In the Specialized Chambers in The Hague, the hearing of the witness, Steven Russell, is continuing in the judicial process against the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The former soldier spoke about the KFOR operation on August 9, 1999 in a "torture chamber". In the questions of the specialized prosecutor, he told what he had seen in this room and the organized protests against the arrest of ten Albanians.

The former American soldier who served in Kosovo during 1999, Steven Russell, was questioned by the specialized prosecutor, Matthew Halling, about a room where, as he said, blood stains had been found.

Halling: In your testimony, dated August 9, 1999, you talk about Ahmet Isuf, the torture room and you state 'they put him in the room, I remember moving and blood on the floor, electrical wiring, plugs that were there, wires near a chair, there were sticks a funnel, some sticks were there'. Focusing on your description, from the layout of the room to what the composition looked like, describe where the blood was on the floor?

Russell: As I remember when we went into the basement, on the right hand side there was a place where there was like a separate piece of a chair and some sharp instruments, there were blood stains on the floor. So it was all in an isolated part, in a corner, in a corner.

Halling: Where were the bloodstains, compared to the chair?

Russell: These were all very close together.

Halling: Are you able to tell me how much blood was on the floor.

Russell: It wasn't and I don't want to be... over describing it. It didn't look like a lot of bleeding, but it was a big spot about 40 centimeters. It looked like it had fallen from above and a spot had expanded, it was caused by a wound, upon examination." Russell said.

The American witness, who is accompanied by representatives of the American government, said that after the examination, they noticed that the blood stain was fresh on the floor.

Russell: I vividly remember taking him to the site and showing him what we found. We have also shown the problem this poses.

Halling: When you got there did you wonder what that was?

Russell: I don't remember exactly or the details of the conversation, these were tense moments but I do remember that I wanted to know what was going on there.

Halling: Ahmet Isufi gave you any explanation about what was happening in that room?

Russell: He was cautious, reserved. He knew we had a chain of authority and he knew I wasn't at the top of that chain and I believe he used that to buy time.

Halling: Did he deny that this room was used to torture people?

Russell: He didn't give any opinion or opinion about what we found, unlike some others, he didn't make any comment about what we found about the weapons or the torture chamber." Russell said.

Witness Steven Russell said that during this operation in the 'torture room' they found a lot there and that no member of the KLA gave an explanation as to what it was used for.

During the hearing of his testimony, the former soldier claimed that hostility towards KFOR was increasing and there were organized protests.

Specialist prosecutor Matthew Halling asked the witness if the KLA had taken disciplinary measures against the crimes he said had been discovered during the raids, but the ex-soldier said he did not remember such a thing. In today's court session, the former American soldier said that they had arrested ten soldiers in the raid.

The trial of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army began on April 3, 2023. The former leaders of the KLA are being tried for alleged war crimes and have been held in the detention center in The Hague since November 2020.

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