Police to interview Albanians over flag display

Police to interview Albanians over flag display

Two of the Albanians that the police want to talk to over the removal of the Serbian flag from the municipal building have since left for Kosovo.

Mustafa says those who removed the Serbian flag and replaced it with an Albanian one “did not provoke anyone”.

“They did this possessed by emotions”, Mustafa believes.

He also called on the police to “stop using the methods form the Milošević era”.

“During his [Milošević’s] regime police interviewed Albanians and they did not fare well. That’s why people go to Kosovo”, the Preševo municipal president says.

Albanian leaders would not reveal the names of those the police want to talk to, while the local MUP told B92 to speak to “higher instances”.

Halimi: Responsibility over flag

Party of the Democratic Action president Riza Halimi says he and his party are ready to take the responsibility for the display of the Albanian flag on the Preševo municipal buildings, but that the responsibility for the removal of the Serbian flag lies with the local government.

“Displaying the Albanian flag is illegal and we consciously decided to, as we did in the previous years, risk breaking the law, since this is our way of warning about our demands to have the use of our national symbols regulated by law. One of those symbols in the flag, which is not only the state flag of Albania, but is also considered as their own by all Albanians”.

“This act should not be the sole responsibility of the person who did it, but, above all, the responsibility of the local government, while the municipal president needs to investigate what happened and analyze those act which were not part of the agreement”, Halimi says.

Halimi does not view the police action as a form of pressure.

“When I was the municipal president during the war they wanted to interview me over the flag display too. The police and the judiciary act according to what the law says and an interview should not automatically be interpreted as pressure”, Halimi said.