Serbian Protests in Kosovo Province Continue
Kosovo Serb police officers demand to be placed under direct UNMIK command. Feb. 29, 2008, Gracanica, Serbia.
Kosovo Serb Policemen Stage Protest in Strpce
While Kosovo Serb students have been protesting against the illegal proclamation by Pristina separatists for 12th day, along with their colleagues throughout Serbia, more protests were staged by the Kosovo Serb policemen, judges, prosecutors and judicial staff in the province.
Serbian policemen in the municipality of Strpce decided on Friday to join Kosovo Serb policemen from other Serbian enclaves in the province and refuse to obey the orders of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) headquarters in Pristina. Referring to UN Security Council Resolution 1244, they demand to cooperate only with the UNMIK police.
The commander of the police station in Strpce is in Urosevac, where he will present the decision of the Serb policemen to the KPS regional headquarters.
Unlike their fellow officers in other parts of Kosovo-Metohia province, the KPS Serb members in Strpce have not left the police building, where they are waiting for an UNMIK police official to address them.
Around 500 Serb policemen, members of the UNMIK-formed Kosovo Police Service, are protesting in southern Serbian province at the moment.
Kosovo Serb judges and prosecutors protest for 9th day, demanding to be allowed to return to work eight years after being forcefully replaced by NATO-picked Albanians. Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia
Serb Police Officers in Central Part of Kosovo Province Cut Ties with KPS
The Serb members of the KPS in the police stations in central part of Kosovo-Metohia province decided at 9 a.m. on Friday to refuse to follow the orders of the KPS Main Headquarters in Pristina, in protest against the unilateral proclamation by Pristina separatists.
A total of 126 policemen in uniform and 23 more in civil uniform, who came from Kosovop Polje, Obilic, Lipljan and other towns of central Kosovo, gathered outside the police station in Gracanica.
As Tanjug learned, the meeting between a delegation of the policemen and the UNMIK police commander on Friday ended without an agreement.
The main demand of the Serb police officers is that they will not work as members of the police of the so-called independent state of Kosovo, but to continue their engagement in the police only under the command of the UNMIK police.
Stojan Denic, a Police Captain from the region of town of Gnjilane, told KIM Radio that he and his colleagues were united and that they would not be reporting to work until their demands were met.
“We demand UNMIK accord us the same work conditions in the KPS as we had when we were first employed, otherwise we will form police sub-stations in Serb communities, where we will work independently,” Denic said.
No incidents have been registered in or around Gracanica, and there are no traffic problems on the road leading from Pristina to Gnjilane, which runs through Gracanica, the biggest Serb village in Kosovo.
Kosovo Serb students continue massive protests for the 12th day: march towards Ibar river bridge. Feb. 29, 2008, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia
Kosovo Serb Justice Staff Protests for Ninth Day
Serb justice employees in Kosovo-Metohia have requested from UNMIK representatives in the southern Serbian province to be allowed to return to work, under the provisions of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
“We don’t want animosity, but our patience is running out,” judicial staff said in front of the court gates in Kosovska Mitrovica, where they have been protesting for nine days.
As KFOR troops gather in ever greater numbers in front of the gates, armed with vehicles and riot gear, so too do the number of protestors from northern Kosovo.
They are there to lend their support to the judges, prosecutors and the staff employed in judicial institutions who were dismissed in August 1999, when NATO and UNMIK took over the security, administration and the judicial institutions in the Serbian province, replacing Serbian prosecutors and judges with the Albanian ones, regardless of their lack of training and experience in judicial work.
Religion Minister Radomir Naumov gave his backing to the demonstrators, stressing that Serbia would never recognize an amputated province of Kosovo and Metohia and that Serbian policy regarding the province was united.
Leposavic District Court President Bojana Trboljevac gave support to her colleagues, as did Milutin Milosavljevic and Slavica Janjicevic on behalf of Kosovska Mitrovica's judges.
Kosovo Serb judicial officials' protest will continue Monday, at 07:30 CET.
Explosion in Mitrovica Damages UNMIK Vehicles
A day before, around 7.45 pm Thursday an explosive device went off in the northern sector of Kosovska Mitrovica, between a police station and district and municipal court building.
Reportedly, no one was injured in the blast, which damaged several UNMIK vehicles.