Valley Albanians complain of “police repression”
Ethnic Albanians from a southern Serbian village say police there discriminate against them.
Wednesday, 04.07.2007.
13:53
Valley Albanians complain of “police repression”
“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.The villagers referred to police officers’ behavior in the area as “a kind of repression,” and complained about local police chief, Radomir Radovanović.
The letter said that after a recent verbal exchange between a group of Albanians and a Serb from a nearby village over felling of trees in a forest, the Serb, identified as Ratko Stošić, fetched his rifle and fired in their direction.
Naim Muratović, also a local, said that the Albanians then reported the incident to the police.
“They told us to go to the police checkpoint in Marovac, which we did, to find Radovanović there.”
“Another officer, who was with Radovanović, warned Stošić not to do anything of the kind again and that the next time he will not get away with only a warning. The chief then turned to us and told us not to bother Stošić. ‘You will have trouble with me, I’ll put you in jail,’ he threatened us,” Muratović said.
He also claimed that Stošić continued to make phone calls to some Albanians, “threatening to kill them.”
Albanians from Grbavce and Medveđa say police and local courts “habitually discriminate between Serbs and Albanians who commit similar offenses.”
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