Bishop Teodosije strongly denies the statement by the Council of Protection of Human Rights from Pristina which claims that there was no attack on the church in Obilic
The press release by the Council for protection of human rights and freedoms from Pristina in which it is said that there have been no attacks on this church since the March riots 2004 is a scandalous attempt to justify the violence against Christian sites in Kosovo. In fact, it is exactly this statement that contributes to "creation of atmosphere of hatred and intolerance". Instead to impartially get involved in documenting human rights abuses and struggling against ethnically and religiously motivated violence the Council is regrettably blatantly justifying attacks such as this one in Obilic and additionally compromises its reputation and name. Therefore the Church expects a public apology from the Council for this preposterous claim. At the same time we expect from international and Kosovo institutions not only verbal condemnations of this vandalism (because this will hardly change anything) but to do their best to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
KIM Info-service
Decani, June 19, 2006. god
Bishop Teodosije of Lipljan strongly condemned the statement by the Council for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms (CPHRF) from Pristina which claims that there had been no attack on the church of the Holy Virgin Mary (Theotokos) in Obilic after March riots 2004. The statement published yesterday by the CPHRF claims that the news on the vandalism in the Obilic church are "not true" and that "this was one more attempt by Serbian media to create atmosphere of fear, hatred and intolerance in Kosovo".
Bishop Teodosije, who is the member of the Reconstruction and Implementation Commmission led by the CoE gave the following statement for the media regarding the CPHRF statement:
"The most recent attack on the Serbian Orthodox church of the Holy Virgin (Theotokos) in Obilic really happened and we have confirmation for this and testimonies of several persons who saw the church after the attack and made photos on which crosses on lateral domes are not visible any more. Also additional damage is visible on the tin roof and the metal gutter. These photos have already been published by the KIM Info-service and other media. According to KIM Radio journalists they could still see the ladder which the attackers used to vandalize the church and take away the crosses. Serb representative from Obilic Mr. Mirce Jakovljevic confirmed the incident and called for concrete actions to prevent further attacks on Serbian property in Obilic municipality.
I am the SOC member of the Reconstruction and Implementation Commission (RIC) which is coordinating the process of reconstruction of Serbian Orthodox sites damaged in March riots 2004. The church in Obilic is on the list of these sites (by mistake it is attributed on the list to Archangel Michael). The RIC is in possession of many photos of this church. In autumn 2005. repairs were made on the church in RIC organization by TRIOKORP company. The supervisors of the works were Zoran Garic and Nijazi Haliti, both members of the RIC. It was planned that the church yard should also be fenced and quite logically there were no plans for placing the new crosses because they were never removed during. A series of photos made after the riots in March 2004, and particularly in autumn 2005 show very clearly that the crosses on lateral domes were in place until this most recent attack. Therefore the statements that the crosses were allegedly taken away and destroyed in March riots 2004 and that there has been no attacks on the church recently are simply untrue.
The press release by the Council for protection of human rights and freedoms from Pristina in which it is said that there have been no attacks on this church since the March riots 2004 is a scandalous attempt to justify the violence against Christian sites in Kosovo. In fact, it is exactly this statement that contributes to "creation of atmosphere of hatred and intolerance". Instead to impartially get involved in documenting human rights abuses and struggling against ethnically and religiously motivated violence the Council is regrettably blatantly justifying attacks such as this one in Obilic and additionally compromises its reputation and name. Therefore the Church expects a public apology from the Council for this preposterous claim. At the same time we expect from international and Kosovo institutions not only verbal condemnations of this vandalism (because this will hardly change anything) but to do their best to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
I am taking this opportunity, with regret I must admit, to say that the last year's attacks on the Church of the Holy Virgin of Ljevis in Prizren have not only remained at large and unpunished but the alleged KPS investigation dismissed the entire case with a totally unconvincing explanation that 150 square meters of the lead roof from this 14th century Cathedral were removed "by children". From well informed international sources, which shared the information with us under the request of anonymity, the theft of the lead roof in Prizren was organized by a local company which has "powerful protectors" among some Kosovo authorities and that the stolen lead was immediately after sold in Albania. Such irresponsible behavior of local institutions and the KPS in Prizren is hardly contributing to the better future of Kosovo".
Bishop Teodosije announced that he would inform the RIC personally with this latest attack on the church in Obilic and ask what UNMIK and Kosovo institutions may do in order to prevent further destruction of Serbian Orthodox sites in Kosovo.
THE PRESENT SITUATION - NO CROSSES ARE VISIBLE ON LATERAL DOMES
View from the eastern side - two back lateral domes without crosses are clearly visible
(click to enlarge)
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY VIRGIN IN NOVEMBER 2005
(On this photo taken by the Commission for reconstruction of SOC holy sites in Kosovo one can see that crosses on lateral domes are still standing)
Church of the Birth of the Holy Virgin in Obilic (November 2005)
Another photo of the church from November 2005. The photo is taken
from the front side. Crosses on front lateral domes are standing. The new door
placed by the Commission for reconstruction in November 2005 is visible too.
Council for protection of human rights from Pristina - The church is not vandalized
PRISTINA, June 19, 2006. (Beta News Agency)
The Council for protection of human rights and freedoms from Pristina (CPHRF) advised today that the information on vandalizing of the Orthodox church in Obilic "are not true".
In the statement of the Council in which the last week's attack on two British tourists in the village of Babaloc (Decani Municipality) is condemned, it is said that the news on the attack on the Orthodox church in Obilic "is a part of the false information campaign of Serbian media".
"The false information by media in Serbian language, which were hastely and without confirmation of the true situation carried in public are one more attempt of these media to create an atmosphere of fear, hatred and intolerance in Kosovo, particularly in settlements inhabited by Serbian population", it is said in the statement.
It is further said in the CPHRF statement that "this is not the first time that the public is falselly informed by inventing attacks and alleged damage, or by prejudicing suspicious cases and their motives".
The Council emphasised that the Orthodox church in Obilic was damaged during the March riots in 2004 and that "after that no vandalism has occurred".
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