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United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT
Press Briefing Notes, 17 June 2003
UNMIK Spokesperson Izabella Karlowicz
KFOR Spokesperson Major Will Beckman
UNMIK Police Spokesperson Derek Chappell
OSCE Spokesperson Sven Lindholm
EU Spokesperson Monique De Groot
UNMIK Spokesperson Izabella Karlowicz
The Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo on Kosovo Trust Agency Related Matters was been established yesterday and it will be based in Pristina.
The Special Chamber will deal with disputes and claims related to the privatization and economic restructuring process in Kosovo. The court is composed of three international and two national judges. The presiding judge is judge John Murphy from South Africa. The two national judges are Ms Gyltene Sylejmani and Mr Baskim Latifi. The other international judges are expected to arrive in Pristina shortly.
The Chamber’s main role will be to hear appeals against the decisions of the Kosovo Trust Agency as well as creditor, ownership and property claims brought against Socially Owned and Publicly Owned enterprises and claims arising out of the privatization and liquidation of Socially Owned Enterprises.
The exact procedures to follow for claimants were promulgated on 16 June 2003 and are contained in Administrative Direction 2003/13.
The Chamber will be able to accept claims starting from 16 June 2003. Claimants wishing to submit claims or request further information should contact in writing the acting International Registrar, Mr. Stephen Farrell, at the address given in the handout.
The SRSG is going to Muzgovo village to meet some returnee families and from there he will go to Novo Brdo Municipal Assembly where he will speak to the Municipality members. He will also meet some Youth after his meeting with the Municipal Assembly.
Over the next month throughout Kosovo a series of Round Table discussions on standards will take place. A panel of internationals including UNMIK, OSCE and US office will be available for questions and answers. Local politicians, civil society leaders and citizens will be invited to participate. Media interested in attending should contact the UNMIK regional press officers. The series will kick off tomorrow-in Gjilanë.
KFOR Spokesperson Major Will Beckman
Good Morning ladies and gentleman
Unfortunately, we must begin week’s press conference by mentioning another fallen comrade. This Saturday, Göran Wallgren, a Swedish soldier, was found dead in his bed. Göran served as a truck driver at the Swedish Main Camp in Pristina and was due to return to Sweden on Sunday. On behalf of General Mini and all KFOR personnel, I extend our deepest sympathy to his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Wallgrens as they mourn the loss of this beloved soldier. The cause of death is unknown. Göran Wallgren was a member of the Seventh Swedish Kosovo Battalion.
KFOR has been changing its force structure and operating methods to meet the new security challenges more effectively. This week’s activities by the Multinational Specialized Unit are a good example our intelligence-led operations. When we have good intelligence about people who want to undermine the safe and secure environment or foment ethnic strife, KFOR can act precisely and quickly. The combination of good intelligence and rapidly maneuverable forces enables KFOR to maintain a forceful, palpable, yet less intrusive presence. On Saturday the MSU searched a location in the vicinity of Vucitrn. They found a cache with two submachine guns, four military assault rifles and 27,000 rounds of ammunition. Five people were detained and handed over to the police.
Additionally, KFOR troops conducted over 900 patrols, maintained 28 checkpoints,
established 7 cordons, and conducted 25 search operations.
In total KFOR in conjunction with UNMIK-P and KPS, confiscated the following
illegal weapons and ammunition:
· 52 Rifles and pistols
· 1 Mortar
· 13 Grenades/Mines
· 160 Miscellaneous military items
· 31,000 Rounds of ammunition
Bear in mind that this is a summary from just one week. We have been quite active and will continue to ensure a safe and secure environment for all the people of Kosovo.
Lastly, KFOR celebrated the 4th anniversary of our entry into Kosovo
on 12 June. At the ceremony, President Rugova, Michael Steiner, Adm. Johnson
and Gen. Mini spoke about the need to move ahead and advance ethnic tolerance
to the point where every Kosovar, regardless of ethnicity, can live in
dignity. Our recent operations clearly demonstrate KFOR’s commitment
to this goal.
At the ceremony, Adm. Johnson mentioned the courage that is required to
move forward. KFOR peacekeepers have shown that courage and will continue
to do so in pursuing those who wish to cause ethnic violence. It is our
hope that the people of Kosovo will demonstrate that same level of courage
and commit themselves to living together in a truly integrated, multi-ethnic,
and free society.
UNMIK Police Spokesperson Derek Chappell
Homicides
On 16-06-03 in Gnjilane Region, a woman suffering from a gunshot wound was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. The victim’s husband has been arrested for the crime and the weapon, an AK-47, has been confiscated.
On 15-06-03 in Pec Region, a K-Albanian female was shot and killed outside her farmhouse. One suspect has been arrested and the other two are still at large. The motive involved a land dispute.
On 10/06/03 in Pec Region, a K-Albanian man was shot several times while
in his automobile. The suspects were described as being a group of men
wearing masks. The motive is unknown.
Special Operations Competition
From June 2nd to June 6th, a competition was held in Germany involving emergency response and counter-terrorism teams from around the world. The program featured 41 police or military teams from 27 nations that competed in 10 tests of tactical and technical skill.
For the first time, a United Nations Police team participated in the competition, and the UN was represented by 7 members of UNMIK Police Team 6, our emergency response unit for high risk operations. The UNMIK team, composed of members from Germany, Norway, and Sweden, won 1st place in one of the 10 tests and placed 14th overall out of 41.
The success of the UNMIK team is particularly notable because police
in the mission are on temporary assignments and normally work together
for relatively short periods. The police and military personnel with the
other teams competing in the event normally train together for years and
also work only in their native language.
Update on Triple Murder in Obilic
An elderly couple and their middle-aged son were murdered late on the evening of June 4th in Obilic by an unknown suspect (or suspects) who beat them to death inside their home. Police have taken exceptional measures in this case, including offering a 50,000 Euro reward and establishing a special telephone line for confidential information. However, we have received no information from the public. No information at all. This is in spite of the fact that this murder happened in a community, not in some remote, rural area.
The victims were beaten to death over time on a warm summer night when
their neighbors would have had their windows open. The killer(s) then
set the house on fire, opened the garage, started the victims’ automobile,
opened the gate, drove out, closed the gate behind them, and drove away.
We the police have done everything possible to identify the perpetrator(s)
of this brutal crime but we need the help of the public to move ahead.
We believe there are witnesses to this crime and we call upon them to
give their information to the police.
Despite that we are receiving almost no cooperation, we are receiving very little information from the public. Let me just remind you this incident didn’t happen in a remote isolated area, but his happened in a community, it happened on the main road.
Person or persons approached the family home, entered the house, confronted the occupants, bet them to death in over period of time, attempted to set the house on fire, left, opened the garage door, removed the family car, pushed the car into the drive way and than left in the family car, the car was than taken in to a very remote site, and the people who abounded it would either walked back or would have meet be someone.
The suspects would have been bloodstained, what ever home they went back to, people would have noticed, there are weapons that we used that would have been blood stained. All of this happened on a warm summer night, when people where probably sleeping with their windows open. The idea that nobody heard anything, nobody saw anything and nobody knows anything, quit honestly is unbelievable.
We are convinced that this crime can be solved, and we will solve it believe me, it is just going to be much much harder and we have to do it without the cooperation of the public. So again I would urge anybody who’s conscious might be bothered and they know that they have information about this crime call us.
EU Spokeswoman Monique De Groot
Trutschler case
Yesterday, the Court in Bochum, Germany, has convicted Mr. Joe Trutschler
to three and a half years of imprisonment, for his actions related to
the embezzlement of 4.3 million dollars (3.9 million Euros). During his
trial, Mr Trutschler has admitted to having siphoned off profits from
the KEK electricity company and deposited the money into private accounts
in
Gibraltar. At the end of last year, Mr. Trutschler had given himself up
to the authorities in Germany, to stand trial.
The EU Pillar, who worked closely together with OLAF and the German judiciary on this case, is satisfied with the clear outcome of the trial and the early recovery of the funds. The EU Pillar is confident that its commitment to transparency remains the most effective way of ensuring good management, and it further unequivocally supports investigations into possible irregular practices.
KTA - Privatization
Update:
To date the interest in privatization in Kosovo has been quite high. The
KTA website, www.kta-kosovo.org is receiving several hundred visits a
day and direct contact with the KTA has come from a wide range of countries
including the USA, Switzerland, France, Germany, Bosnia, Hungary, Turkey,
Saudi Arabia, and of course Kosovo, to name but a few. The bids for this
wave of tenders have to be in at the 14 July. The second wave of tenders
is expected to be announced shortly.
EFC
EFC meeting will be held this coming Friday 20 June. The agenda will primarily
focus Customs related matters. As usual a press release will be send out
after the meeting.
Thessaloniki Summit
A background briefing on the Thessaloniki Summit will be organized for
interested media tomorrow morning at 11:15 in this pressroom.
Macro economic seminar
The title for the next seminar is “Small and Medium Enterprises
– Institutional Environment and Business Barriers”. The seminar
will be held on Friday, June 20, 2003 from 10:00 to 11:30 in SOK conference
room.
Questions:
Q: Major Beckman, why do you think people keep these weapons four years after the war, because every week you tell us the number of confiscated weapons throughout Kosovo, in all of the communities. Why do people in Kosovo need the weapons? Does this mean that you are not doing your job and that people don’t feel safe and secure with KFOR’s presence?
W. Beckman: KFOR is maintaining safe and secure environment in Kosovo that is not to say that there are no criminal elements or individuals out there who want to undermine the peaceful situation be it for political reason or for whatever personal agenda they may have. But KFOR is committed to dealing with those people and makes sure that people that live in Kosovo have that safe and secure environment.
Q: A question for Derek. Is it true that one of the suspects in Peja sex crime case hanged himself in his prison cell?
D. Chappell: Yes that is correct. One of the suspects who was in custody, committed suicide last weekend, he used a piece of clothing that he was wearing in his cell to hang himself inside his cell. Officers found him hanging, they immediately took him down and tried to revive him, but he was already dead.
Q: How many actual bids has there been for privatizations? You said that there has been big interest, but have you actually received any actual bid?
DeGroot: We will only be able to tell that on the 14 of July. And by “interest” I mean people who just ask for information, people who ask for information documents, but we will only be able to tell you about the actual bids after the middle of the month. The deadline is the 14 of July.
Q: Major Beckman, could you just give us the actual dates, when are the Russian troops really going to leave? And how is it going to happen?
W. Beckman: The Russian troops have been withdrawing, and the withdrawal has been done in a step-by-step methodical approach, over a period of time. They actually started at the end of May and they will be finished towards the end of July. So far everything has been fine and no problems have occurred.
Q: Do we know now whom Mr. Steiner has invited to the Thessaloniki Summit?
I. Karlowicz: The SRSG is going to announce this very shortly.
Q: Where in Gjilanë/Gnjilane?
I. Karlowicz: He will announce it shortly.