UNMIK-UNMIK Police-KFOR Press Briefing, 15 April 2002

UNMIK Spokesman Sunil Narula
UNMIK Police Spokesman Derek Chappell
KFOR Spokesman Wing Commander Drew Anderson

UNMIK Spokesman Sunil Narula

SRSG in Sarajevo

SRSG Michael Steiner is today in Sarajevo. He will be meeting with UNMIBH SRSG Jacques Paul Klein, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Zlatko Lagumdzija (with whom he will also have a private lunch), former President Alija Izetbegovic, members of the Association of Intellectuals, Circle 99, Chairman of the BiH Presidency Beriz Belkic and High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch. He will be back in Pristina in the evening.

As you all know, SRSG Michael Steiner has earlier worked in Bosnia. This visit is part of his programme to visit leaders in this region. He has earlier been to Skopje, Belgrade and Tirana.

Decani visit

Tomorrow SRSG Michael Steiner will visit the Decani Monastery, where he will have lunch with Bishop Artemije and Father Sava. You have seen the letter that he wrote to Bishop Artemije, which gives you an idea of what he will be talking about there.

Conviction for murder

Two young Kosovo Albanian men from Viti/Vitina were sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Gnjilan district court for the murder of 16 year old Kosovo Serb Alexander Dodic and grave bodily injuries to a Kosovo Albanian bystander in a drive by shooting on 30 April 2001. The case was decided by an international panel.

MPU missing clothing exhibit

UNMIK MPU has set up a clothing and personal items exhibit in Rudare in southern Serbia from April 13-15th. This is to give the non-Albanian community in Serbia and Kosovo viewing access to the items. The items were taken from all unidentified bodies exhumed in Kosovo.

Nothing is known about the ethnicity of the bodies from whom the items were taken.

Similar exhibits have been done in Kosovo.

Privatisation

SRSG will handover the privatisation regulation entitled "Regulation on the Establishment of the Kosovo Trust Agency" to Prime Minister Rexhepi on Wednesday. The PISG will have a month to consider the plan and to come back with comments.

The plan provides a way to move Kosovo's economy a step closer to a free market economy by restructuring and revitalizing viable SOE's and Public Enterprises. In doing so, the KTA sill act as a trustee for potential creditors and owners. Ownership rights will be tackled later.

The KTA will be formed as an independent body with full juridical personality (it is a legal person). The KTA will be able to preserve or enhance the value, viability, or corporate governance of socially owned and public enterprises and have the capacity to enter into contracts, hold property and sue and be sued in its own name.

The KTA will be established on the same date as the Regulation comes into force.

There is a media op on Wednesday at 1100 hrs in the Prime Minister’s Office in the Government Building. We will send out a media advisory.

Javier Solana visit

EU’s High Representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana will visit Pristina on Wednesday afternoon. He will meet SRSG Michael Steiner, followed by separate meetings with President Rugova, Prime Minister Rexhepi, President of the Assembly Nexhat Daci, and Coalition Povratak leader Rada Trajkovic. Then Mr. Solana meets the COMKFOR in the Film City at 1740 hrs.

Mr. Solana and SRSG Michael Steiner will meet the press immediately after their meeting at 1515 hrs.

Statistical Office

There is another announcement. Tomorrow at 1100 hrs, the Statistical Office of Kosovo (SOK), the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) and UNICEF invite the press for the presentation of a statistical publication on education in Kosovo. This publication is a first attempt to compile all available education statistics from different sources in order to provide a comprehensive statistical profile of the education sector.
It’s tomorrow from 1100 to 1230 hrs and the venue is the Statistical Office, room # 34.

Weapons amnesty

And finally today is the last day of weapons amnesty and Drew will say something about it.

KFOR Spokesman Wing Commander Drew Anderson

UNMIK Police Spokesman Derek Chappell

Arrest Made In 1999 Murder

UNMIK Police have made an arrest in a murder that has remained unsolved since November 1st of 1999. The attack, which happened in Gjakova, left Mr. Zef Ibra dead and two others injured. One of the victims has been paralysed for the past two and a half years

Early on Wednesday, April 10th, Investigators from Gjakova located and arrested a suspect wanted for the crime.

Information on continuing developments in this case is available from the UNMIK Police Press Officer for Pec, who can be reached at 038-504-604-3448.

Murder Resolved by Arrest

Last week, we reported on a murder in Pec in which two men living in the same building entered into an argument. The argument resulted in one man using an AK-47 rifle to shoot the other man to death. Muharrem Hajdaraj was struck by numerous shots from the rifle and died in the hallway of the building where he lived. The suspect fled after the shooting. Investigators identified the suspect and arrested him on April 11th.

Information on continuing developments in this case is available from the UNMIK Police Press Officer for Pec, who can be reached at 038-504-604-3448.

Gjakova Shooting Death Leads To Arrest

Also in Gjakova, another murder has been solved with the arrest of a K-Albanian male on April 9th. Again, the incident started as a personal dispute between two men who had once been friends. Both men were armed with illegal handguns. The dispute led to one man using his pistol to fatally shoot the other. Both weapons were recovered and the suspect is being held in custody.

Information on continuing developments in this case is available from the UNMIK Police Press Officer for Pec, who can be reached at 038-504-604-3448

Murder In Prizren

On the 7th of April, UNMIK Police in Prizren took a report of a missing person. The next day, police investigated the finding of a dead body in a rural area.

The body was identified as that of the missing man, a 42 year-old K-Bosnian. Investigators have not confirmed the motive for the killing, but ethnic conflict is not believed to be involved.

Information on continuing developments in this case is available from the UNMIK Police Press Officer for Prizren, who can be reached at 038-504-604-8306

Strong Action Against Prostitution

On April 10th, UNMIK Police targeted a Pristina nightclub believed to be used for organized prostitution. Investigators from Police Station # 1 and the Trafficking & Prostitution Unit entered the Madonna Club without resistance. Seven foreign females were recovered. It is believed that in their employment as dancers, they were forced into providing sexual services for cash.
The owner, a 35 year-old K-Albanian man, and two 23 year-old male employees were arrested. The 34 year-old K-Albanian male manager of the club has also been arrested.
It is believed that all four men were in the trafficking of women for the purpose of forced prostitution. All are detained for 30 days as he investigation continues.

Mitrovica Update

The attacks on UNMIK Police that occurred on April 8th resulted in a total of 26 officers wounded, mainly by grenade fragments. Six officers remain in the hospital, including the most seriously injured officer who suffered a severed femoral artery. All are in stable condition.

UNMIK Police continue to man the North police station but normal policing has not yet resumed.

“The men who committed the cowardly attacks on UNMIK Police are nothing more than a criminal gang. The majority of Serbs in the North are good people who do not support them and want only a normal life.”

UNMIK Police Mitrovica Regional Commander John Neil

Questions:

Q: Question for KFOR. The case of dismissal of KPC general: KFOR said last week that the that case will be reviewed, along with all material presented by the KPC. So what is the result of this review, and if the case has been closed or not?

KFOR: The appeal is ongoing; the information has come together. At the present time I am not sure where the appeal process is but all the information has come together and the appeal is being considered.

Q: And how long will it take?

KFOR: As I said, I am not aware of the appeal date and the appeal process. When the information is available, it will be made available to you as soon as possible.

Q: And question for UNMIK Police. What is the reason for the delay on the par of the police to reach the scene of a bomb threat in the center of Pristina?

DC: I gather you are referring to the incident last night in which we had a report of a suspect
device in a vehicle. The reports that it took 24 hours for the police to respond are incorrect. We were notified at 17:00 hrs in the evening, we were there within half an hour and within one and half hours KFOR EOD were on scene with the area cordoned off and they were undertaking operations on the vehicle.

Q: The police was not delayed in this case.

DC: No, as I said we were informed at five o’clock and within one and half hours we had responded, sealed off the area and we had KFOR EOD attending to the suspect device. That is a very professional response.

Q: Derek, going back to Mitrovica, what sort of security measures will you undertake for the UN police to resume its normal policing in the north?

DC: In order to answer that I have to remind you that we are a civilian police service; we are not an army. We are perfectly capable of carrying out professional policing in a normal environment, and in fact we’ve been doing that throughout Kosovo for the past years and I’d like to make the point that we have been doing this with the support of KFOR for the past eight months in the north of Mitrovica. We’ve been carrying on checkpoints, we were raiding bars, we have recovered prostitutes, we have written traffic tickets…normal policing with the support of KFOR has been conducted for the last eight months. Now for the first time we are being directly targeted by the extremist groups with military weapons. It is a question of cooperation with KFOR and that is something we are working on now. We want to get back on the streets of Mitrovica as soon as possible. We have never abandoned the north, we had been in the station constantly, and we stand ready to go to the assistance of anybody in the north should they call us for help, but at the same time we have to protect our police officers, so at the present time we are talking to KFOR. This is a joint problem and there will be a joint solution. I can’t tell you exactly what measure will be taken.

Q: During the incidents Derek, we were all present there from the top of the buildings and we did not see KFOR coming to your assistance in the north. Why did that happen and what will be the consequences of that?

DC: Well part of the evolution of policing in Kosovo has been the transition from the military to the civilian authority. Back in 1999 KFOR were the police. As UNMIK Police and the KPS have developed we have taken over primacy for policing. What happened last Monday started out as a normal policing operation. It was not a special raid, there was nothing out of the ordinary about it, we were carrying out vehicle checkpoint, which we do daily throughout Kosovo, so as such we were conducting normal policing operation which do not require the direct support of KFOR. When we were faced with the hostile crowd, we deployed our specialist police resources and had it not been for the use of hand grenades and automatic weapons, we would have been perfectly capable of dealing with that crowd and maintaining law and order on the streets. It was only when military weapons were directed against the civilian police that we were forced to withdraw. That incident happened in the flash, it happened very quickly and as soon as that happened, we’ve all seen the news film, the police recovered their injured officers and moved back to defensive positions. At that point KFOR moved up and supported us. Now, it is not a case that KFOR should have been there from the beginning because this was a normal civil policing operation and I don’t see a conflict between the two roles in this particular example.

Q: Has UN Police at any time since 1999 refused support by KFOR in Mitrovica?

DC: I haven’t been here form the beginning of the mission. I am not personally aware of any instances in which we have been refused cooperation.

Q: If that had happened would you admit it?

DC: When I speak on behalf of UNMIK Police, I speak honestly because my credibility depends on what I say, I will not lie. If I give you an answer it is truthful and is based on the information that I have, and I can honestly say that I am not personally aware of instances where KFOR has refused to come to our assistance.

KFOR: I would just like to clarify a point here as well. I have been here a short period of time as well, and I would absolutely hundred percent back Derek on that position. I think it is important to recognize that if KFOR had been asked to provide assistance then we would do what we have to do.

Q: Derek. How many police officers are currently in north Mitrovica?

DC: Currently in the north, well we are not conducting the normal patrols, the police station is manned, we have specialist police units, we have specialist police officers in the station. I can’t tell you the exact numbers, again that might well be an operational matter. I am not sure that we want to publicize what specialists or tactical units we have, what equipment they have, what capability they have and what numbers they have. I think that is something that we would prefer to keep private.

Q: Serbs have announced this protest at 12:00 o’clock today. What kind of special measures has KFOR undertaken for this, and is the UN staff, any UN staff including UN Police currently in the north?

SN: No, UNMIK staff is not working in north Mitrovica. Police, as Derek said, is present there in the police station, but our staff has gone back to Leposavic and Zubin Potok and to a small extent to Zvecan, not to north Mitrovica.

Andrea Angeli: The three civilians working in the Mitrovica Detention Centre are also back there.

KFOR: From KFOR perspective we continue to carry out ourr normal operations, I think an important point to bear in mind is the right of people to demonstrate should they wish to do so and that will happen. Clearly we will be carrying out our normal operations and things should go peacefully.