ELDERLY SERBS ATTACKED IN PEC
A mob of 600 Albanians attacked a bus with elderly Serbs
with stones and Molotov cocktails and classhed with UN Police and NATO
peacekeepers
Several policemen and elderly Serbs
injured
First investigation reports say that the attack may have been organized beforehand because Molotov-cocktails were ready for the attack
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COMMUNIQUE OF THE DIOCESE OR RASKA AND PRIZREN AND THE SERB NATIONAL COUNCIL OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA Gracanica, October 11, 2002 The Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren and the Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija most strongly condemn yesterday's attack by over 600 Albanians with stones and Molotov cocktails against a bus transporting elderly Serbs from the nearby village of Osojane to Pec where they were to receive social assistance payments and pensions from UNMIK. Even though the bus was under the military protection of Spanish KFOR soldiers, the Albanian masses broke all the windows on the bus and injured several of the passengers. After the Serbs were sheltered in the building of the UN Mission, the Albanians continued to stone the UN police and KFOR until the intervention of a special riot squad broke up the crowd with tear gas. The Serbs were evacuated after two hours of siege in the UN building. According to information from Osojane, three Serbs were seriously injured while others sustained less serious injuries. Official UN Mission spokespersons have confirmed that several policemen were also injured in clashes with the Albanians. According to the innitial information the attack was planned beforehand because the rioters had their Molotov cocktails ready. This latest attack on Serb residents of Kosovo and Metohija and international forces clearly shows that three full years after the war in Kosovo and Metohija there is still no freedom of movement or security for the Serb population. Only two months ago Albanians armed with guns attacked a group of Serbs and KFOR soldiers in the nearby village of Gorazdevac, which represents an alarming signal to the international community that its policies towards Albanian extremism in the southern Serbian province must be changed urgently. Tolerating extremist and radical leaders and their armed paramilitary groups which are constantly encouraging violence toward Serbs are increasingly pushing Kosovo and Metohija towards ethnic violence and collective lynchings of the helpless Serb population. Such incidents seriously undermine the confidence of the Serbs in Kosovo institutions and even further discourage the Serb population from participating in upcoming local elections. As long as still armed Albanian extremists continue their unobstructed activities, Kosovo institutions represent only a fa�ade of false and nonexistent democracy in which Serbs cannot participate. The Diocese of Raska and Prizren and the Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija therefore appeal to the UN Mission and KFOR to undertake as sson as possible concrete and firm measures for the protection of the remaining Serb population from Albanian violence and to enable the building of Serb institutions in enclaves where Serbs live by adopting the decentralization program for the Province. It is absolutely immoral to insist on Serb participation in joint Kosovo institutions as long as ethnic discrimination and violence against the Serb population reign throughout the Province. |
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