Candidate of the Serbian People’s Movement for mayor of Ranilug, Ivan Petrović, and candidate for municipal councilor from the party For Freedom, Justice and Survival, Ivan Ristić, have begun a hunger strike because, as they claim, they were dismissed from the Provisional Body of Kosovska Kamenica solely for running on opposition lists and refusing to support the Serb List.
Petrović told Kim Radio that in recent weeks many Serbs employed in the institutions of the Republic of Serbia have been dismissed or had their salaries reduced because they refused to support the Serb List in the upcoming local elections in Kosovo.
“Me and two other colleagues, as well as many other people employed in the public sector of the Republic of Serbia in Kosovo Pomoravlje, have in recent weeks been dismissed or had our salaries drastically reduced only because we have a different opinion, only because we ran on the lists of opposition parties, or simply because we do not want to vote for the Serb List. None of us here are against the state of Serbia or its interests. Should the defense of Serbian interests rest on firing people who live with their children in Kosovo and Metohija, while keeping on payroll people who do not live in Kosovo and Metohija, but live off Kosovo and Metohija?” he said.
Petrović, a father of four, emphasized that after 17 years of work he received his dismissal notice on September 15.
In that document, the stated reason was – reduction of workload.
“The formal reason for dismissal is a reduction of workload. How absurd and meaningless that is is shown by the fact that in the past few months our employer, the Municipal Administration of Kosovska Kamenica, hired about a hundred new employees, including for the very positions we were working in. The real reason is, unfortunately, freedom – the desire to deny us freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and to force us in every possible way to withdraw our candidacies,” he added.
On the same day, an identical decision was handed to Ivan Ristić, candidate for municipal councilor from the party For Freedom, Justice and Survival, father of three, who had worked in the Provisional Body of Kosovska Kamenica for 19 years.
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Source: N1, Foto: Privatna arhiva