|
June 5,
2003
ERP KIM Newsletter
05-O6-03
CONTENTS:
AFP: THREE SERBS MURDERED IN KOSOVO: UN
BETA: COVIC TALKS WITH RELATIVES OF MURDERED STOLIC FAMILY
BETA: BOZOVIC - MURDER BRINGS BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS INTO
QUESTION
B92: SERB FAMILY MURDERED IN KOSOVO
FONET: BELGRADE DEMANDS ACTION ON SERB MURDER IN KOSOVO -
SERBS PROTEST TO COVIC
SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER
CALLS FOR RESPONSIBILITY OF KOSOVO'S INTERIM INSTITUTIONS
REUTERS: THREE SERBS DIE
IN WORST KOSOVO ATTACK SINCE 2001
More News
Available on our:
KOSOVO DAILY
NEWS LIST (KDN)
KDN Archive
This newsletter is available on our
ERP KIM Web-site:
/erpkiminfo.html
THREE SERBS MURDERED IN KOSOVO: UN
"This is a heinous act, a
perfidious crime which was directed against multi-ethnicity in Kosovo,"
Steiner told the gathering, which booed him.
TOP
Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Date: 4 Jun 2003
OBILIC, Serbia-Montenegro, June 4 (AFP) - An elderly Serb couple and their
son were axed to death and their house was set on fire Wednesday in one of
the worst incidents of violence in Kosovo in recent months, a United
Nations official said.
Slobodan Stolic, 80, his wife Radmila, 78, and their son Ljubinko, 53,
were murdered in their house at Obilic, some 15 kilometers (nine miles)
northwest of the Kosovo capital Pristina around 2:30 am (0030 GMT), UN
spokesman Andrea Angeli said.
The house was then set alight by the unknown attackers, he said.
The murders came hours before the European Union's foreign policy chief,
Javier Solana, was due to arrive in the southern Serbian province in an
apparent bid to win support for a meeting of Serb and Albanian leaders at
an upcoming EU summit in Greece this month.
The violence is likely to further fuel the deep animosity between the two
communities and complicate UN efforts to find political common ground
between the Albanian government in Kosovo and the Serbian authorities in
Belgrade.
UN mission chief Michael Steiner and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian prime
minister, Bajram Rexhepi, rushed to the town after news of the attack
reached Pristina. They were jeered by a crowd of angry Serbs.
"This is a heinous act, a perfidious crime which was directed against
multi-ethnicity in Kosovo," Steiner told the gathering, which booed him.
"We need justice here and to find those who are responsible," he added,
promising to set up a special UN police task force to investigate the
murders.
Rexhepi condemned the slaughter as a "base and barbaric act." Beta news
agency reported that Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic was also
on his way here Wednesday.
Kosovo has been under UN control since the end of a NATO bombing campaign
in June 1999 which forced Belgrade forces to withdraw from the southern
Serbian province and end a brutal crackdown on the Albanian majority.
Hundreds of Serbs and non-Albanians have been killed or have gone missing
since the end of the war, while more than 200,000 Serbs have fled the
province fearing reprisals from Albanian extremists.
Serbs accuse the UN of bias toward the Albanians and of failing to provide
security for the return of the refugees.
Novica Stolic, a cousin of the slain family, said the murders highlighted
the ineffectiveness of UN and NATO security for the targeted minority.
"There were threats last night made against the family and pressure from
Albanians for the family to leave Obilic," Stolic said.
"Earlier Molotov cocktails were thrown at the house and their car was
stolen. It just goes to show the lack of security."
But Angeli said it was too early to say whether the murder was motivated
by ethnic hatred.
"It's a murder and we are still investigating this horrendous crime," he
said, adding that "a large crowd of Serbs has gathered in Obilic and they
are very nervous."
Nenad Radosavljevic, a Serbian advisor to Steiner for minority and refugee
issues, told B92 radio in Belgrade that there could be no doubt that the
murders were a hate crime.
He said the UN, NATO and Albanian authorities in Kosovo must bear the
responsibility.
"I will demand the suspension of all local authorities in Kosovo and the
introduction of an absolute protectorate. I will also ask for the
resignation of Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi," he said.
The mayor of Obilic, local police leaders and the commanders of NATO
peacekeepers in central Kosovo should also resign, he said.
"Somebody has to bear responsibility for this," Radosavljevic said.
TOP
COVIC TALKS WITH RELATIVES
OF MURDERED STOLIC FAMILY
Obilic residents complained
of exceptionally poor security conditions and told Covic of the horrors
they endured during the last four years, since the arrival of the
international missions in Kosovo.
TOP
Beta
News Agency, Belgrade
June 4, 2003
Covic talks with relatives of murdered Stolic family
OBILIC, 4 June 2003 - Serbian deputy premier and head of the Coordinating
Center for Kosovo and Metohija Nebojsa Covic arrived early this afternoon
in Obilic to talk with close relatives of the three murdered members of
the Stolic family.
Covic insisted on speaking with the relatives of the Stolices, whose
bodies were found this morning in their burned house, without the presence
of media.
Prior to this, he spoke with Serbs who gathered in front of the Stolic
house to protest the triple murder.
Obilic residents complained of exceptionally poor security conditions and
told Covic of the horrors they endured during the last four years, since
the arrival of the international missions in Kosovo.
The gathered Serbs also fiercely criticized the government in Belgrade and
expressed their dissatisfaction with its treatment of Kosovo.
Locals also spoke with Covic regarding poor economic conditions and
informed him that some of the elderly had not received their pensions for
some time nor any other form of assistance. Covic told them to make a list
and submit it to his office by 10:00 hours tomorrow.
Arriving with Covic in Obilic were Return Coalition (Povratak) deputies in
the Kosovo parliament and members of the Coordinating Center Oliver
Ivanovic, Gojko Savic and pathologist Dr. Slavisa Dobricanin, who is also
the head of the Bureau for Exhumations and Identification.
The three members of the Stolic family in Obilic, an elderly couple and
their middle aged son, were murdered on Wednesday morning in their house
in Obilic. Immediately afterward the house was set on fire. It is
suspected that the reason for this was to create the impression that the
Stolices died in the fire.
The exterior of the house is not very damaged; however, the interior is
completely burned. There was no electricity at the time the fire broke out
and locals therefore exclude the possibility that the fire occurred as a
result of a short circuit or bad wiring.
Relatives say that they saw knife wounds on the body of 50 year-old
Ljubinko Stolic in the area of the heart; a broken arm and fracture of the
right temple.
Slobodan and Radmila Stolic, both about 80 years old, were killed with
blunt objects by blows to the nape of the neck, said the relatives, who
were allowed to enter the house and see the bodies of the murdered persons
but only after gather Serbs clashed with members of the Kosovo Police
Service.
KPS officers previously had blocked off the Stolic yard and refused to
allow the relatives to enter the house.
After the intervention of UNMIK police, the three closest relatives of the
deceased were allowed to see the bodies.
TOP
BOZOVIC: MURDER BRINGS BASIC
HUMAN RIGHTS INTO QUESTION
The
treacherous and ethnically motivated multiple murder of the Stolics brings
the realization of basic human rights of non-Albanians in Kosovo and
Metohija into question: the right to freedom of life, security and freedom
of movement, which have been tragically lacking since the deployment of
international civil and military missions in the region.
TOP
Beta
News Agency, Belgrade
June 4, 2003
BELGRADE, 4 June 2003 - Vladimir Bozovic, the head of the Judicial and
Human Rights Department of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and
Metohija, most strongly condemned the vile murder of the Stolic family
today.
In his statement Bozovic said that the treacherous and ethnically
motivated multiple murder of the Stolics brings the realization of basic
human rights of non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija into question: the
right to freedom of life, security and freedom of movement, which have
been tragically lacking since the deployment of international civil and
military missions in the region.
The return of expelled and displaced persons is being discouraged by the
extremist behavior of the dominant ethnic group in Kosovo and the symbolic
reactions of international factors [to the perpetration of violence], it
is said in the statement.
The statement goes on to express the hope that responsible UNMIK police
and judicial officials, who much react energetically and without delay,
will find the perpetrators of this serious and odious crime and bring them
to justice.
TOP
SERB
FAMILY MURDERED IN KOSOVO
"The murder of the
Stolic family confirms the bitter truth that Serb status in Kosovo remains
unchanged for four years, and that the drop in the number of crimes
committed is only a consequence of the Serbs' even greater isolation, who
stick to their enclaves and protected zones".
TOP
B92,
Belgrade
June 04, 2003
OBILIC -- Wednesday – a Kosovo-Serb family was murdered in their Obilic
home near Pristina last night, prompting an extreme reaction from UNMIK’s
chief advisor for minorities and returnees.
Fire fighters discovered the bodies of Slobodan Stolic, his wife Radmila
and son Ljubinko after managing to extinguish a fire in the modest house.
It has been established that the three were already dead before the fire
was set and the family car stolen. An investigation is now underway.
UNMIK Chief Michael Steiner has also arrived on the scene, accompanied by
heavily armed police and KFOR troops.
Reacting to news of the murders, UNMIK advisor for minorities and
returnees, Nenad Radosavljevic said that he would request the complete
suspension of all powers of temporary institutions and the re-introduction
of a full protectorate status for Kosovo.
Speaking to B92 and condemning the murders in the strongest possible
terms, Radosavljevic continued: "I will also ask for Kosovo First Minister
Bajram Rexhepi to resign".
He said: "I cannot bring back the lost lives, but I will insist on the
dismissal and responsibility of the mayor, the municipal administrator and
the Obilic chief of police and KFOR commander for central Kosovo".
Insisting that "someone has to answer for this", Radosavljevic explained:
"I have been warning for days of the strong resistance and ties between
the Albanian politicians and Albanians who have appropriated the assets of
displaced people, but everyone has turned a deaf ear to this".
A Serb National Council of Kosovo delegation has also arrived in the town
to learn details of the crime. Lead by Randjel Nojkic, they insisted that
local Serbs are understandably very upset and worried by this latest
atrocity.
Issuing a joint statement, the Serb National Council of Kosovo and the
Serbian Orthodox Church’s Raska-Prizren diocese said:
"This heinous murder of innocent civilians is just one more in a series of
crimes that the Albanian extremists and terrorists use to expel the
remaining Serbs in Kosovo.
"There are around twenty Serb families left in Obilic. They have been
exposed for months to systematic terror, grenade and arson attacks."
The statement adds: "The murder of the Stolic family confirms the bitter
truth that Serb status in Kosovo remains unchanged for four years, and
that the drop in the number of crimes committed is only a consequence of
the Serbs' even greater isolation, who stick to their enclaves and
protected zones".
The Serbian Government has since announced that PM Zoran Zivkovic has
condemned the murder and requested that the responsiblity of temporary
self-government be established in Kosovo.
The government statement reads: "The monstrous torture, plundering and
burning of three people just because they continued to live in their house
is a great loss and a threat to all Serbs and all other citizens of Kosovo
that the extremists have pointed their finger at".
The PM is to propose to the appropraite Serbian and state union bodies
that responsible, autonimous, temporary institutions be established in the
southern province, insisting that the number of Serbs killed and incidents
of violence and destruction are increasing with the transfer of powers to
temporary Albanian-run institutions.
The daming statement adds: "The establishing of responsibility is also
necessary because of the fact that, despite all the more frequent grave
crimes and the increasing number of people killed, the UN Secretary
General's special representative continues to present his disastrous
results as successful, and plays at forming an independent state in Kosovo
by transferring the powers".
TOP
BELGRADE DEMANDS ACTION ON SERB MURDER IN KOSOVO
Belgrade’s Kosovo
Coordination Centre today demanded an urgent response from UN police and
judicial organs to the murder of a Serb family by Albanian extremists
yesterday.
TOP
FoNet, Belgrade
June 4, 2003
BELGRADE -- Wednesday – Belgrade’s Kosovo Coordination Centre today
demanded an urgent response from UN police and judicial organs to the
murder of a Serb family by Albanian extremists yesterday.
The Centre condemned the slaying as "disgusting", saying that it had
reopened the issue of the non-Albanian population’s basic human rights.
It also warned that the half-hearted reaction of international
peacekeepers was not conducive to the return of refugees and displaced
people.
Serbs protest to Covic
OBILIC -- Wednesday – The head of Belgrade’s Kosovo Coordination Centre,
Nebojsa Covic, arrived in Obilic today to a storm of protest from local
Serbs over security conditions in the province.
He had earlier spoken to Serbs gathered outside the house of the Stolic
family, three members of which were discovered murdered after a fire
destroyed their house.
The Serbs told Covic that they had been living in horror since the arrival
of international peacekeepers in the province.
They also protested strongly about the attitude of the Serbian government
to Kosovo.
TOP
SERBIAN
PRIME MINISTER CALLS FOR RESPONSIBILITY OF KOSOVO'S INTERIM INSTITUTIONS
Zivkovic will propose to all Serbian and state union institutions in
charge to call for the responsibility of Kosovo's interim institutions as
well as those in charge in the international administration, as the
shifting of competencies to the interim institutions is being followed by
a rise in the number of Serbs killed, increased violence and destruction,
and attempts to create an independent state in Kosovo-Metohija.
TOP
http://www.serbia.sr.gov.yu/news/2003-06/04/329498.html
SERBIAN GOVERNMENT
June 04, 2003
Belgrade, June 4, 2003 - Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic condemned
on Wednesday the crime committed against the Stolic family from Obilic and
extended condolences to their relatives and friends as well as the Serb
community in Kosovo-Metohija.
On Wednesday morning, Slobodan, Radmila, and Ljubinko Stolic were killed
in their home in Obilic. The perpetrators then set fire to the house to
destroy the traces of the crime.
Zivkovic will propose to all Serbian and state union institutions in
charge to call for the responsibility of Kosovo's interim institutions as
well as those in charge in the international administration, as the
shifting of competencies to the interim institutions is being followed by
a rise in the number of Serbs killed, increased violence and destruction,
and attempts to create an independent state in Kosovo-Metohija, reads a
statement.
The frequency of such crimes is endangering the peace in the province as
well as the stability of the entire region, the Prime Minister said in the
statement, adding that it is necessary to change the approach to the
Kosovo problem and assign the jurisdiction over that process to serious
international officials.
There are some 20 Serb families in Obilic, with limited freedom of
movement.
TOP
THREE
SERBS DIE IN WORST KOSOVO ATTACK SINCE 2001
TOP
REUTERS
Wed June 4, 2003 07:37 AM ET
By Shaban Buza
OBILIC, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - A family of three Serbs were
murdered in a Kosovo town overnight in the worst single attack against the
small Serb minority in over two years, United Nations police said
Wednesday.
The province's U.N. administrator said the killings were clearly aimed at
stopping reconciliation between Serbs and the ethnic Albanian majority.
"This is a triple murder, a deliberate killing," U.N. police spokesman
Derek Chappell told Reuters. It was the heaviest toll in ethnic violence
since 11 Serbs were killed in a bomb attack on a bus in February 2001.
The bodies of an elderly man, his wife and son were found after firemen
were called out in the middle of the night to a blaze in the town of
Obilic, not far from the capital, Pristina.
"The people were attacked as they were lying in bed in the middle of the
night. These people died as a result of a brutal beating, not a fire,"
Chappell said.
U.N. police sources added that the victims bore extensive injuries
inflicted by a sharp object.
U.N. administrator for Kosovo Michael Steiner, visiting the scene, called
the attack a "heinous act and perfidious crime which was directed against
multi-ethnicity in Kosovo."
Kosovo has been an international protectorate since NATO bombing drove out
Serb forces in 1999 to end Serbian repression of Albanians. Most Serbs
fled the province fearing reprisals and there has been sporadic violence
against those who remain.
Attacks were commonplace in the aftermath of the 1999 war but had become
much rarer as the U.N., a NATO-led peace force and local leaders combined
to demand an end to the violence. "This is a barbarous act and we strongly
demand that those who committed it be brought to justice as soon as
possible," Kosovo's Albanian Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi said.
"Just at the moment when we were preparing for the return of 20 Serbian
families to Obilic, a cruel act has taken place before this very important
day for Kosovo."
Steiner and Rexhepi tried to enter the partly destroyed house but were
prevented by an angry crowd of Serbs, including relatives of the victims.
Chappell said police and firemen had found the bodies of the husband, 80,
the wife, 78, and their son, 53. "They are all Kosovo Serbs," he said.
Rada Trajkovic of the Kosovo Serb Return Coalition identified them as
Slobodan and Radmila Stolic and their son Ljubinko. Local residents said
Albanians in Obilic had demanded several times that the family sell their
house.
TOP
ERP KIM
Info-Service is the official Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox
Diocese of Raska and Prizren and works with the blessing of His Grace
Bishop Artemije.
Our Information Service is distributing news on Kosovo related issues. The
main focus of the Info-Service is the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church
and the Serbian community in the Province of Kosovo and Metohija. ERP KIM
Info Service works in cooperation with
www.serbian-translation.com as well as the
Kosovo
Daily News (KDN) News List
Disclaimer:
The views expressed by the authors of newspaper articles or other texts
which are not official communiqués or news reports by the Diocese are
their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Serbian
Orthodox Church
If you received this
message by error or you don`t want to receive our e-mails anymore, please
write to us: erpkim@kosovo.net
Our Newsletters are
available on our ERP KIM Info-service Web-Page:
/erpkiminfo.html
Additional
information on our Diocese and the life of the Kosovo Serb Community may
be found at:
Copyright 2003, ERP KIM Info-Service
|
