www.srna.co.yu
Serbian Press Agency SRNA, Bijeljina
17-03-2008 17:43:03
As of yesterday, March 16, court employees of Serb nationality were
intending to remain in the municipal and district court building in north
Mitrovica until an agreement with representatives of UNMIK was reached
regarding their demand to return to their jobs.
District public prosecutor in Kosovska Mitrovica Milan Bigovic said he saw
no purpose to UNMIK representatives' insistence that the employees leave the
court building before dialogue could begin.
"I don't see the purpose of such a request, in our opinion it is another
form of pressure on the court employees because we assume that after leaving
the building things would probably remain as they were before," said
Bigovic. He added that the employees intended to repeat their call for
negotiations with UNMIK.
Bigovic told Belgrade media that none of the offices in the municipal and
district court building were opened, that they were not even entered and
that the court records are untouched.
Court employees of Serb nationality spent the second night in a row in the
court building in north Mitrovica, which they took over on Friday morning,
determined to stay there despite requests by UNMIK representatives to vacate
the premises.
Near the court building there are still members of UNMIK police from the
Ukraine and Poland fully equipped with anti-riot gear.
Representatives of the employees held a meeting yesterday with regional
UNMIK police commander David McLean (sp?) but failed to reach an agreement
on returning to the court building.
Until the arrival of UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo in 1999 approximately 200
Serbs were employed in the court system in Kosovska Mitrovica. Since
February 21 they have been protesting daily outside the building, asking to
return to the building.
This morning at 5:35 a.m. dozens of international police supported by KFOR
patrols forced their way into the municipal and district court building in
Kosovska Mitrovica and arrested 53 persons of Serb nationality.
"The arrested were taken to various police stations throughout Kosovo to
give statements on the crime of 'illegal usurpation of public buildings',"
said Kosovo police spokesman Besim Hoti.
He said that a group of Serbs "illegally occupied the courts building since
Friday, March 14, and that police had re-established control over this
building without excessive use of force".
He added that during the operation to arrest the group of Serbs no one was
injured nor did they resist arrest.
The Serbs attacked the convoy of UN vehicles transporting the arrested from
the court in Kosovska Mitrovica, after which several of those arrested
managed to escape, according to eyewitnesses quoted by Reuters.
UN and NATO forces used tear gas to disperse several hundred Serbs gathered
after the military takeover of the court, cars were set on fire in the city,
and international military forces put barricades on the roads.
The vehicles of the ambushed convoy were showered with rocks and fireworks,
and the cabin of one military vehicle was set on fire.
The group of Serbs who blocked the way of international police vehicles
transporting the arrested former court employees in north Mitrovica managed
to free six of those arrested.
"They were pulled from the vehicle and it is only thanks to the
level-headedness of the police that no direct clash occurred," said Kosovo
police spokesman Besim Hoti.
Hoti said that multiple vehicles had been set on fire and warned that the
situation was alarming.
"International police is not using force for now but it is ready to respond
with force because the demonstrators are trying to break through the cordon
of UN police and KFOR and re-enter the court building," said Hoti.
Three international police and two members of KFOR were wounded this morning
at about 8:00 a.m. in an explosion in the north part of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Kosovo police spokesman Besim Hoti said that the injured were not in
life-threatening danger.
He said that three vehicles belonging to international forces had been
destroyed in clashes between Serb demonstrators and UN and NATO forces.
Hoti repeated that international forces would use force to prevent further
attacks on representatives of UNMIK and KFOR.
UNMIK police were ordered to withdraw from the north part of Kosovska
Mitrovica because of protests by the Serb populations which had escalated
into riots, reported Reuters, citing UN sources in Pristina.
The spokesman of French forces said that NATO forces in the north part of
the city had come under automatic gun fire.
By mid-morning, eight French and 13 Polish members of NATO and UN forces had
been injured in the disturbances in Kosovska Mitrovica.
French contingent spokesman Etienne de Fourier (sp?) told Reuters that the
troops were showered with rocks and Molotov cocktails but that their
injuries were not life-threatening.
The spokesman of the Polish forces in UNMIK, Marecz Sokolovski (sp?), said
that 13 Polish police had been injured but that their injuries were not
life-threatening.
Milan Ivanovic, director of the hospital in Kosovska Mitrovica, said that
more than 100 people had sought assistance due to the use of tear gas.
As clashed continued, the total number of injured Serbs in Kosovska
Mitrovica soon exceeded 50. Some 20 people suffering from gunshot and
shrapnel wounds were transferred to hospitals in central Serbia, two of them
with life-threatening injuries.
KFOR deployed additional troops in the attempt to establish control over
this part of the territory, and all access routes to the city were blocked.
Kosovo police spokesman Besim Hoti reported that 25 international police and
eight members of KFOR sustained injuries of some degree.
He said that KFOR had assumed control of the north part of the city and was
not allowing anyone to enter or leave the city.
"The command of international and Kosovo police has asked KFOR to assume
control of public law and order in the north part of the city. At the same
time, the international police has issued an order for withdrawal of
international police and members of the Kosovo Police Service from the
streets in north Mitrovica," emphasized Hoti.
He said that the situation in other municipalities in north Kosovo was calm.
"Kosovo and international police are regularly carrying out their duties
while on the roads leading to north Kosovo additional police have been
deployed in accordance with the first stage of security measures applied
after this morning's disturbances in Mitrovica," said Hoti.
The situation in the north part of Kosovska Mitrovica calmed down but
remained very tense, said Kosovo Police Service spokesman Veton Elshani.
He said that 32 people were detained of the 53 arrested this morning in a
military operation in the court building in Kosovska Mitrovica.
"The matter is being handled by international judges and prosecutors who
have issued an order to detain the arrested persons for 24 hours," added
Elshani.
During the course of transferring the arrested from north Kosovska Mitrovica
to Pristina, demonstrators blocked the column of automobiles and freed 21
people.
After the withdrawal of international and Kosovo police from the north part
of Kosovska Mitrovica, KFOR troops have assumed control of the city and
blocked it off.
There are armored KFOR transporters in front of the court building.
Two seriously injured Serbs have been transferred to hospitals in Belgrade
and Kragujevac, while some 15 civilians with gunshot or shrapnel wounds have
been hospitalized in Kosovska Mitrovica.
Twenty-five members of international police and eight members of KFOR have
been wounded, and two UNMIK vehicles and three KFOR vehicles were destroyed.
Serbs asking to return to their jobs who had occupied the court building in
Kosovska Mitrovica since March 14 were arrested in a military operation by
UN and NATO forces.
Serb officials have sharply condemned the use of force by international
forces in north Kosovska Mitrovica on the anniversary of the day when
Albanians four years ago killed eight Serbs, wounded several hundred more
and torched monasteries, churches and Serb households in the south Serbian
province.
Fourteen Ukrainian policemen were hurt, one of them seriously, stated
Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesman Yuri Lutshenko today.
"The demonstrators attacked a police station staffed by Ukrainian members of
the UN police mission. Fourteen have been injured, one is in serious
condition," said Lutshenko.
He added that some 20 French members of UNMIK were also injured in the same
attack.
Vladimir Adzic, director of the hospital in Kosovska Mitrovica, stated that
more than 70 people were hurt in clashes between Serbs and members of UNMIK
police and KFOR, 15 of whom remain hospitalized.
"Those seriously injured have been hospitalized with the great majority of
them suffering from gunshot wounds," said Adzic.
He said that Ilija Cuca had been transferred for treatment to Belgrade due
to a serious eye injury, and Nebojsa Vukmanovic was sent to hospital in
Kragujevac with a head injury. Also seriously wounded were Dragoljub
Krstovicic and Perica Vukasinovic, both suffering from gunshot wounds by
snipers.
Operations are underway in Mitrovica Hospital on the seriously wounded.
Albanian language media are reporting that among the several dozen wounded
members of UN and NATO forces, eight people are seriously injured.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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