Bojan Zdravković told RTS that he received several blows from a police officer of Albanian nationality, that he and his father were sprayed with pepper spray and held for questioning, after they were not allowed to cross the Bela zemlja checkpoint by car without authorization. The Office for Kosovo and Metohija condemned the blatant violence against people on a national basis and pointed out that it reflects the severity of the position of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija.
Bojan Zdravković and his sick father from Paralovo near Gnjilane were not allowed by police to cross the administrative checkpoint Bela zemlja toward Bujanovac by car without authorization, where they had gone to get medicine.
In addition to the ban on passage, according to Zdravković’s claims, the police physically and psychologically harassed them.
Zdravković told RTS that he received several blows to the head and body from a police officer of Albanian nationality, that he and his father were sprayed with pepper spray and held for questioning for several hours.
“When I arrived at the crossing, I handed over the vehicle registration and ID cards, mine and my father’s. The police officer asked me for authorization, to which I replied that I did not have it. He then told me to park the car, which I did. I got out of the car and asked for the documents, but he did not return them to me. I begged him to allow me to speak with his superior, because I have a sick father who must not be without medicine for a single day. One young police officer told me in Albanian that he would take me to the chief. He took me by the arm, led me between the barracks and slapped me twice, and then kicked me twice. When he returned my documents, he directed insults at me in Albanian,” said Zdravković.
He reported the case to the police inspectorate in Pristina. He called the police conduct brutal and unacceptable, and said he was surprised, because he had previously crossed several times without problems.
Office for KiM: New example of the brutality of Kurti’s regime
Yesterday’s abuse by members of the so-called Kosovo police at the administrative crossing Bela zemlja is a new example of the brutality of Kurti’s regime and the oppression of Serbs in the area of Kosovo and Metohija, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija announced.
“After they were not allowed to cross the administrative line, one of the members of the Kosovo police refused to return the documents to Bojan Zdravković, and then physically attacked him and directed a barrage of insults at him on a national basis. According to Zdravković’s own testimony, Kurti’s police officers then followed him by car and using force brought him and his father in for an informational interview where they were held for two hours,” the statement says.
The Office points out that such blatant violence against people on a national basis reflects the severity of the position of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija and further instills fear among Serbs, but also testifies that Kurti’s police in the territory of KiM do not serve order and law, but the intimidation and harassment of Serbs.
“There are many challenges that Serbs face in everyday life in the area of Kosovo and Metohija, and in order to create the basic conditions for a peaceful life of our people it is necessary first of all to change the inflammatory rhetoric of politicians in Pristina who daily with their statements generate violence and fuel the idea of an ethnically clean area in which there will be no Serbs,” the Office announced.
The Office for KiM adds that its representatives on the ground are in contact with the Zdravković family and will visit them today.
“A concrete reaction by international missions and representatives who have the mandate to stop this persecution of the Serbian people and ensure the protection of basic human rights and the provision of a safe life for our people in KiM is also necessary,” concluded the Office for Kosovo and Metohija.
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Source: RTS, Foto: Printscreen RTS