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CONTENTS: 31 October 2001 SMUGGLING IN FRONT OF THE EYES OF THE POLICE
Fifty plastic pipes are all that is needed to illegally transport oil across the border of Kosovo and Montenegro. The pipes were installed under Zhlepi Bridge and continue upto the village of Jabllanicë, which is 200 meters away from the border checkpoint of Kulla, which is under the supervision of KPS, UNMIK Police and Italian KFOR, reported Koha Ditore on page one and two. It was very easy to pass the Italian KFOR and the border checkpoint controlled by UNMIK Police and KPS. As the car entered the neutral zone, the unidentified source, who took Koha Ditore began saying how oil and other goods were being smuggled. "Oil tankers are located at the end of the neutral zone. The people sell a liter of oil for 70 Pfenning. People fill their tanks and head for Peja. They can do this several times a day," stressed the source and told the journalists to be careful while taking pictures because "these people are dangerous." People stood there making deals and a majority of the cars did not have license plates. "The first tanker comes in front of the Zhlepi Bridge and starts pumping oil into the pipeline, while another truck on the other side, at Jabllanica is connected to this pipe," said the source. He advised the journalists not to go to Jabllanica because it was impossible to find these pipes and no one would be willing to help due to the danger involved. According to the source, the other villages involved in smuggling were Radavci and Novosella. Many villagers are in one way or another involved in the smuggling. The Montenegrin policemen and the smugglers wait till night to come to start their illegal activities. "Usually they stand near the electricity pillars to be able to tip off each other in case the police is around," said the source, who claims that the smugglers are armed most of the times. According to him, cigarettes, beverages and even drugs are smuggled through various roads in the woods. Is the police aware of the pipes? UNMIK Policemen in Peja were not surprised to know about the pile under the bridge and asked for the pictures that were taken there. "We need facts and evidence in order to intervene," stressed an official. "We have been aware of the pipes for a year now. We do not know why the municipality did not react to it," stated UNMIK Police Official Yuriy Sachenko. According to the Customs official Bashkim Stavilevci, 736 cases of import duty evasion had been detected since the beginning of the year. "Out of this, 72 relate to smuggling of oil, in which cases under customs law are ongoing," stated Stavilevci. "The level of irregularity in the import of oil has decreased due to increased supervision during the past few months," stated Stavilevci. As far as smuggling through pipes is concerned, Stavilevci said, "customs officials are competent to deal with goods arriving through the customs points. KPS and the police are responsible for the other part." The customs terminal: "2-3 customs offenses per day" "We have heard about the pipes," said Chief of Customs in Peja Ekrem Hajdaraj. According to him, they immediately informed the police, but the police confirmed it as untrue. "The custom checkpoints are not in our competencies. We do not have the right to pass the line," stated Hajdaraj, adding that this is the job of KFOR and the police. Thereafter, Hajdaraj informed on the job of his customs officials. He informed on the implementation of a new supervision system in the customs checkpoint in Kulla. According to him, the offenses have decreased a great deal since then. KFOR: "come tomorrow because we do not have any interpreters today" Koha Ditore journalists were supposed to meet the Director of Information Office and MNB West Spokesman Colonel Catalano. However, but MNB West soldiers told journalists to "come tomorrow because we do not have any interpreters today." At around 1500 hours, they were told that the official had gone to buy something and probably won't be back for the day. This office has previously issued communiqués, according to which KFOR patrol units confiscated a large amount of illegal weapons that were about to enter Kosovo. "We are working for the security and stability of all citizens," it was said over and over. But there was no mention of the seven-kilometer long pipeline. One does not need a microscope to see these pipes; they are obvious.
According to Koha Ditore on page eight, Ombudsperson Marek Nowicki recommended UNMIK Administrator Hans Haekkerup to let Emrush Xhemajli, Gafurr Elshani and Sabit Gashi participate in the elections by 2 November. According to a communiqué issued by Nowicki, banning these men from the list of candidates running in the parliamentary elections is a violation of their right to participate in the election, which is guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. The communiqué added that by this date, Haekkerup must assure that the from LPK and LKÇK members will have the same status and guarantees as those who have never been illegally removed from the above mentioned list. Due to the executive order applied by Haekkerup, the above candidates have lost the right to run in the general elections in Kosovo. The decision was made official on 24 September, after three politicians from two political parties were put in George Bush's "black list". According to Nowicki, the executive order violates the fifth article of the European Convention on Human Rights. Thus the order should not be implemented, reported Koha Ditore. "The circumstances because of which we are participating in the elections is because of what the LPK did," stated Nezir Neziri in the electoral rally in Gjilan, reported Koha Ditore on page nine. LPK candidate Zijadin Hasani, introduced the party's program and said, "these are the first free legal elections because the previous ones that took place under Serbia's regime were only an imitation." "Although the OSCE keeps talking about the electoral campaign being fair and going well, the campaign has not been fair because OSCE is violating it by misusing its role. The participation in the elections is a national act and a small number of participants will negatively influence the future of Kosovo and its status. Serbs are obviously becoming UNMIK and OSCE's favorite pet," stressed LPK Chairman Emrush Xhemajli. According to Xhemajli, the Serb excuse about not participating in the elections because of lack of security, was a lie. "It was secure enough for Kosovo Serbs to vote when the elections took place in Serbia and it is not secure now. The truth is that they do not truly want to integrate in Kosovo's institutions. The Serbs and some internationals believe that the Serbs and their military should return to Kosovo and rule," stressed Xhemajli.
Koha Ditore on page three carried a commentary by its publisher Veton Surroi, in which he wrote: 1. Of course, I was surprised when I saw the OSCE Head of Mission Daan Everts on TV, wearing a scarf like a soccer fan, which instead of the name of a soccer team had the letters LDK and the name of its party chairman, Rugova. The more surprising were his words of support for the LDK and Rugova. Not because those words were addressed for a certain party or its leader, but because Everts' position as the person responsible for holding elections in Kosovo prevents him from doing so. It is his personal right to love and support whomever he pleases; but it is his professional obligation to be impartial in public appearances. As a matter of fact, I don't have the slightest doubt that Everts is impartial. He has tried to create a system of support for all parties in Kosovo, and thanks to OSCE's and his personal engagement, last year's local elections were excellent in many aspects, in fact even for the entire region. I also don't have any doubts that in the present Kosovo there is willingness among the citizens, political parties and the international administration to organize excellent elections, now at the parliamentarian level. From this point of view, I believe that Everts' participation in LDK's rally was an error, showing a lack of political sense, rather than a regular phenomenon or trend either of Everts or the international administration. And this error will not be corrected if the international officials hurry to participate in the rallies of other parties, in order to explain that democracy, tolerance and good relations with neighbors have to prevail. 2. I was once again surprised when I received a telephone call from Everts yesterday. His message was that he was extremely angry about yesterday's article in the paper, which criticized him for his pro-LDK statements. He further said that he wouldn't "move his finger" to solve the old problem of the KOHA media group, regarding the building. I, of course, fully understood the anger over the article. It is our luck that we practice independent journalism: anyone who feels angry about an article can respond in writing. Everts could have done this. I also understood the emphasis on the building problem. The entire international administration knows that for two years now, Kouchner gave us land for construction and this was not handed over to us, whereas in Pristina people build at will, sometimes with a license and sometimes without one, sometimes with a revolutionary right and sometimes through bribe. We don't belong to either one of these categories. The entire international administration also knows that the main Kosovar newspaper "Koha Ditore" is the only important media, which works in rented facilities. "Kohavision" broadcasts from 200 square meter space and even then it has managed within a year to not only make more programmes than the RTK (for which OSCE ensured a regular budget which was at least eight times higher than Kohavision's), but in completely unequal conditions. Therefore, in such circumstances, OSCE and Everts personally promised to help solve the problem of space. But yesterday Everts said that he would not help us. 3. I am not surprised by the connection between an article in the newspaper and the solution for the space problem. When I started working as a journalist this was called blackmail and I believe that it is still called so. Alas, this is neither the first nor last time. We have made it through physical threats and attacks and all kinds of blackmail, from whoever was in power. I was surprised by the idea that blackmail could change our mind. This editorial office, which has been embroiled in different wars, physical, political, economic and cultural, has grown to be independent. The way we are independent from Kosovar economic and political forces, we also keep a distance from the international administration. We were independent even before OSCE came to Kosovo and we will be independent after it leaves Kosovo. Our pride rests on the professional line we have chosen. Koha can function with its dignity even without a proper space for work. No space for work can replace our dignity; without it we are not what we are.
OSCE Head of Mission Daan Everts told journalists Tuesday that he had no personal preference for any political party, reported Koha Ditore on page three. Following the IAC meeting, Everts told the media that his speech made Saturday in LDK's rally was completely misunderstood and that he doesn't sympathize with any particular political party. "If there is a preference it is for Kosovo and its people, therefore there is no preference from our side for any of the political parties," he reiterated. Clarifying that he only expressed his recognition for the leader, Everts also said "therefore, do not misinterpret when I recognize a leader because the recognition goes to everyone, including the people of Kosovo."
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