Miloš Subotić, a lawyer from North Mitrovica, who publicly stated on Saturday that he was a victim of mistreatment by the Kosovo Police, noting that he is still afraid for his life and the life of his family, says that Serbs in the north are subjected to torture daily and that a reaction from the international community is necessary.
Subotić was arrested on Saturday, an hour after midnight, not far from the main bridge over the Ibar River, after, as he says, upon returning from a celebration, he swept away bags from the public surface near the newly opened “Mehana” store, in order to pass while returning home with his wife.
He was taken to a police station where, according to his own testimony, he was subjected to police torture. He says that the police officers beat him tied up in a room without cameras, and that they also tried to force a breathalyzer into his mouth after he refused a breathalyzer test. All this in jackets, with their identification badges covered.
– Who wouldn’t be afraid for their life in such a situation? I was affected by the cruelty, the inhumane behavior. All the time while they were beating me, other police officers passed by, some even laughed at what was happening in here. The room was without cameras, the policemen had their badges covered so that their official identifications could not be seen. They didn’t give me the right to a lawyer, they didn’t tell me why I was even arrested. They even told me that I shouldn’t be moving around at 11 pm if I had a drink. That’s nonsense, I was accompanied by my wife – he says for “Danas”.
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He notes that the police officers did not want to translate the report into Serbian for him, and that he did not know what he was accused of until his Albanian friend translated the document for him around 6-7 in the morning.
– They literally told me they had nothing better to do so they would translate it into Serbian. I didn’t even know what I was accused of until my Albanian friend translated it for me at 6-7 in the morning. I didn’t know. And that’s the case with many in northern Kosovo, excessive use of force, an abnormally large number of police… Searches, stress, our lives have been completely disrupted. I don’t even know how to react. This is nothing like it, this is not like life – our interlocutor describes the life of his compatriots in northern Kosovo.
Filed a complaint with the Kosovo Police Inspectorate The beating was denied by the Kosovo Police, and Petrit Fejza from the North Police Region called on Subotić to report the case, which he eventually did to the Kosovo Police Inspectorate. The beating of Subotić was collectively reacted to by several non-governmental organizations – Aktiv, CASA, ACDC, InTER and Nova društvena inicijativa, which, due to the “continuous silence of the local police advisers of EULEX and the entire mission”, also reacted to the unlawful treatment by the Kosovo Police. EULEX, however, reacted a day later, at the request of Radio Free Europe, calling for an urgent investigation into the allegations. They were also contacted by the UN Human Rights Office and the European Commission.
This lawyer sees the behavior of the Kosovo Police towards Serbs in northern Kosovo as a political decision, stating that a police protectorate has been established in northern Kosovo. After going public with his case, Subotić began to be contacted by other citizens who had problems with members of the Kosovo Police. He believes that Serbs can only defend themselves “in this way, individually, with non-violent actions and resistance” in order to make the international community aware of what they are going through. Subotić warns that otherwise, everything else leads to the departure of the Serbian community from Kosovo.
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Source: Blic
Photo: KoSSev / Printscreen