Albanian journalist promotes book in Belgrade

I would love to see a Serbian author or a priest for that matter get out and promote his books or his icon paintings in PRISTINA and live to tell the tale!!

NOW THAT WOULD BE NEWS!!

If I remember correctly Musliu was also beaten up badly and left chained in his apartment in Belgrade during the time in question.

Ari,

I don't know where you got your information and it could very well be correct, but the point is to look at what is happening today not what happened eight years ago.

For anyone who has traveled through both Belgrade and Pristina it is clearly evident that Albanians can freely move around Belgrade, speak their language without any hesitation and generally not be alienated for being in the city. The exact opposite is true for Serbs in Pristina. I was there this summer and remember the looks and comments that would be made the instant that someone would begin to speak Serbian.

It would be a blatant lie to state that the respective groups are treated the same in the City in which they are minorities.

"If I remember correctly Musliu was also beaten up badly and left chained in his apartment in Belgrade during the time in question."

Sounds like a total lie and rumor. Why would he still be living there voluntarily if he'd been attacked?

Where are any photos or medical evidence of any assault?

The guy seems perfectly unscathed and at casual ease in Belgrade.

While I acknowledge that the freedom of movement in certain parts of Kosovo is not at that the desirable level, I can say for my experience that the serbs can move freely in Pristina. I have worked myself with two different serbs in two different organization. One of those organization was Habitat-UN and our offices were downtown, close to Strip Depo. Every day we were going out for coffee and lunch together, and most of the time we were speaking serbian. Believe me, no one was even paying attention to us. And this was just an isolated case. There are many serbs who work with UN, OSCE and other international organizations in Pristina and they all move freely.

I also was in Beograd in February 2004 in an international competition. The organizers had arranged for us to stay in a dormitory. We arrived there in the morning, we checked in, and went to our rooms to take a rest. Three hours later when we were meeting in the hall for the bus to arrive, a security guy in civil clothes approached us. He was holding my passport and called my name. He pulled me from the rest of the group and pushed me in his office. He hold me there for almost half-an-hour threatning me that he is going to send me to MUP, and was uttering many different threats. Only after the organizers intervened, he decided to release me.
Needless to say, this happened only because I was albanian.

But, to be fair, I must say that other than this episode where I felt really threatened, I did not have other problems during my stay in Belgrade.

Prishtina and Belgrade aren't the same. There has never been an Albanian army in Belgrade killing Serbs, but Serb armies have been killing Albanians in and around Prishtina many times. As is evident, Serbs have no reason to feel threatened by an Albanian, and a writer. On the other side, Serbs still haven't apologized for what they did to Albanians and continue to threaten. It all makes sense.

I would love to see a Serbian author or a priest for that matter get out and promote his books or his icon paintings in PRISTINA and live to tell the tale!!

NOW THAT WOULD BE NEWS!!

If I remember correctly Musliu was also beaten up badly and left chained in his apartment in Belgrade during the time in question.

Ari,

I don't know where you got your information and it could very well be correct, but the point is to look at what is happening today not what happened eight years ago.

For anyone who has traveled through both Belgrade and Pristina it is clearly evident that Albanians can freely move around Belgrade, speak their language without any hesitation and generally not be alienated for being in the city. The exact opposite is true for Serbs in Pristina. I was there this summer and remember the looks and comments that would be made the instant that someone would begin to speak Serbian.

It would be a blatant lie to state that the respective groups are treated the same in the City in which they are minorities.

"If I remember correctly Musliu was also beaten up badly and left chained in his apartment in Belgrade during the time in question."

Sounds like a total lie and rumor. Why would he still be living there voluntarily if he'd been attacked?

Where are any photos or medical evidence of any assault?

The guy seems perfectly unscathed and at casual ease in Belgrade.

While I acknowledge that the freedom of movement in certain parts of Kosovo is not at that the desirable level, I can say for my experience that the serbs can move freely in Pristina. I have worked myself with two different serbs in two different organization. One of those organization was Habitat-UN and our offices were downtown, close to Strip Depo. Every day we were going out for coffee and lunch together, and most of the time we were speaking serbian. Believe me, no one was even paying attention to us. And this was just an isolated case. There are many serbs who work with UN, OSCE and other international organizations in Pristina and they all move freely.

I also was in Beograd in February 2004 in an international competition. The organizers had arranged for us to stay in a dormitory. We arrived there in the morning, we checked in, and went to our rooms to take a rest. Three hours later when we were meeting in the hall for the bus to arrive, a security guy in civil clothes approached us. He was holding my passport and called my name. He pulled me from the rest of the group and pushed me in his office. He hold me there for almost half-an-hour threatning me that he is going to send me to MUP, and was uttering many different threats. Only after the organizers intervened, he decided to release me.
Needless to say, this happened only because I was albanian.

But, to be fair, I must say that other than this episode where I felt really threatened, I did not have other problems during my stay in Belgrade.

Prishtina and Belgrade aren't the same. There has never been an Albanian army in Belgrade killing Serbs, but Serb armies have been killing Albanians in and around Prishtina many times. As is evident, Serbs have no reason to feel threatened by an Albanian, and a writer. On the other side, Serbs still haven't apologized for what they did to Albanians and continue to threaten. It all makes sense.