UNMIK- OSCE - EU - UNHCR Press Briefing, 25 February 2002

UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
UNMIK Police Spokesman Derek Chappell
KFOR Spokesman Colonel Vincent Campredon

UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel

Murder

Police will report what details they have on the outrageous murder of a 58-year-old Serb woman, Llubica Kovacevic who was attacked on Friday evening in Lipjan while walking with her husband, who was unharmed. Police do not yet have a suspect in this crime, although they have retrieved the gun, an AK 47 abandoned in a nearby yard.

Nevertheless, this is a horrendous crime. Only three months ago, another elderly Serb woman was killed in a drive-by grenade attack in Obilic.

We know there are extremists and mentally deranged sadists in every society. But usually they cannot get away with their crimes for long, as they eventually talk to people who come forward to police. In Kosovo, however, the murderers often disappear into the society where people who may know something, in their silence, become complicit in the crime.
We ask that anyone who has any information on this murder-for the sake of Kosovo's future as a sane society-to come to the police and assist in their investigation…

In Mitrovica, an international judge will decide this afternoon on the charges of the two Kosovo Serb males who were arrested last week in connection with the murder of a Kosovo Albanian man on the night of 3 February 2000.

Market conference

The EU Pillar in co-ordination with the Stability Pact is holding a two day conference entitled 'Shaping Market Economy Legislation in the context of the EU Stabilisation and Association Process', on Wednesday and Thursday, 27 and 28 February.

SRSG Michael Steiner will open the conference on Market Economy Legislation on Wednesday with Assembly president Nexhat Daci in the government building. The conference is taking place with the Kosovo Assembly, in the main assembly hall, beginning at 9:30 . The main speaker will be Stability Pact Special Coordinator Erhard Busek.

At 12:30 Mr. Busek and SRSG Michael Steiner will give a press briefing in the former Press office of the Government Building.

The conference will be attended by members of the assembly, members of the legal and economic professions, representatives of the Kosovar business community, UNMIK staff, donors, NGO's and the media. They will discuss recommendations of the expert group on Market economy Legislation and other experiences from around Europe on the subject of reform of civil and commercial law and court structures in creating market economies.

There will be a media alert coming from the EU later today.

The British Office will hold a press conference here tomorrow by Dennis McShane, Minister for South Eastern Europe…at 12:30 p.m.

KFOR Spokesman Colonel Vincent Campredon

I would like to express KFOR's condemnation of the callous murder of a 58 year old K-Serbian woman in Lipljan / Lipjan on Friday evening. KFOR will provide UNMIK-Police with all assistance to track down the perpetrators of this crime.

KFOR is working hard to seek out and confiscate illegal weapons such as the one used in this incident. Kosovo will never be truly peaceful or normal until all illegal weapons are removed from Kosovo society. Crimes such as the one on Friday night will continue unless all the people of Kosovo take positive action and remove the gun culture from their society.

This week KFOR confiscated the following illegal weapons: 1 light machine gun, 43 rifles, 21 pistols, one anti-tank weapon, 90 grenades and over 4 800 rounds of ammunition. 41 people were detained as a result of these operations.

The overall security situation remained quiet throughout last week.

UNMIK Police Spokesman Derek Chappell

Serbian Woman Shot Dead in Lipljan

At 6:40 pm on 22 February, Bajram celebrations in Lipljan were marred by the brutal murder of a 58 year-old K-Serbian woman. Ljubica KOVACEVIC and her husband were walking home on Savonik Street, when she was struck by several bullets. The victim was rushed to hospital in an UNMIK Police patrol vehicle but she was declared dead on arrival.

Her husband escaped unhurt from the attack. He stated that the shots had been fired from someone in concealment and he was not able to provide a description of the assailant(s).

Police recovered an AK-47 rifle. from the scene of crime. No suspects or motive have been identified

The Pristina Regional Serious Crimes Squad is investigating the murder.

Arrests for Trafficking and Prostitution in Prizren

In July 2000, an unsuspecting 32 year-old Moldavian woman was lured away from home with an offer of a job in Italy but brought to Kosovo instead.

She was bought for 2500 DM by a K-Albanian male KPS Officer who took her to his bar in Lubizhda Village. There, she was beaten and forced into prostitution by the officer and his K-Albanian male partner. A 27 year-old Moldavian female, who was in charge of the women working in the bar, also participated in the crime.

According to the victim, the three suspects also sexually abused and humiliated several other women working in the bar.

A month later, the victim and another Moldavian girl were sold to a K-Albanian male who owned a bar in Suva Reka. Their ordeal continued as they were once again beaten and forced into prostitution by their new "owner".

In December 2000, the victim tried to escape but was found by the bar owner after three days. The punishment for fleeing was more severe beatings.

Finally, on the 15th of this month, the victim managed to reach the Trafficking and Prostitution Investigation Unit (TPIU) office in Prizren, where she reported the crimes after detailed interviews with the victim, police obtained arrest warrants from the Public Prosecutor's office for all four suspects. On Friday, 22 February, in coordinated raids in Prizren and Suva Reka, TPIU arrested the KPS Officer, his Moldavian female accomplice and the concerned bar owner from Suha Reka.

UNMIK Police are seeking the fourth suspect, a 32 year-old K-Albanian male.
TPIU Prizren is continuing its investigation into the case.

Hooliganism in North Mitrovica Following Arrest of Murder Suspects

As already reported, on Thursday 21 February UNMIK Police in North Mitrovica arrested two K-Serbian males, Sergej ZAPOROZAC and Stevo ZIGIC. The suspects were arrested on warrants issued by an International Judge for their suspected involvement in the killing of Muharrem SOKOLI, one of the K-Albanians who were murdered in North Mitrovica on 3 February, 2000.

The initial rioting on Thursday that caused injury to one UNMIK Police officer and damage to several police vehicles died down quickly. However, small groups of hooligans in the North have continued to attack UN targets.

During the night of 21 February, a petrol bomb was thrown into the parking lot of the North Police Station. Fortunately the attack did not cause any injury or damage.

On 22 February, the suspects appeared before the International Judge in the North Mitrovica Court, who ordered their continued detention pending further hearing on the case. That evening the defence lawyer stated in a Serbian radio programme that the court proceedings had been fair and unbiased. He appealed to the people in the North to refrain from any unlawful action on the matter.

However, an UNMIK Police car was attacked with stones a few hours later on King Peter Street causing damage to the vehicle. Again in the afternoon of 23 February a Polish SPU vehicle was attacked with stones on Knjaza Milosa Street.

We repeat our appeal: Let the guilt or innocence of criminal suspects be decided in the courts of law not on the streets.

Questions

Q: There are reports that the UN Police suspended its activities in northern Kosovo in the light of the attacks on the UN Police. Could you confirm that and also say how big a task it is to fulfill the SRSG's commitment to bring northern Kosovo under proper UN jurisdiction.

DC: That is not true. We are policing the northern part of Kosovo. However, the disturbance that broke out after the arrest on Thursday, our patrols were restricted because of the fear of further attacks on police cars but the demonstration only lasted a very short time and later that day we resumed full scale policing in the north. As of today we are providing normal civil policing to the people of Kosovo. I would like to make the point that the people we are dealing with in the north, are fully entitled to civil police protection. They are also the subject of burglaries, car thefts, robberies and assaults, normal crime committed within their own ethnic community. Most of the crime we deal with now is within the particular ethnic community, Albanian on Albanian, Serbian on Serbian. And the people that we deal with in the north are making us very welcome. They are pleased to see civil police in the north.

Q: And the second part of the question?

DC: The question is not how we do it as a police agency, the question is how do we get the cooperation of the people in the north and I think we do that by showing democratic, fair, responsible policing. Now ultimately it is our aim to introduce local policing. We would like to see the Kosovo police patrolling in the north. We would like to see people of their own ethnicity and eventually of mixed ethnicity patrolling in all parts of Kosovo. We have a plan for this to be accomplished. How difficult will it be. That's very difficult for me to answer on behalf of UNMIK Police. We can provide a civil policing presence and I think as we do that the public will accept us.

SM: I would like to point out that the defence lawyer or the two persons arrested was instrumental in calming down the crowd in northern Mitrovica. So there is increasing cooperation by people in northern Mitrovica with UNMIK administration as we begin to exert ourselves more in northern Mitrovica, including the opening up of the community office, and there will be other developments later this week in northern Mitrovica.

Q: This Moldovan lady was brought into Kosovo in July 2000 to Suva Reka and to the other place. How is it possible that this was not discovered before hand. How is it possible that UNMIK Police did not investigate those…in this area, because it is well known in Suva Reka what is where. Don't tell me anything about this. Was it because of some international clients. How did this happen?

DC: If you make the point that everyone in Suva Reka knows what is happening, I assume they've been to the police and informed them. As to why we didn't act sooner? I think it's an indication of the fact we're getting more cooperation from the public and that we're providing a more efficient and effective police service that we can deal with these cases now. It would be very nice if we could identify criminals, but we can't do that without the cooperation of the public. We need witnesses. We need a police system that gathers information and intelligence. We did not have a specific prostitution unit in July 2000. This is a success story.

Q. Susan, you say UNMIK is governing Kosovo. Now we have an agreement between Yugoslavia and Macedonia for demarcation of the border. Who is governing Kosova? UNMIK, or Macedonia and Yugoslavia?

SM: UNMIK is governing Kosovo. But on the subject that you raise, the spokesman for the Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement last Thursday afternoon> It's sitting outside. That's the last word on this issue and I can't comment any further on it at this point.

Q. Can you repeat. What is the clear statement on the border issue.

SM. As I just said, the spokesman for the Secretary-General issued a statement on this subject on Thursday evening. That is the definitive statement from the point of view of the UN, and there is no point my repeating it, as it's there.

Q. What is KFOR's statement on this?

VC: The Spokesman for the (NATO) SG made a statement last Friday. It's very clear. It's available, and I have no other comments at this point.

Q. But COMKFOR said something else in Gnjilane. He was against this agreement. He was against any changes to the borders. But later we saw that NATO or Brussels have denied what the general said. So what's going on here. Is the general right or is Brussels the place that gives the right things?

VC: No, things are very clear. I cannot comment on COMKFOR's statement in Gnjilane. We have a position like the UN, a statement by the head of NATO now, and KFOR will continue to patrol and carry out its mission on the border with good cooperation with FYROM authorities. It's very clear.

Q. (inaudible)

VC. I will not comment further. We have a statement and it's very clear.

Q. Can you tell us shortly and clearly, is this a violation of the 1244, this decision on changing the borders.

SM: The statement by Fred Eckhard, the spokesman for Kofi Annan, answers that question.

Q. Another issue, a few days ago, Germany handed over to Serbian security service some 30 Kosovo Albanians in Germany, to deport them from Germany to Kosovo. As far as I'm concerned, I think it was an agreement signed by Kouchner and German on deportation. What do you think? Why did German authorities hand over K. Albanians to Serbian security service to deport them to Kosovo?

SM: I have no information on K. Albanians being handed over to Serbian security services. There are K. Albanians who are still being returned from areas of Germany to Kosovo, some of them by force, but I have no information on the involvement of Serbian security services.

Q. 30 people were handed over and they landed here in Kosovo by JAT plane.

SM. I'll look into it. It's the first I've heard of it.

Q. What is your stand on Afrim Zeqiri's trial. How can a judge in the Gnjilane court have two sessions in Belgrade?

SM. I didn't know this. I'll look into it. But they were having problems getting Serbian witnesses to come back to Kosovo because they were afraid for their security. I'll look into it.

Q. Does it mean Milosevic will come to Kosovo for a session here?

Q. Again on the border dispute, how are your going to solve the problem of the villages who have land that used to be in Kosovo but now is Macedonia? How will they work on that land where they get their living.

SM: At this point I can't comment further on the border issue. I'm sorry.

Q. WE have information that some Albanian villages belonging to Strpce municipality will pass over under the jurisdiction of Kacanik Municipality. Does this mean we'll have another Serbian enclave? Does this have an impact on the coming municipal election?

SM. The borders would change?

Q. Yes, and the administration, because of the security.

SM.I don't understand but I do not think we are changing any municipal boundaries. No.

Q. We have information that some of the administration and villages to Kacanik

SM. I don't know of any boundary changes in the municipalities, but I will get back to you.

Q. Derek, you are aware of this Bob Cramer article in which he has very strong accusations against KFOR troops regarding the forced prostitution of a Serbian woman kidnapped in Belgrade. Have you started an investigation on this matter?

DC: Yes we have …the article was published din a British newspaper. The reporter was here 9 months ago, and has recently published a story critical of the attempts to control trafficking and prostitution in Kosovo. We gave Mr. Graham complete cooperation and he was fully apprised of the facts and had freedom to talk to whomever he wants to here. The article does not reflect the information he was given by the OSCE, IOM or UNMIK Police. It's a sensational story and a good read. It's very entertaining. But it doesn't reflect the facts and we're writing to the editor of the newspaper to point that out. And I'm writing to the editor of the newspaper inviting him to send a representative here. We would welcome a piece of investigative journalism, looking at the trafficki9ng and prostitution business, but an article based on fact and not on sensationalism.

Q. Derek, aren't UNMIK police units working or patrolling in the villages close to the Kosovo-Macedonian border like Mijak, Debelde, and so on?

DC: AS to our police patrol activity in individual villages. I'll have to inquire from the regional commander.

Q. Col Have you got the new border map from the Macedonians?

VC: I don't think there is a new map. There are borders and an agreement but there is no new map. I'm sorry , the status of this story belongs to the UN. It's clear..

Q. But you said you're patrolling the border. We have the information that Macedonians will shoot back at any KFOR soldiers that crosses the border. What is your reaction?

VC: The discussion is ongoing at the moment in New York. I cannot speak about what can happen in the future…. .We have clear statements from the UN and NATO on this issue.

Q. But you are NATO troops in Kosovo

VC: This is very clear, the last statement from NATO, last Friday.

Q. Susan you say they will discuss the border issue in the Security Council?

SM: The subject of Kosovo, not the border issue per se, is to be discussed.

Q. So can we expect a new resolution for Kosovo?

SM: No, it's a discussion.

Q. How does it come that the UN will recognized the agreement between FRY and Macedonia, while we have resolution 1244?

SM. That's explained in the statement by the SG's spokesman.

Q. But it's very ambiguous.

SM. Well that's the line we have to use, and it's there.

Q. Colonel. Today's the one-year anniversary of the clashes starting in Macedonia, 25 February. Maybe you are aware that our colleague from AP was killed then. Everyone was informed that there is an investigation report given to the Macedonian authorities by KFOR/NATO. Why don't we have that report and can we ever get what happened that day? Or maybe Krvenik even then was on the Macedonian side?

VC: This report at the moment is between NATO and the Macedonian government. We know that the Macedonian government was very busy last year and this report is still between NATO and the Mac government. We have no more information at this point.

Q. For Police. If any citizens of Kosovo were arrested under ICTY sealed indictment, UNMIK police have police primacy over all Kosovo. Would these arrests be made by Police backed up by KFOR or would other units of NATO be brought in to carry out these arrests.

DC: UNMIK police provides civil policing in Kosovo. If any arrests were to be made, for any other authority outside Kosovo, then we would have primacy in affecting that arrest. KFOR would be our assistants. Who they provided for support would be up to them to decide, but we would have primacy in those arrests.

Q. What would be the process, whereby UN police primacy would be temporarily suspended to make such an arrest, or is that legally impossible under regulations in Kosovo?.

DC: You're asking me a hypothetical question that I can't answer. I don't think I can give you an authoritative answer.

VC: I'd just like to add that KFOR will of course provide support if it's requested by ICTY.

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