbian hands. Ever since then, defending Kosovo has been an intrinsic part of Serb nationalism. General Pavkovic was the modern day defender of Kosovo.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): Today you had a chance to see two Kosovar heroes. The remains of the one who perished in 1381 and a living hero who won the battle in Kosovo in 1999 in a great battle against the NATO pact.
Under the orders of President Milosevic, General Pavkovic led the army into battle. In 1999, Kosovo was a part of Serbia, but a war was being fought with the Kosovo Liberation Army, who wanted independence for the Albanian majority.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC, 1999 ARMY VIDEO TAPE (Translation):
If we lose our country now, we'll never regain it. If we're not ready to defend it, perhaps we don't deserve it.
Kosovo Albanian civilians fled the Serb onslaught. As reports of atrocities against civilians emerged, NATO intervened, launching air strikes against Serbia. In a brilliant strategic move, General Pavkovic built replica tanks to act as decoys against NATO missiles.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): We had the models working in such a way that they simulated the heat from running engines and radar. This was quite confusing for their air force as these were the targets they were aiming for.
While the Serbs were defeated and forced to retreat from Kosovo, General Pavkovic emerged from the war a hero.
PRESIDENT SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC (Translation): I congratulate two generals awarded the highest medals, General Ojdanic and General Pavkovic.
Back at the monastery, General Pavkovic is getting special treatment. I'm told that a few weeks earlier the US Ambassador visited and while he was courteously received, he wasn't given lunch because the head nun is still angry about the NATO bombing. For General Pavkovic it's a different story.
NUN (Translation): It's a great honour for us to have such a guest. I'm especially grateful to him for coming here.
Before he leaves, General Pavkovic is given a small memento from the monastery.
NUN (Translation): This will bring you luck.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I shall guard it.
NUN (Translation): It will shield you from evil. Evil never rests. This will keep it at bay.
Whether this is enough to protect General Pavkovic from the reach of international law remains to be seen.
Here at the War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague in the Netherlands, they're determined to see General Pavkovic prosecuted. Chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte says it makes no difference that Serbia doesn't accept the indictment.
CARLA DEL PONTE, CHIEF PROSECUTOR: It is not a question to accept or not because it is an international obligation, so the indictment was received. Now it is a question for the execution of the indictment. They must be transferred to The Hague.
Her pursuit of Serbia's wartime leaders has made Carla Del Ponte one of the most unpopular figures in Serbia. Her greatest success so far has been the extradition of former president Slobodan Milosevic in 2001, despite strong Serb resistance.
The indictment against General Pavkovic is based on the legal concept of command responsibility. He's not accused of personally committing crimes, but rather being part of a joint criminal enterprise that organised them.
REPORTER: How close was he, do you think, to what was going on?
CARLA DEL PONTE: He was so close that he was in charge, if it was a particular function and he have daily reports that he receive from what happened and he give instruction and that is what we will prove in court.
Kosovo is about a 6-hour drive from Belgrade. I'm here to see first hand what General Pavkovic is accused of. According to the indictment, he was part of a plot to expel Albanians from Kosovo either by forced deportations or by instilling such fear they fled anyway. One of the specific charges against him relates to events that happened in the village of Izbice.
Sadik Xhemajli works in a local library, but back in 1999 he was a member of the armed opposition to Serbia, the KLA. On 28 March he was hiding in the woods in hills above the town and witnessed a terrifying scene.
SADIK XHEMAJLI (Translation): Basically, I was here. The eastern part, over there. I only saw them being executed. I don't know what was said. That area over there. It was visible from here.
After days of shelling by the Yugoslav Army, thousands of people had fled their homes and gathered here in this field. Serb forces then moved in, telling the women to start walking to Albania.
SADIK XHEMAJLI (Translation): They commanded the men to form a group here and in this area they executed 39 people. 39 were executed here. All were executed with machine guns.
There's another area over there.
After being divided into small groups, a total of 116 men were killed that day.
SADIK XHEMAJLI (Translation): They were all killed here. They were all executed here. The group of 15 were corpses. There were 15 alive, then 15 dead.
Sadik Januzi was one of the men detained that day.
SADIK JANUZI (Translation): They lined us up in two rows on the path. We were seated. They questioned us. They pushed us and our hats fell off, our plisas, which they kicked. They swore at us. And as they took us, there, in that place, they said "You like to sacrifice animals. Today we'll slaughter you."
Miraculously he survived because he was standing behind a friend whose body took the impact of the bullets, and pushed him into the ditch.
SADIK JANUZI (Translation): My friend was hit and I survived. He asked for water. I fell and lay moaning. I was waiting to see when they would come again. Face down. I stayed there for 20 minutes then raised my head.
Dateline has obtained a home video taken a few days after the massacre that appears to support the stories told by witnesses and survivors. According to the indictment, scenes like this happened elsewhere in Kosovo as well. General Pavkovic denies the army was involved in the Izbice massacre.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I learnt about that case from the newspapers and from the indictment I know the army was never in that region. We didn't have any involvement there.
REPORTER: So who could have killed these people though?
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I don't know if it has been confirmed that those people were killed there or somewhere else and then buried there. One must know what the situation was like. The army and the police wore similar uniforms. There were many armed Serbs who wore the uniforms of the disbanded territorial defence force. Maybe it was redistribution along ethnic lines between Serbs and Albanians. I really don't know what the situation was but I am positive that the army wasn't there.
The consistent defence from General Pavkovic and other generals indicted for war crimes is that any incidents in Kosovo, if they happened at all, were not officially sanctioned, and they were the actions of rogue forces. This is disputed by those who've investigated the cases.
NATASHA KANDIC, HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTRE. BELGRADE: It is impossible to think that some paramilitaries, some criminals, some individuals, committed the crimes in Kosovo.
Natasha Kandic works for the Humanitarian Law Centre in Belgrade. She says there was a deliberate strategy of murder and deportation organised from the very top.
NATASHA KANDIC: They had in their mind the main order. Kosovo is part of Serbia. We should expel Albanians and not allow Albanians to take our territory.
Just months after the massacre at Izbice, the Serbian Army came here and dug up many of the bodies, taking them on trucks to Serbia in an apparent attempt to hide the evidence.
NATASHA KANDIC: The transferring of bodies was, you know, the result of thinking how to escape punishment, how to escape justice.
Bodies from Izbice have since been found in three different locations in Serbia. General Pavkovic admits the army exhumed the bodies, but says it was part of an investigation.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I recall that when we heard of the mass grave in Izbice, the command of the Pristina corps ordered the police and a team from the Military Medical Academy to go there, exhume the bodies and determine what happened. They went there and started working but Albanian terrorists attacked them. They had to leave for safety reasons.
REPORTER: Were there any results from that investigation?
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): Yes, we established the facts through our professional team and their official findings.
REPORTER: And do you know whose bodies they were, what happened?
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): No, I don't know the details. I assume that dead bodies from various locations were brought and buried there.
It's the final week of the election campaign and General Pavkovic is constantly on the road. If anything, the indictment against him has increased his popularity.
MAN (Translation): My wife adores you. I took a photo of you and her. She insisted and I took it at an exhibition.
International condemnation of Serbia's role in the wars of the past decade has left many Serbs feeling like they're international pariahs. General Pavkovic is the perfect antidote for a nation's wounded pride. The small, left of centre party he now leads describes itself as patriotic.
They're not overly confident they'll win a single seat in parliament, but the recent recruitment of the General has definitely boosted their chances. His supporters believe the pursuit of the General is sheer hypocrisy.
MAN (Translation): The Americans were not responsible for Vietnam. The English fought in the Falklands 6,000km from their country. There they killed Argentinians and they are not criminals. The Americans have just wiped out Iraq. Nobody's been indicted for that, or for Afghanistan.
According to the world, only Serbians are criminals.
Serbs are also angry that no-one is being held accountable for the bombs that fell on their country. Estimates of Serb civilian deaths from the NATO campaign range from 400 to 1,000. This residential street in the town of Alexisnac, a few hours south of Belgrade was destroyed after NATO missiles missed their intended target. Vukica Miladinovic was at home with her two children, her parents-in-law and sister-in-law when the missiles hit.
VUKICA MILADINOVIC (Translation): I had the impression that my body was being torn apart. The detonation was horrible. I was feeling around me with my hands, trying to reach my children Diana and Marko. The children were very brave while I tried to make an opening in the rubble. Diana tried to put her aunty's head and body back together. She was screaming at her to stay alive.
Vukica and her two children were the only survivors from the family. Her husband Bratislav wasn't home that day.
BRATISLAV MILADINOVIC (Translation): That bombardment should never have happened. It shouldn't have happened in that way.
Many people were killed, many innocent people. Any nearest and dearest were among them. The Western alliance calls it a campaign, but it was aerial bombardment, not a campaign.
Aleksinac is General Pavkovic's home town, bombed while he was away fighting in Kosovo. Today he's come to lay a wreath at the memorial for those who died. While many Serbs obviously remember being victims of the war, few remember that their government was also an aggressor. Part of the message that General Pavkovic is spruiking here, is his version of the war in Kosovo. It's a version almost universally accepted in Serbia, that doesn't mention the death of thousands of Albanian civilians.
TOWN HALL INTRODUCTION (Translation): A man who has honourably, very professionally and bravely defended the country against the NATO aggressors, and to whom Serbia is indebted. General Nebojsa Pavkovic.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): Ladies and gentlemen... Our Supreme Command, the Command of the Third Army, the Pristina corps and other battalions in Kosovo never issued or received any orders which could have led to any kind of war crimes. I wasn't in Kosovo running my own private war, nor was I fighting and persecuting Albanian Kosovars. We were fighting Albanian terrorists who aren't mentioned, who don't exist in the indictment. That's the party, which provoked the fighting and dragged this country into everything that then happened. The world admitted to late that they were terrorists. Although the biggest countries fiercely combat terrorism, the same was not allowed to us.
MAN (Translation): The Hague tribunal's accusations are total fabrications. He hasn't done anything wrong. He mobilised patriotic forces which carried out their duty in order to protect people in Kosovo, to protect Serbian Kosovars.
Despite this support though, the reality of the General's plight is never far away.
REPORTER: Carla Del Ponte has said she's determined to have him to The Hague, is he worried by that?
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): No. No.
REPORTER: Why not?
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): My conscience is clear.
For now, at least, General Pavkovic has the Serbian government on side. Prime Minister, Zoran Zivkovic.
ZORAN ZIVKOVIC, PRIME MINISTER (Translation): It's a bit sad or ridiculous that after four years someone is indicted only because he commanded the army or police in Kosovo or Metohija. We've known for four years who the commanders were.
When Carla Del Ponte came to Belgrade in October with the indictment for General Pavkovic and three other generals, the Prime Minister refused to accept it. It was a decidedly frosty exchange.
ZORAN ZIVKOVIC (Translation): What happened? She turned up unannounced, which was unusual compared to her previous visits. She brought four indictments which were addressed to a nonexistent country. On the envelope was written "Federal Republic of Serbia and Montenegro."
The chief prosecutor did make a mistake - the country is called "Serbia and Montenegro", not the "Federal Republic of Serbia and Montenegro". But the tension here goes way beyond a blunder about the country's name. With an election coming up, the indictment was a political hot potato the government didn't need.
ZORAN ZIVKOVIC (Translation): I think that she made a big mistake. She placed in a very difficult position, for no reason at all, a government which has cooperated greatly with The Hague tribunal since its foundation.
This is what the government is worried about. One week out from the election and the nationalist Serbian Radical Party is leading the polls. Its supporters are calling Carla Del
Ponte Ustasa, the Croatian fascist group who collaborated with the Nazis. It's the worst possible insult. The leader of the Serbian Radical Party is Vojslav Seselj, he couldn't make it to the rally because he's currently facing trial in The Hague.
Seselj is accused of heading up a paramilitary unit during the wars of the early '90s and is famous for his extreme nationalistic speeches encouraging the expulsion of non-Serbs. Seselj, and other infamous war criminals like Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic are heroes at this rally, and the post Milosevic reformist government is seen as traitorous for cooperating with the War Crimes Tribunal.
SPEAKER OF SERBIAN RADICAL PARTY (Translation): When a brother betrays his brother, the screams of the burnt sun pierce the eye's pupil. Vote against betrayal! Vote for the Serbian Radical Party! Long live Dr Vojislav Seselj! Long live Dr Radovan Karadzic! Long live General Ratko Mladic! Long live Serbia!
The party has vowed to never send anyone to The Hague again if it wins power. Its leader in Serbia is Tomislav Nikolic.
TOMISLAV NIKOLIC (Translation): If our President Milosevic is a war criminal, then the presidents of all the countries which attacked Yugoslavia should be in The Hague.
It would be a brave politician who cooperated with The Hague in this climate. In what are probably the government's final days, the Prime Minister is blaming Carla Del Ponte for driving Serbs into the arms of Seselj's Radical Party.
REPORTER: Why did she put you in a difficult political situation, what was going on at the time?
ZORAN ZIVKOVIC (Translation): Maybe she was working for Vojislav Seselj's election team.
It's election day, and General Pavkovic is getting ready to cast his vote. His future depends on this election. There's no doubt that whoever forms the new government will be asked to extradite him, and his fate lies in their hands.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I didn't conduct a war in foreign territory but in my own country, defending its borders with my soldiers, according to the decision of the national parliament which had proclaimed a state of war. I wasn't defending the country in Holland and committing crimes there. If I committed any crime, which I didn't, I can be tried only in my country by my people. I don't acknowledge a tribunal which would try me without any say on the part of my country.
In the end, General Pavkovic didn't make it into parliament. As predicted, the Serbian Radical Party won the majority of votes. At party headquarters, celebrations are in full swing. The Radical Party won nearly 30% of the vote, putting them 10% ahead of their nearest rival. They won't be forming government though because the reformist parties refuse to go into coalition with them. Nevertheless this election result is being viewed with concern internationally, not least of all over the border in Kosovo.
SADEQ (Translation): They don't regret what they've done. It's the same old story over and over again. That is, if it was allowed, they'd do that even today... It's not as though they're sorry or show remorse.
CROWD: Serbia, Serbia, Serbia.
REPORTER: BRONWYN ADCOCK
EDITOR: BEN DEACON/DAVID POTTS
General Nebojsa Pavkovic lives surrounded by the memorabilia of a glorious military career.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): On this pistol is engraved Commander of the Third Army.
It was an incredibly successful career, only seven of these medals have ever been awarded in the entire history of the former Yugoslavia.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): This is the Freedom Medal, one of our highest honours. It's awarded for outstanding leadership to the highest commanders of the Yugoslav armed forces.
At the height of his success, General Pavkovic rubbed shoulders with the most powerful man in the former Yugoslavia. Yet he later proved he was no crony of Milosevic.
In the year 2000, Milosevic lost the election and tried to cling to power by ordering the army onto the streets. His General refused him, and Serbia moved forward to democracy.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): It wasn't a difficult decision, it was the only proper one, made by a true soldier who stands by his people.
The General's reputation as a professional soldier is now in jeopardy. The War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague has just indicted General Pavkovic for crimes in Kosovo. He's accused of responsibility for the death of thousands of civilians and the forced deportation of hundreds of thousands more.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I can't accept this indictment because I have always carried out my duties proudly and responsibly... serving firstly Federal Yugoslav Army and later the Yugoslav Armed Forces. That's why it's absolutely unacceptable for me.
It's late December and General Pavkovic is still a free man, because the Serbian Government is refusing to extradite him to The Hague. He's decided to run in parliamentary elections to be held in two weeks time, so he's on the campaign trail.
There are four accused war criminals standing in this election. Including former president Slobodan Milosevic who's been nominated from his prison cell in The Hague.
It's an extraordinary development for a country supposedly on the road to reform. The crucial question is whether Serb voters will back these men at the ballot box. Today's visit is to a monastery.
This place is of great significance to the entire Serbian nation and to the General personally.
Inside this tomb lies the body of the famed 14th century Serbian king who unsuccessfully fought to keep Kosovo in Serbian hands. Ever since then, defending Kosovo has been an intrinsic part of Serb nationalism. General Pavkovic was the modern day defender of Kosovo.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): Today you had a chance to see two Kosovar heroes. The remains of the one who perished in 1381 and a living hero who won the battle in Kosovo in 1999 in a great battle against the NATO pact.
Under the orders of President Milosevic, General Pavkovic led the army into battle. In 1999, Kosovo was a part of Serbia, but a war was being fought with the Kosovo Liberation Army, who wanted independence for the Albanian majority.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC, 1999 ARMY VIDEO TAPE (Translation):
If we lose our country now, we'll never regain it. If we're not ready to defend it, perhaps we don't deserve it.
Kosovo Albanian civilians fled the Serb onslaught. As reports of atrocities against civilians emerged, NATO intervened, launching air strikes against Serbia. In a brilliant strategic move, General Pavkovic built replica tanks to act as decoys against NATO missiles.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): We had the models working in such a way that they simulated the heat from running engines and radar. This was quite confusing for their air force as these were the targets they were aiming for.
While the Serbs were defeated and forced to retreat from Kosovo, General Pavkovic emerged from the war a hero.
PRESIDENT SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC (Translation): I congratulate two generals awarded the highest medals, General Ojdanic and General Pavkovic.
Back at the monastery, General Pavkovic is getting special treatment. I'm told that a few weeks earlier the US Ambassador visited and while he was courteously received, he wasn't given lunch because the head nun is still angry about the NATO bombing. For General Pavkovic it's a different story.
NUN (Translation): It's a great honour for us to have such a guest. I'm especially grateful to him for coming here.
Before he leaves, General Pavkovic is given a small memento from the monastery.
NUN (Translation): This will bring you luck.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I shall guard it.
NUN (Translation): It will shield you from evil. Evil never rests. This will keep it at bay.
Whether this is enough to protect General Pavkovic from the reach of international law remains to be seen.
Here at the War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague in the Netherlands, they're determined to see General Pavkovic prosecuted. Chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte says it makes no difference that Serbia doesn't accept the indictment.
CARLA DEL PONTE, CHIEF PROSECUTOR: It is not a question to accept or not because it is an international obligation, so the indictment was received. Now it is a question for the execution of the indictment. They must be transferred to The Hague.
Her pursuit of Serbia's wartime leaders has made Carla Del Ponte one of the most unpopular figures in Serbia. Her greatest success so far has been the extradition of former president Slobodan Milosevic in 2001, despite strong Serb resistance.
The indictment against General Pavkovic is based on the legal concept of command responsibility. He's not accused of personally committing crimes, but rather being part of a joint criminal enterprise that organised them.
REPORTER: How close was he, do you think, to what was going on?
CARLA DEL PONTE: He was so close that he was in charge, if it was a particular function and he have daily reports that he receive from what happened and he give instruction and that is what we will prove in court.
Kosovo is about a 6-hour drive from Belgrade. I'm here to see first hand what General Pavkovic is accused of. According to the indictment, he was part of a plot to expel Albanians from Kosovo either by forced deportations or by instilling such fear they fled anyway. One of the specific charges against him relates to events that happened in the village of Izbice.
Sadik Xhemajli works in a local library, but back in 1999 he was a member of the armed opposition to Serbia, the KLA. On 28 March he was hiding in the woods in hills above the town and witnessed a terrifying scene.
SADIK XHEMAJLI (Translation): Basically, I was here. The eastern part, over there. I only saw them being executed. I don't know what was said. That area over there. It was visible from here.
After days of shelling by the Yugoslav Army, thousands of people had fled their homes and gathered here in this field. Serb forces then moved in, telling the women to start walking to Albania.
SADIK XHEMAJLI (Translation): They commanded the men to form a group here and in this area they executed 39 people. 39 were executed here. All were executed with machine guns.
There's another area over there.
After being divided into small groups, a total of 116 men were killed that day.
SADIK XHEMAJLI (Translation): They were all killed here. They were all executed here. The group of 15 were corpses. There were 15 alive, then 15 dead.
Sadik Januzi was one of the men detained that day.
SADIK JANUZI (Translation): They lined us up in two rows on the path. We were seated. They questioned us. They pushed us and our hats fell off, our plisas, which they kicked. They swore at us. And as they took us, there, in that place, they said "You like to sacrifice animals. Today we'll slaughter you."
Miraculously he survived because he was standing behind a friend whose body took the impact of the bullets, and pushed him into the ditch.
SADIK JANUZI (Translation): My friend was hit and I survived. He asked for water. I fell and lay moaning. I was waiting to see when they would come again. Face down. I stayed there for 20 minutes then raised my head.
Dateline has obtained a home video taken a few days after the massacre that appears to support the stories told by witnesses and survivors. According to the indictment, scenes like this happened elsewhere in Kosovo as well. General Pavkovic denies the army was involved in the Izbice massacre.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I learnt about that case from the newspapers and from the indictment I know the army was never in that region. We didn't have any involvement there.
REPORTER: So who could have killed these people though?
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I don't know if it has been confirmed that those people were killed there or somewhere else and then buried there. One must know what the situation was like. The army and the police wore similar uniforms. There were many armed Serbs who wore the uniforms of the disbanded territorial defence force. Maybe it was redistribution along ethnic lines between Serbs and Albanians. I really don't know what the situation was but I am positive that the army wasn't there.
The consistent defence from General Pavkovic and other generals indicted for war crimes is that any incidents in Kosovo, if they happened at all, were not officially sanctioned, and they were the actions of rogue forces. This is disputed by those who've investigated the cases.
NATASHA KANDIC, HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTRE. BELGRADE: It is impossible to think that some paramilitaries, some criminals, some individuals, committed the crimes in Kosovo.
Natasha Kandic works for the Humanitarian Law Centre in Belgrade. She says there was a deliberate strategy of murder and deportation organised from the very top.
NATASHA KANDIC: They had in their mind the main order. Kosovo is part of Serbia. We should expel Albanians and not allow Albanians to take our territory.
Just months after the massacre at Izbice, the Serbian Army came here and dug up many of the bodies, taking them on trucks to Serbia in an apparent attempt to hide the evidence.
NATASHA KANDIC: The transferring of bodies was, you know, the result of thinking how to escape punishment, how to escape justice.
Bodies from Izbice have since been found in three different locations in Serbia. General Pavkovic admits the army exhumed the bodies, but says it was part of an investigation.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I recall that when we heard of the mass grave in Izbice, the command of the Pristina corps ordered the police and a team from the Military Medical Academy to go there, exhume the bodies and determine what happened. They went there and started working but Albanian terrorists attacked them. They had to leave for safety reasons.
REPORTER: Were there any results from that investigation?
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): Yes, we established the facts through our professional team and their official findings.
REPORTER: And do you know whose bodies they were, what happened?
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): No, I don't know the details. I assume that dead bodies from various locations were brought and buried there.
It's the final week of the election campaign and General Pavkovic is constantly on the road. If anything, the indictment against him has increased his popularity.
MAN (Translation): My wife adores you. I took a photo of you and her. She insisted and I took it at an exhibition.
International condemnation of Serbia's role in the wars of the past decade has left many Serbs feeling like they're international pariahs. General Pavkovic is the perfect antidote for a nation's wounded pride. The small, left of centre party he now leads describes itself as patriotic.
They're not overly confident they'll win a single seat in parliament, but the recent recruitment of the General has definitely boosted their chances. His supporters believe the pursuit of the General is sheer hypocrisy.
MAN (Translation): The Americans were not responsible for Vietnam. The English fought in the Falklands 6,000km from their country. There they killed Argentinians and they are not criminals. The Americans have just wiped out Iraq. Nobody's been indicted for that, or for Afghanistan.
According to the world, only Serbians are criminals.
Serbs are also angry that no-one is being held accountable for the bombs that fell on their country. Estimates of Serb civilian deaths from the NATO campaign range from 400 to 1,000. This residential street in the town of Alexisnac, a few hours south of Belgrade was destroyed after NATO missiles missed their intended target. Vukica Miladinovic was at home with her two children, her parents-in-law and sister-in-law when the missiles hit.
VUKICA MILADINOVIC (Translation): I had the impression that my body was being torn apart. The detonation was horrible. I was feeling around me with my hands, trying to reach my children Diana and Marko. The children were very brave while I tried to make an opening in the rubble. Diana tried to put her aunty's head and body back together. She was screaming at her to stay alive.
Vukica and her two children were the only survivors from the family. Her husband Bratislav wasn't home that day.
BRATISLAV MILADINOVIC (Translation): That bombardment should never have happened. It shouldn't have happened in that way.
Many people were killed, many innocent people. Any nearest and dearest were among them. The Western alliance calls it a campaign, but it was aerial bombardment, not a campaign.
Aleksinac is General Pavkovic's home town, bombed while he was away fighting in Kosovo. Today he's come to lay a wreath at the memorial for those who died. While many Serbs obviously remember being victims of the war, few remember that their government was also an aggressor. Part of the message that General Pavkovic is spruiking here, is his version of the war in Kosovo. It's a version almost universally accepted in Serbia, that doesn't mention the death of thousands of Albanian civilians.
TOWN HALL INTRODUCTION (Translation): A man who has honourably, very professionally and bravely defended the country against the NATO aggressors, and to whom Serbia is indebted. General Nebojsa Pavkovic.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): Ladies and gentlemen... Our Supreme Command, the Command of the Third Army, the Pristina corps and other battalions in Kosovo never issued or received any orders which could have led to any kind of war crimes. I wasn't in Kosovo running my own private war, nor was I fighting and persecuting Albanian Kosovars. We were fighting Albanian terrorists who aren't mentioned, who don't exist in the indictment. That's the party, which provoked the fighting and dragged this country into everything that then happened. The world admitted to late that they were terrorists. Although the biggest countries fiercely combat terrorism, the same was not allowed to us.
MAN (Translation): The Hague tribunal's accusations are total fabrications. He hasn't done anything wrong. He mobilised patriotic forces which carried out their duty in order to protect people in Kosovo, to protect Serbian Kosovars.
Despite this support though, the reality of the General's plight is never far away.
REPORTER: Carla Del Ponte has said she's determined to have him to The Hague, is he worried by that?
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): No. No.
REPORTER: Why not?
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): My conscience is clear.
For now, at least, General Pavkovic has the Serbian government on side. Prime Minister, Zoran Zivkovic.
ZORAN ZIVKOVIC, PRIME MINISTER (Translation): It's a bit sad or ridiculous that after four years someone is indicted only because he commanded the army or police in Kosovo or Metohija. We've known for four years who the commanders were.
When Carla Del Ponte came to Belgrade in October with the indictment for General Pavkovic and three other generals, the Prime Minister refused to accept it. It was a decidedly frosty exchange.
ZORAN ZIVKOVIC (Translation): What happened? She turned up unannounced, which was unusual compared to her previous visits. She brought four indictments which were addressed to a nonexistent country. On the envelope was written "Federal Republic of Serbia and Montenegro."
The chief prosecutor did make a mistake - the country is called "Serbia and Montenegro", not the "Federal Republic of Serbia and Montenegro". But the tension here goes way beyond a blunder about the country's name. With an election coming up, the indictment was a political hot potato the government didn't need.
ZORAN ZIVKOVIC (Translation): I think that she made a big mistake. She placed in a very difficult position, for no reason at all, a government which has cooperated greatly with The Hague tribunal since its foundation.
This is what the government is worried about. One week out from the election and the nationalist Serbian Radical Party is leading the polls. Its supporters are calling Carla Del
Ponte Ustasa, the Croatian fascist group who collaborated with the Nazis. It's the worst possible insult. The leader of the Serbian Radical Party is Vojslav Seselj, he couldn't make it to the rally because he's currently facing trial in The Hague.
Seselj is accused of heading up a paramilitary unit during the wars of the early '90s and is famous for his extreme nationalistic speeches encouraging the expulsion of non-Serbs. Seselj, and other infamous war criminals like Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic are heroes at this rally, and the post Milosevic reformist government is seen as traitorous for cooperating with the War Crimes Tribunal.
SPEAKER OF SERBIAN RADICAL PARTY (Translation): When a brother betrays his brother, the screams of the burnt sun pierce the eye's pupil. Vote against betrayal! Vote for the Serbian Radical Party! Long live Dr Vojislav Seselj! Long live Dr Radovan Karadzic! Long live General Ratko Mladic! Long live Serbia!
The party has vowed to never send anyone to The Hague again if it wins power. Its leader in Serbia is Tomislav Nikolic.
TOMISLAV NIKOLIC (Translation): If our President Milosevic is a war criminal, then the presidents of all the countries which attacked Yugoslavia should be in The Hague.
It would be a brave politician who cooperated with The Hague in this climate. In what are probably the government's final days, the Prime Minister is blaming Carla Del Ponte for driving Serbs into the arms of Seselj's Radical Party.
REPORTER: Why did she put you in a difficult political situation, what was going on at the time?
ZORAN ZIVKOVIC (Translation): Maybe she was working for Vojislav Seselj's election team.
It's election day, and General Pavkovic is getting ready to cast his vote. His future depends on this election. There's no doubt that whoever forms the new government will be asked to extradite him, and his fate lies in their hands.
GENERAL NEBOJSA PAVKOVIC (Translation): I didn't conduct a war in foreign territory but in my own country, defending its borders with my soldiers, according to the decision of the national parliament which had proclaimed a state of war. I wasn't defending the country in Holland and committing crimes there. If I committed any crime, which I didn't, I can be tried only in my country by my people. I don't acknowledge a tribunal which would try me without any say on the part of my country.
In the end, General Pavkovic didn't make it into parliament. As predicted, the Serbian Radical Party won the majority of votes. At party headquarters, celebrations are in full swing. The Radical Party won nearly 30% of the vote, putting them 10% ahead of their nearest rival. They won't be forming government though because the reformist parties refuse to go into coalition with them. Nevertheless this election result is being viewed with concern internationally, not least of all over the border in Kosovo.
SADEQ (Translation): They don't regret what they've done. It's the same old story over and over again. That is, if it was allowed, they'd do that even today... It's not as though they're sorry or show remorse.
CROWD: Serbia, Serbia, Serbia.
REPORTER: BRONWYN ADCOCK
EDITOR: BEN DEACON/DAVID POTTS