Ramush Haradinaj Indicted

Pristina, 13 Aug (B92) - UNMIK spokesperson Andrea Angeli announced that an international prosecutor from Kosovo has raised charges against Ramush Haradinaj, for posing a threat to public safety.
The charges stem from a July 2000 incident were Haradinaj is accused of involvement in an exchange of fire with members of the Musaj family, who supported the political opposition of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), of which Haradinaj is President. The Musaj family also implicates Haradinaj in the disappearance of their family members.

Pristina, 13 Aug (BBC) - A senior ethnic Albanian Kosovo politician has been charged by a UN court for violent behavior.
Ramush Haradinaj, a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), is accused along with five others of being involved in a shooting dating back almost two years.
The indictment comes two months ahead of local elections.
Mr. Haradinaj is one of Kosovo's most high-profile politicians and the leader of the province's third-largest ethnic Albanian party.

Rrustem "Remi" Mustafa Arrested

Rrustem "Remi" Mustafa, left, former senior commander of Kosovo rebels, speaks with the Commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps, Agim Ceku, during a ceremony for the anniversary of NATO troops entering Kosovo in Pristina in this June 11, 2000 file photo. Mustafa, an ethnic Albanian, was arrested in the provincial capital, Pristina, in an operation led by U.N. police, Sunday Aug. 11, 2002 for allegedly torturing and murdering at least five captives, officials said. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu, File) text by Yahoo

INTERNATIONAL PRESS REPORTS:

Kosovo Post-war Cleansing of Minorities

US Senate, Republican Committee: UCK "From 'Terrorists' to 'Partners'"

UCK Fundraising and Drug Ties

Extremists and their financial sources

URGENT - Albanian Institutions Continue with Repression Against Serbian Monastery

LOCAL COURT IN DECANI ILLEGALLY TAKES AWAY MONASTERY LAND

Judge Haki Balaj "annuls" decision of the Serbian Government

Visoki Decani, August 9, 2002

On Friday, August 2, 2002, after nine consecutive sessions the muncipal court in Decani, with Judge Haki Balaj presiding, annulled the decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia from 1997 returning to the Monastery of Visoki Decani a part of the land which was nationalized illegally and without compensation in 1946.

For more than three years there has been continuous pressure from the Decani municipality to deprive the monastery brethren of their right to use the land returned to the monastery by a special contract with the Government of the Republic of Serbia in 1997. This includes two land parcels totalling 23.45 hectares in immediately proximity to the monastery which were, together with 700 additional hectares of monastery property, illegally nationalized in 1946. For years the monastery unsuccessfully sought to correct this injustice and return at least a part of its property; however, the local authorities had simply distributed the greater part of the monastery land into the private hands of Albanians, who built their houses on it.

Built on the two above mentioned and now contested land parcels over time were the Visoki Decani Motel, in the forest immediately above the monastery, and "Apiko", a small honey-packing plant; both of these were abandoned and have been closed since the beginning of the 1990's. Finally in 1997 the monastery succeeded in getting these two land parcels and the buildings on them back from the Government of the Republic of Serbia. The contract with the Government of the Republic of Serbia was duly processed and recorded in all relevant land registry books, and the brethren began to use their property, which had belonged to the Monastery of Visoki Decani for centuries.

After the war the newly established Albanian municipal authorities immediately contested the decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and sought every possible means to take away this land from the monastery. In 2000, because of the firm position of the monastery brotherhood on the property issue, two mortar attacks were launched against the monastery in which, fortunately, no one was injured. KFOR secured all monastery property and UNMIK head Dr. Bernard Kouchner issued a special letter confirming the right of the monastery to use its own land. However, the municipal authorities pursued the matter and immediately filed a petition which has, in the meanwhile, been transferred to the district court in Pec, only to be bounced back to the municipal court in Decani. The monastery brotherhood did not attend hearings for the simple reason that the municipal court has no jurisdiction in this type of case and because it considered such acts on the part of local municipal authorities to be blatant examples of institutional repression.

The municipal court based its decision on unfounded facts and inaccurate information with the intent of proving the illegality of the decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. Special significance was given to UNMIK Regulation 1999/24, according to which all contracts concluded after March 22, 1989 are supposedly "illegal". The best evidence of the arbitrary interpretation of this regulation is the fact that the Albanians are not contesting any of the contracts concluded in the last ten years which are to their benefit.

The Monastery of Visoki Decani will seek protection from UNMIK from blatant institutional repression waged against the last remaining Serb enclave in Decani municipality. While hundreds of hectares of privately-held land owned by Serbs have been usurped by the Albanians and state-owned property is being illegally appropriated left and right, UNMIK must nevertheless seek to protect the legitimate rights of the monastery which desires to preserve its property and which is essential to its economic survival. The monastery will also officially seek the assistance of the Government of the Republic of Serbia which must not allow its decisions to be annulled by court institutions without jurisdiction or objectivity.

Information Service of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren
Kosovo and Metohija,

The campaigners condemned the UN for continuing to fund refurbishment of the institutions instead of integrating the patients into community care programmes, but the official said money was not available for such initiatives. In addition, the patients were mostly ethnic Serbs, while the surrounding community was mostly ethnic Albanian, and the patients might be "abused or killed" if released.

"This is not in any way to excuse the bad circumstances in the institutions, but it's not like New York or California." But the official agreed that many ethnic Albanian staff had "not been trained and probably [were] not very sympathetic" to the patients.

Mental Patients Were Even Sexually Abused by the Personnel

Two former patients there, along with a physician working for another organisation, were also threatened by a staff member to prevent them revealing that the staff member had had sexual relationships with the two patients, the report said.

Gracanica, August 8, 2002

On August 7 two Albanians beat up Slavisa Djokic from the settlement of Stara Kolonija in Novo Brdo municipality. Djokic was attacked while standing near his house and talking with a Serb neighbor. The attack occurred on the first day following the withdrawal of the KFOR checkpoint from Novo Brdo. Slavisa is one of the few remaining Serbs in Stara Kolonija and lives here with his children. He is an employee of the Gnjilane Forestry Office. The motives for the attack are unknown. A report was filed with UNMIK police and KFOR and an investigation is in progress.

The Serbian farmers from Novo Brdo area constantly complain that local Albanians keep stealing their cattle. Without cattle, which is the only source of income for the poor Serb farmers, some families have already left this area seeking better life in Central Serbia. All incidents are regularly reported to the UNMIK police but according to the local Serbs perpertrators are never found.

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KOHA DITORE PUBLISHES STATEMENT BY FAKE B92 REPORTER

Man presenting himself as a Radio B92 reporter claimed there is no discrimination in Kosovo

Gracanica, August 8, 2002

On August 6, 2002 the Albanian language dailies Koha Ditore, published by well-know Pristina publicist Veton Surroi, and Epoka i Re published the statement of someone called Nenad Stojkovic who presented himself as a reporter for Radio B92 in Belgrade. In his statement, published by the Albanian dailies, Stojkovic stated that he feels as at home in Kosovo as in his native Smederevo and that no one is provoking or insulting him. Stojkovic further stated that the Serb and Roma refugees from Kosovo and Metohija give an entirely different version of events in the Province than what he saw. "They think there is no life in Kosovo for anyone except the Albanians. However, I am convinced there is no discrimination here." Stojkovic adds that he was under pressure from the previous Milosevic regime for speaking the truth.

This statement by Mr. Stojkovic might have really served as an encouraging example and good news for all Serbs if the man had not falsely presented himself as a B92 reporter. The Information Service of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren contacted B92 and determined that there is no one named Nenad Stojkovic employed by this media corporation nor in any sort of relationship with it.

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K/ALBANIAN MAYOR OF KLINA SAYS SERB RETURNEES ARE NOT WELCOME IN HIS MUNICIPALITY

Survival of Serbs in the Klina region village of Bicha uncertain

Gracanica, August 8, 2002

In an article from August 8, 2002 the Albanian language daily Bota Sot published a public statement by Ramo Manaj, the mayor of Klina municipality, where he states that Serb returnees are not welcome as long as the issue of missing Albanians remains unresolved. According to Mr. Manaj, there are 135 of them missing just from this municipality. This statement is in blatant contrast with the official policy of the Kosovo Government which declared that Serb returns are welcome.

As in the past in Kosovo and Metohija, there are two versions of the story: one for the international community and Western media, and another for local Serbs whose lives are made miserable in every possible way. It remains to be seen how the first 15-odd Serbs in Bicha will survive surrounded by intolerant local Albanians. The UNMIK daily police report of August 8 confirmed that on this day three masked and armed Albanians intercepted the truck of a local Albanian transporting sand and gravel to be used for the restoration of Serb houses in Bicha. The truck driver was told that he would be killed if he continued assisting Serb returnees. The search for the masked men is still ongoing.