United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

Press Briefing Notes, 20 May 2003

UNMIK Spokesperson Izabella Karlowicz,
KFOR Spokesperson Gary Bannister-Green
UNMIK Police Spokesperson Derek Chappell
OSCE Spokesperson Edita Buçaj
EU Spokesperson Monique De Groot

UNMIK Spokesperson Izabella Karlowicz

Good morning, everybody. The SRSG will attend NATO Council meeting in Brussels SRSG and COM KFOR are making a presentation to Nato's North Atlantic Council tomorrow. The purpose of the meeting is to update the Council on the political and security situation in Kosovo; this will inform the constant process of review which NATO carries out as it determines the forces it needs to maintain in the Balkans. Their presentation will also underline the close cooperation, which exists between UNMIK and KFOR. While in Brussels SRSG is also seeing Xavier Solana and Chris Patten, and he will have a separate session with Lord Robertson, NATO Secretary-General, before the NAC session.

The PM Bajram Rexhepi is going to attend the economical forum in Athens together with Andy Bearpark, Monique De Groot will give you the details, as far as the content of this conference is concerned.

Office of Missing Persons and Forensics announces that 37 bodies have been identified - I am taking about the bodies that has been transferred from Serbia to Kosovo two weeks ago - all the families have now been informed and the handover of these bodies will take place as soon as possible. The names of those identifies will not be published at the requests of the families.

I have also short announcement from the security of Latif Gashi trial, there seems to be some problems with journalists who weren’t allowed to assist the trial yesterday afternoon. The reason for this was because journalists arrived 15 minutes after the trial started. Please be punctual if you want to assist the trial.

Stability Pact has an announcement for the journalists, it’s an event in Dubrovnik, but I will just give you handouts on their behalf afterwards.

KFOR Spokesperson Gary Bannister-Green

UNMIK Police Spokesperson Derek Chappell

Homicides

On 19-05-03 in Pec Region, a worker at a construction warehouse was loading materials on a truck when unknown suspect(s) fired at him from outside the compound. The victim died at the scene. The motive for the crime is currently unknown.

On 17-05-03 in Gnjilane Region, a Serbian man was found dead with multiple apparent gunshot wounds to the head. A note was found at the scene, claiming the Albanian National Army was responsible for the crime. However, the motive for the crime has not been established and no suspects have yet been identified. It is also not known if the note is real or a deception.

Arrest for Corruption

On 17-05-03 in Mitrovica Region, police arrested a suspect for official corruption. The suspect was a Municipality official who demanded a 100 Euro bribe to process documents so a child could obtain medical treatment. The child’s mother reported the demand to UNMIK Police and the suspect was arrested after he took the money from the victim.

Arrests for Counterfeit Licenses

On 16/05/03 in Pec Region, police arrested two males after they were found in possession of false driving licenses and computer equipment clearly intended to make more false licenses.

Reinvestigation of Unsolved Murders

Over the past decade or so, it has become a common practice for police agencies in the West to create a special squad to re-examine unsolved murders that occurred years before. It is an effective tactic that allows a new investigator with a fresh perspective to examine the case, possibly also able to use new technology or resources. The police in Kosovo are now using this same tactic and we expect to make progress in some of the still-unsolved crimes committed during 1999 and 2000.

Arrests for Drug Trafficking

On 19-05-03 in Pristina, a police patrol searched a vehicle and recovered a small amount of marijuana in plastic packets. Police identified and arrested the suspect who sold the drugs to the motorist. A search conducted at the suspect’s residence discovered 68 packages of marijuana and about a half kilogram of other illegal drugs. A total of two suspects were arrested.

Bomb Threats at Secondary School

At least five telephone threats have recently been made by an anonymous caller who claimed bombs were placed in various areas of Pec/Peja town. Police have not yet identified the specific individual(s) who made the threats. However, the investigation has confirmed the telephone calls originated from the public phone located inside the secondary school in Klina.

OSCE Spokesperson Edita Bucaj

Kosovo’s Witness Protection System – in Need of Review

The OSCE’s latest review of Kosovo’s criminal justice system has pinpointed the crucial importance of developing a more secure and effective witness protection system to help combat crime in the province, in particular organised crime

The Review, the fifth in a series, which has covered the development of the judicial system in Kosovo, addresses the problem of the intimidation of persons who may serve as witnesses in criminal trials. It examines the effectiveness of the current witness protection system in the light of the incidents of witness intimidation monitored by OSCE since March last year.

The Review considers the protection of witnesses to be one of the most pressing issues facing the criminal justice system in Kosovo today. It also points out that it will become increasingly important in coming months, as the UNMIK Department of Justice focuses on tackling organised crime.

While welcoming the recent efforts by the authorities to improve the witness protection system, the Review finds that there are a number of areas that could be further developed and urges the authorities to give this priority.

In addition, the Review addresses a number of other areas that have been highlighted as concerns in previous reports, namely, the independence of the judiciary, wrongful detentions, the level of legal representation for defendants and issues relating to trafficking.

The OSCE - mandated with monitoring human rights in Kosovo - applies a human rights perspective to its monitoring of the judicial system. This monitoring has been used to assist UNMIK create a justice system which functions more effectively and is striving towards international standards.

EU Spokesperson Monique De Groot

Privatisation

As you all know the first six tenders have been launched. The board of the KTA is meeting today as we speak to discuss among others the next tenders.
Media have been and are very interested in the process of privatization.
Media are mostly interested to know if investors are interested in investing in Kosovo. As you know investor’s confidence is based upon many factors. An important factor is the perception investors have of Kosovo as a place to invest. Perception is largely created by the media. Therefore I would like to stress the key role the journalists have who write about the situation in Kosovo in general and the economic situation in particular in making the privatisation process successful.

World Economic Forum

DSRSG Of the EU Pillar, Mr. Andy Bearpark will lead the delegation participating in the meeting on South-east Europe organized by the World Economic Forum meeting in Athens this coming Friday and Saturday. Other members in the delegation are the Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi and Stability Pact Coordinator Besim Becaj.

Business, political and other leaders will discuss the pressing issues on South-East Europe's regional agenda, including the need to reinforce political stability and encourage economic development.

Seminar

The next macro economic seminar will be on “Fiscal report for the First Quarter of 2003 – Actuals and Trend Analysis”. The seminar will be held on Friday, May 23, 2003 from 10:00 to 11:30 in SOK conference room.

Questions:

Q: Since when has KFOR’s role shifted in Kosovo into disciplining the media?

GB: Basically you know that we are with the UN, the International Community to bring stability and development here, and when people try to deliberately split the International Community to try and divert attention away from the actual issue involved, who are they working for, what is their actual aim. Now we have seen an increase in that and Derek has mentioned this before where he has had problems and when people have done similar tricks, and we are just highlighting there are serious issues we are dealing with here and people are trying to divert attention by trying to create in-fighting, you know they are trying to cause divisions and it’s not going to work. We are not going to fall for those tricks, we have got a serious job to do and we are going to get it done.

Q: Just a follow up. If you believe in what you are saying is correct and what Zëri is saying is lie, are you afraid to go to court with that or do you believe that your case won’t hold in court?

GB: There is a complaint going in to the TMC.

Q: Are you saying that what Zëri has been saying is an outright lie, from the start to the end or is there an issue which was legitimately raised by Zëri in its articles?

GB: No. I mean the particular article last week, we are quite united in dealing with the KPC and discipline issues there, and the issues they have got to address in sorting their hands outs or proving to us that there are not terrorists within their organization. Now I can only assume that if they are only trying to divert attention they have got other motives.

Q: A question for UNMIK. We have heard that Andy Bearpark will take along Prime Minister Bajram Rexhpi, meaning that he doesn’t see it anymore necessary to prevent Kosovar representatives from traveling abroad. Does this mean that PM Bajram Rexhepi or somebody from the government will be traveling with Mr. Steiner to the Thessalonica Summit? Will Kosovo’s government or Kosovar representative be joining Mr. Steiner in the Thessalonica Summit?

IzaK: Well the Thessalonica Summit is still in the organizational phase. We are working on the assumption that we are going and as you know the SRSG has always been in favour of taking the representatives of PISG with him, clearly it is always up to the host to decide on the list of the guests. But I will never get tired of repeating it, Michael Steiner has always been in favour of taking the representatives of local institutions with him to all international events.

Q: What does that mean, he would take them, and does it mean that he would encourage the host of the meeting in Thessalonica to invite Kosovar representatives?

IzaK: He has always been in favour in doing so, yes.

Q: Would he write a letter to the host in Thessalonica saying please if you could invite the members of Kosovo government because that is my policy?

IzaK: I think that everybody knows this, because he has been clear about this policy to everybody. But as I said the Thessalonica summit is still in the organizational phase.

Q: Yes, but the SRSG has just suspended the Kosovo government, institutions from traveling abroad but that is another point! My question is what about Ohrid, the PM Bajram Rexhepi said that ‘we will travel to Ohrid no matter what’. In a statement given for the local media he said this, no matter what the SRSG said.

IzaK: Well I think you should get the answer from the PM Bajram Rexhepi, because UNMIK’s position on this has been very clear.

Q: I asked the PM Rexhepi and he told me that he would participate, but the SRSG has said that they would not travel to Ohrid, so?

IzaK: Our position has been very clear on this. I suppose you have seen the SRSG’s declaration on this issue. I have nothing else to add to this.

Q: Garry why are the journalists never invited to attend when KFOR is conducting search operations, I mean there are no risks for journalists?

GB: Basically when we conduct operations, we don’t want to give away our tactics of what goes on or how we conduct them, this operational security is paramount, however there have been opportunities in the past where operations have finished and where we display the results of our findings.

Q: Garry under whose security and responsibility was Sllatina Airport? When is KFOR is going to take responsibility after 4 years since you have entered?

GB: The Russians had security responsibility for the airport and MNB-C will takeover the responsibility.

Q: Does this means that the Russians weren’t under the KFOR command?

GB: They are part of KFOR but not directly under operational command.

Q: If you just could explain to us who are these people who might benefit from such instability? Who are they? Have they got names? Have they got a structure, do they have institutions, it would make our lives much easier as journalists to go and try to speak to these guys and just figure it out what they want.

GB: There are obviously threats to the security here from terrorists, extremists and criminal elements and those are the people that we are targeting. I mean you might want to ask Zëri whom they are working for when they publish articles like that.

Q: If we suppose that the relationship between SRSG and COMKFOR is excellent. Would you define their relationship as an excellent one?

GB: Mr. Steiner and Gen. Mini work together for a common goal and that is the security and the development of Kosovo and they have their working relationship.

Q: Which is excellent?

GB: I don’t know the correct grade of it.

Q: For written statements or for interview or for an article are the newspapers responsible or also the politicians, or is it KFOR commanders who are given different statements in interviews?

GB: Could you repeat your question?

Q: Is it the responsibility only of those who write or also of those who make them, such as political leaders or military or administrative leaders have to be responsible about the statements they make?

GB: Everyone has a responsibility in Kosovo to try to help with the security and the development.

Q: So everyone needs to be disciplined by KFOR?

GB: (no answer)

Q: Gary, many Serbian leaders since they are represented in the Assembly of Kosovo and the Government have made many statements that are in direct opposition of 1244, how come that you never condemn those statements?

GB: Do you want to give a specific example, by a specific politician, and a specific statement?

Q: “Kosovo is under Serbia and Montenegro, we will return to Kosovo with our army and police”, statement made by Rada Trajkovic, Oliver Ivanovic, and Nebojsa Covic and many others.

GB: Well, I leave the politicians to debate about the political side. We deal with it, if it’s an inflammatory statement that produces ethnic hatred, ethnic abuse and so on. We deal with issues like that which deal with the security.

Q: Are the bodies from the bridge explosion identified?

DC: As you know for DNA analysis we have to send samples to Sofia to the Forensics laboratory to Bulgaria, we have still haven’t received the results back and there is very little we can do to push them to be quicker they have their own national cases to deal with. So sadly we still don’t have that positive identification. As soon as we get the results I will announce it at a press conference