Kosova Daily Report #1400, 98-04-14

Kosovo Information Center: Kosova Daily Report Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Kosova Information Center <http://www.kosova.com/>

Kosova Information Center

KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1400

Prishtina, 14 April 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Heavy Blasts and Shooting Reported in a Prishtina Quarter Monday Night

[02] Serb-Speaking Men Abduct Kosovar Albanian Student in Mitrovica

[03] Mounting Serb Repression in Klina Municipality

[04] Serbian Police Prevent Farmers from Working in Their Fields in Kijeva

[05] Increased Serbian Police Persecution in Fush& Kosova

[01] Heavy Blasts and Shooting Reported in a Prishtina Quarter Monday Night

Some residents of the neighborhood told KIC this morning that heavy blasts were heard twice around midnight last night in the close vicinity or inside the compounds of the police station itself. Fire arms shootings were heard soon, they said.

Serb police forces in several cars and an armored vehicle were seen reaching the police station in Kodra e Trimave a short while later, residents said. The police kept the whole neighborhood sealed off until morning hours. The armored vehicle which roamed the area during the whole course of the night was seen entering the police station compounds in the morning.

Quoting Serb police sources, a couple of foreign news agencies spoke of an alleged attack on the police station in Kodra e Trimave in Prishtina. Three hand grenades were tossed at the police station leaving one policemen slightly wounded, agencies said.

Kodra e Trimave quarter is a large neighborhood in northern part of Kosova's capital, overwhelmingly Albanian-inhabited. So is the area around the Serb police station.

Some witnesses said it was rather indicative that the incident occurred last night for the area had been cut off electricity supply since 3 o'clock in afternoon yesterday, when an electricity post was blown down by strong winds. The electricians team, which arrived in the scene, failed to restore the post, leaving the neighborhood in dark, witnesses said.

Some Albanian residents of the Kodra e Trimave neighborhood said that for over a month now heads of families living around the Serb police station have been removing their families during the night fearing possible incidents.

[02] Serb-Speaking Men Abduct Kosovar Albanian Student in Mitrovica

The LDK Information Commission in Mitrovica said three Serb- speaking men abducted Avdi Loshi in the town centre in Mitrovica around 16:30 Monday. The men who got off a Zastava made car only asked Avdi Loshi about his name, and forced him into their car immediately, the Commission quoted witnesses as saying.

College mates of Avdi Loshi have reportedly hired a lawyer to make inquires with the Serb authorities about his whereabouts. So far they could not learn a thing about his fate, sources in Mitrovica said.

[03] Mounting Serb Repression in Klina Municipality

The Serb police at the Dollc check-point beat severely an Albanian student of the Klina secondary school, Petrit Rexha, just because he could not speak Serbian language. The Serbian police also beat severely the principal of the local primary school in Dollc, Ded& Grabanica. He was told he would have to cease his educational activities with, as they put it, "the illegal schools of Rugova".

Sunday evening, the Serbian police in Klina beat severely Arif Ymeri, a local LDK activist.

Meanwhile, sources in Klina said a Serb resident of Klina, Sasa Vestic, attacked the family of Bardhec Simoni. He also hit his elderly parents Marjan and Tane Simonaj.

[04] Serbian Police Prevent Farmers from Working in Their Fields in Kijeva

The police have forced all Albanian families who had settled in the town over the last fifteen years flee their homes. They too have threatened several Albanian families living near the police check- point, telling them leave their homes and go to Albania - "where they belong!".

The teachers and students of the local secondary and primary schools have borne the brunt of Serb police persecution. Teachers from outside Kijeva have been ill-treated and threatened on several occasions, and they are no longer allowed to go to work.

Another threat comes from the small Serb minority living in town.

At least thirty men of Serb origin have worn police uniforms and collude with Serb special forces deployed in the area. Serb families have been armed heavily, too.

The Serbian police has ordered the Albanian owner of "Llapashtica" flour factory to close it down ("for security reasons") and demanded that he hand over the keys of the building. This five- stored building is now being used by Serb forces to control the area.

[05] Increased Serbian Police Persecution in Fush& Kosova

The Serbian police have been targeting the Albanian-owned private buses. Bus drivers are being forced to pay large fines. Many of them have had the license plates seized by police.

The passengers are being routinely harassed, even ordered to get off the buses and find alternative transportation means, LDK sources said.

Kosova Information Center

Kosovo Information Center: Kosova Daily Report Directory - Previous Article - Next Article