Serb farmer attacked near Kosovska Mitrovica

Nasty little thugs. I hope that they've been arrested and this atack will be dealt with seriously.

A small glimpse of the reality for Serbs living in Kosovo, and to think we are going to give these expansionists a new country to mess up.

The world has turned on its head truely.

By any chance Kate are related to millosheiq's or Markoviq's families, because of your temper and you tend to jump to conclusions immediately. I can telll you that you and the likes of you are reasons that never ever agin we can live together.

Ahmet - no, actually, I'm not. The report stated that the thugs (and that is what they were) were Albanian who attacked this farmer. If it was teenage Serbian thugs attacking an Albanian farmer I would say the same thing. There is no temper involved or expressed through my comment.

There goes Kate again! It is strange how someone who knows next to nothing about Albanians and Serbs and who has no stake whatsoever in what's going on there can be so poisonous in her comments.

Ahmet,

What...you dont agree with Kate that these perpertrators of violence are thugs. Do you endorse this kind of behaviour??? Somehow i think i know the answer!!! Very sad indeed.

Usually, Albanians who molest Serb in Kosovo is most of the time related to what happened during the 10 years of the Milosevic regime. Of course, this is not a free ticket to attack innocent people but I would not say that these Albanians are thugs. Serbs who raped and killed in Kosovo are the thugs in my view,

So, Victor, teenagers hospitalising some old farmer by beating him senseless are not thugs? I suppose that the crowd in Pristina who beat an old lady and her elderly son and daughter-in-law when they took a wrong turning during 'liberation' celebrations were also not thugs?!

I cannot believe you would support any violence like this, no matter who the victim or the perpetrator.

Hey guys, is water wet?? is the sky blue?? what those THUGS did is a FACT!!! stop trying to justify violence, its not possible!!!

I should have said beaten to death with regards to the elderly people involved.

I don't understand how the Albanians responding here can justify this kind of misbehaviour. All attackers were MINORS, meaning 'under 18 years old'.

In other words: 9 years ago they could not have been older than 8 years old.
I doubt very much that the Serbian farmer did anything to them in that period to 'justify' this.
The parents of these children apparently have brought up their children to hate Serbs. And even worse: to allow the use of violence.

A very bad example, which should be condemmed by all commentators. Not just Serbs.

Kate,
In case of Serbian thugs you would have been much much slower with your comment...after a while you would have written "let's wait for the results of the investigation".....Serbs generally do not do anything wrong.

to our albanian bloggers, the kids attacked the man, a thug is a thug regardless of age, if Serbian kids did this I would call them thugs aswell. So get over yourselfs, and start realizing that Kosovo has a culture of violence on both sides.

By definition a thug is -an aggressive and violent young criminal. These young men, using primitive behavior like illiterate cavemen, threw rocks at an elderly man's head. They certainly are thugs. Victor, you should improve your English language skills and while you are doing so, look up the definition for the word hypocrite.

Disgusting!!! Must be very shameful for the Albanian posters who preach that an Independent Kosovo will be safe for all to live in... I mean come on, does anyone still buy that?

I can only imagine the terror to follow once the Albanians realize that Kosovo will not gain independence. oh and Of course in that situation it is unlikely that we see peaceful protests or boycotts but more like burning down villages and assaulting Woman and men.

Joe - you are so wrong! I wouldn't give a stuff if they had been Serbian and would have said exactly the same thing!

I pray to God that these cowards will try to hit me !

the kids aren´t to blame! they learned it at "home"!

What happened to the poor man is awful.But you guys are generalising things.Again you are using your rascist remarks.You should say 4 or 5 Kosovan thugs attacked the old farmer which happens everywhere in the world.What are you doing is pointing that those thugs are albanians and then using these to generalise that all albanians are thugs.This crimes will happen again so the best for both parties it is partition,for god's sake even montenegrins couldn't live with you and you want to push albanians to live with you!!!

The article states that the 3 teenagers were released after the police took their statements. Does anyone really think that these "thugs" will face a serous penalty? Never, because the victim was a Serb and it's OK to attack Serbs in the former Yugoslavia, payback for the Milosevic regime right VICTOR? Good thing that this man did not defend himself or he would have been arrested and accused of being a war criminal!

Actually the situation sounds similar to the dispute of the forests the other day. Sounds like these teenagers were possibly illegally grazing their cattle on this man's land and he was simply trying to remove them.

Was the attack a hate crime? We have way too little information to make a determination on that.

I do hope the police take it seriously, we have a number of crimes committed by these teenagers. Trespassing, theft, assault and possibly a hate crime.

For now, I'm going to treat it in the same manner as I would some stupid teenage Serbian kid doing the same sorts of things, and we see that from time to time as well. (Of course Victor's response when it’s a Serbian teenager committed these sorts of actions gets a much difference treatment from him).

However, I do see a troubling trend here. From yesterday's article

“Please tell us how we can remain peaceful citizens under these conditions of police repression, whether or not we can continue to work our fields, exploit the forests, support our families and survive in this area,” the letter said.
In that case it seemed Albanians were trespassing to steal wood. This case its grazing land. It seems both sides are trying to put a racial bend on these types of altercations when in reality its probably entirely a monetary motivation or simply a misunderstanding.

«...cannot believe you would support any violence like this, no matter who the victim or the perpetrator.»

I do not support violence. I simply try to understand the behavior of these young Albanians. Nonetheless, what they have done is criminal and they have to be sentenced for this.

« Thug, a ruffian, a miscreant, petty criminal or person who behaves in a violent manner. »

I am not sure though that the definition fits a boy who behaved violently once in his life. Matthew was pretty violent in some posts with me and I do not consider him a thug!

"Matthew was pretty violent in some posts with me (Victor, Friday, 6 July, 2007, 17:17)"
I may be rude, or turn your words against you, but I'm never "violent", I'm an avowed pacifist, always have been.
However, just for the sake of comparison, lets see what Victor says when Serbian teenagers engage in similar activities.
"Another example of how the serbian teenagers have become violent, xenophobic and racist. As I was explaining, this is the results of a negative education they have received for the last 10 years. Adding this to a major drug problem, this is a very explosive cocktail for Serbia. How to teach children a New Covenant based on respect, tolerance, when they've heard just the opposite for years, and have learned that hatred of other ethnic groups is part of a societal context!

(Victor, 3 February 2007, 19:17)"
Anyways, regardless of whether these Albanian teenagers had racial motivations for their attack this is just simply wrong to treat the elderly in that fashion. Anyone who does so is obviously NOT committing their first violent act. Obviously these kids have very serious issues. Either they are racist (actually the better of the two options) or they are seriously twisted individuals who treat the elderly in a horrific manner. If it was a hate crime, then at least its sort of understandable in a way. If that is the case, then Victor's comments in regards to Serbian teenagers apply to these teenagers as well.

Nasty little thugs. I hope that they've been arrested and this atack will be dealt with seriously.

A small glimpse of the reality for Serbs living in Kosovo, and to think we are going to give these expansionists a new country to mess up.

The world has turned on its head truely.

By any chance Kate are related to millosheiq's or Markoviq's families, because of your temper and you tend to jump to conclusions immediately. I can telll you that you and the likes of you are reasons that never ever agin we can live together.

Ahmet - no, actually, I'm not. The report stated that the thugs (and that is what they were) were Albanian who attacked this farmer. If it was teenage Serbian thugs attacking an Albanian farmer I would say the same thing. There is no temper involved or expressed through my comment.

There goes Kate again! It is strange how someone who knows next to nothing about Albanians and Serbs and who has no stake whatsoever in what's going on there can be so poisonous in her comments.

Ahmet,

What...you dont agree with Kate that these perpertrators of violence are thugs. Do you endorse this kind of behaviour??? Somehow i think i know the answer!!! Very sad indeed.

Usually, Albanians who molest Serb in Kosovo is most of the time related to what happened during the 10 years of the Milosevic regime. Of course, this is not a free ticket to attack innocent people but I would not say that these Albanians are thugs. Serbs who raped and killed in Kosovo are the thugs in my view,

So, Victor, teenagers hospitalising some old farmer by beating him senseless are not thugs? I suppose that the crowd in Pristina who beat an old lady and her elderly son and daughter-in-law when they took a wrong turning during 'liberation' celebrations were also not thugs?!

I cannot believe you would support any violence like this, no matter who the victim or the perpetrator.

Hey guys, is water wet?? is the sky blue?? what those THUGS did is a FACT!!! stop trying to justify violence, its not possible!!!

I should have said beaten to death with regards to the elderly people involved.

I don't understand how the Albanians responding here can justify this kind of misbehaviour. All attackers were MINORS, meaning 'under 18 years old'.

In other words: 9 years ago they could not have been older than 8 years old.
I doubt very much that the Serbian farmer did anything to them in that period to 'justify' this.
The parents of these children apparently have brought up their children to hate Serbs. And even worse: to allow the use of violence.

A very bad example, which should be condemmed by all commentators. Not just Serbs.

Kate,
In case of Serbian thugs you would have been much much slower with your comment...after a while you would have written "let's wait for the results of the investigation".....Serbs generally do not do anything wrong.

to our albanian bloggers, the kids attacked the man, a thug is a thug regardless of age, if Serbian kids did this I would call them thugs aswell. So get over yourselfs, and start realizing that Kosovo has a culture of violence on both sides.

By definition a thug is -an aggressive and violent young criminal. These young men, using primitive behavior like illiterate cavemen, threw rocks at an elderly man's head. They certainly are thugs. Victor, you should improve your English language skills and while you are doing so, look up the definition for the word hypocrite.

Disgusting!!! Must be very shameful for the Albanian posters who preach that an Independent Kosovo will be safe for all to live in... I mean come on, does anyone still buy that?

I can only imagine the terror to follow once the Albanians realize that Kosovo will not gain independence. oh and Of course in that situation it is unlikely that we see peaceful protests or boycotts but more like burning down villages and assaulting Woman and men.

Joe - you are so wrong! I wouldn't give a stuff if they had been Serbian and would have said exactly the same thing!

I pray to God that these cowards will try to hit me !

the kids aren´t to blame! they learned it at "home"!

What happened to the poor man is awful.But you guys are generalising things.Again you are using your rascist remarks.You should say 4 or 5 Kosovan thugs attacked the old farmer which happens everywhere in the world.What are you doing is pointing that those thugs are albanians and then using these to generalise that all albanians are thugs.This crimes will happen again so the best for both parties it is partition,for god's sake even montenegrins couldn't live with you and you want to push albanians to live with you!!!

The article states that the 3 teenagers were released after the police took their statements. Does anyone really think that these "thugs" will face a serous penalty? Never, because the victim was a Serb and it's OK to attack Serbs in the former Yugoslavia, payback for the Milosevic regime right VICTOR? Good thing that this man did not defend himself or he would have been arrested and accused of being a war criminal!

Actually the situation sounds similar to the dispute of the forests the other day. Sounds like these teenagers were possibly illegally grazing their cattle on this man's land and he was simply trying to remove them.

Was the attack a hate crime? We have way too little information to make a determination on that.

I do hope the police take it seriously, we have a number of crimes committed by these teenagers. Trespassing, theft, assault and possibly a hate crime.

For now, I'm going to treat it in the same manner as I would some stupid teenage Serbian kid doing the same sorts of things, and we see that from time to time as well. (Of course Victor's response when it’s a Serbian teenager committed these sorts of actions gets a much difference treatment from him).

However, I do see a troubling trend here. From yesterday's article

“Please tell us how we can remain peaceful citizens under these conditions of police repression, whether or not we can continue to work our fields, exploit the forests, support our families and survive in this area,” the letter said.
In that case it seemed Albanians were trespassing to steal wood. This case its grazing land. It seems both sides are trying to put a racial bend on these types of altercations when in reality its probably entirely a monetary motivation or simply a misunderstanding.

«...cannot believe you would support any violence like this, no matter who the victim or the perpetrator.»

I do not support violence. I simply try to understand the behavior of these young Albanians. Nonetheless, what they have done is criminal and they have to be sentenced for this.

« Thug, a ruffian, a miscreant, petty criminal or person who behaves in a violent manner. »

I am not sure though that the definition fits a boy who behaved violently once in his life. Matthew was pretty violent in some posts with me and I do not consider him a thug!

"Matthew was pretty violent in some posts with me (Victor, Friday, 6 July, 2007, 17:17)"
I may be rude, or turn your words against you, but I'm never "violent", I'm an avowed pacifist, always have been.
However, just for the sake of comparison, lets see what Victor says when Serbian teenagers engage in similar activities.
"Another example of how the serbian teenagers have become violent, xenophobic and racist. As I was explaining, this is the results of a negative education they have received for the last 10 years. Adding this to a major drug problem, this is a very explosive cocktail for Serbia. How to teach children a New Covenant based on respect, tolerance, when they've heard just the opposite for years, and have learned that hatred of other ethnic groups is part of a societal context!

(Victor, 3 February 2007, 19:17)"
Anyways, regardless of whether these Albanian teenagers had racial motivations for their attack this is just simply wrong to treat the elderly in that fashion. Anyone who does so is obviously NOT committing their first violent act. Obviously these kids have very serious issues. Either they are racist (actually the better of the two options) or they are seriously twisted individuals who treat the elderly in a horrific manner. If it was a hate crime, then at least its sort of understandable in a way. If that is the case, then Victor's comments in regards to Serbian teenagers apply to these teenagers as well.