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Humanitarian Law CenterWhen Judge Sinanović’s order to place Stoparić under police protectioncame into effect, he was taken over by the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affair’sProtection of Persons and Facilities squad. Lt. Col. Dragan Veškovacassigned one of his captains to look after Stoparić. The witness was providedwith decent accommodation and food, but it took the captain twoweeks to get him a cellular phone card. Stoparić is a smoker but it appearsthat buying cigarettes, toothpaste and other necessities for people undertheir protection is not in the squad’s job description. He was never allowedoutdoors and all he could do all day was talk with his family and friends onthe phone, watch television, read and sleep. In one and a half months, thecaptain charged with his safety came to see him ten times at the most. Asa rule, he would hurry into the room, ask Stoparić if he was sticking to therules, and then hurry out again.For the New Year holidays, he arranged for Stoparić to be temporarily relocatedso that he was able to spend some time with two friends from Šid.The next day, all Šid knew that Stoparić was housed in a singles apartmentsbuilding in Belgrade’s Bežanija district. Stoparić feels that the captain toosaw him as a traitor. In a nutshell, witness protection as provided by thesquad consists of isolation and mental torture.Judge threatenedJudge Biljana Sinanović has been receiving threats for months. In July2003, just after the Albanian children and their fathers had left Belgrade,there was an explosion outside the Palace of Justice. Since then, she has onseveral occasions found threatening notes under her windshield wiper andthe tyres of her car have been let down twice.Witness questioned by policeOn 4 February, the day before he was due to testify in court, Nebojša Cekićwas questioned by police about the subject matter of the trial. He told thecourt that the three inspectors behaved correctly. But this nonetheless constitutespressure on witnesses and could lead them to reconsider telling thetruth in court.202