Kosovo Serb prison employees dismissed

Serb prison employees at the Kosovo Penal-Penetentiary Institute (KPD) who failed to return to work upon expiry of their suspensions, have been fired. According to Kosovo Justice Minister Nekibe Kelmendi, there are many interested Serbs, as many as 200, who want to apply for jobs within the prison facilities. Kosovo Serb prison employees dismissed Keljmendi said that she had no information as to whether the Serbian Justice Ministry had started paying the salaries of the 74 Serb and Roma workers who left their jobs in Lipljan and Gniljane. She said that UNMIK might know something about it, adding that her ministry would publish a competition on Monday for all open positions at the KPD’s facilities in Lipljan, Gnjilane and Dubrava kod Istoka. Kelmendi said that the winning candidates would be sent for a shortened training program at a specialized school in Vucitrn, and would start receiving wages immediately. She said that the Serbian Justice Ministry’s decision to assume payment of the salaries of the suspended Serb and Roma employees was “an intrusion into the constitutional system of another country.” “Belgrade is calling on some international laws while at the same time violating other international laws, because they want to create parallel institutions in Kosovo,” the minister said, adding that “after June 15, these missionaries from Belgrade will no longer interfere in Kosovo.” The employees’ contracts were terminated after five days of not coming to work, but “the political motive was the one we tolerated for them not coming to work and still receiving pay for so long,” Kelmendi explained. Prior to Kosovo’s unilateral independence declaration, 96 Serb and Roma employees worked at KPD facilities. After the declaration, 85 left their jobs while 11 continued to work. After several weeks of protests and blockades of the Gracanica coordination center building, the Serbian Justice Ministry concluded agreements with a total of 74 workers—59 former KPD employees in Lipljan, and 15 prison officers from Gnjilane.

Kosovo Serb prison employees dismissed

Keljmendi said that she had no information as to whether the Serbian Justice Ministry had started paying the salaries of the 74 Serb and Roma workers who left their jobs in Lipljan and Gniljane.

She said that UNMIK might know something about it, adding that her ministry would publish a competition on Monday for all open positions at the KPD’s facilities in Lipljan, Gnjilane and Dubrava kod Istoka.

Kelmendi said that the winning candidates would be sent for a shortened training program at a specialized school in Vučitrn, and would start receiving wages immediately.

She said that the Serbian Justice Ministry’s decision to assume payment of the salaries of the suspended Serb and Roma employees was “an intrusion into the constitutional system of another country.”

“Belgrade is calling on some international laws while at the same time violating other international laws, because they want to create parallel institutions in Kosovo,” the minister said, adding that “after June 15, these missionaries from Belgrade will no longer interfere in Kosovo.”

The employees’ contracts were terminated after five days of not coming to work, but “the political motive was the one we tolerated for them not coming to work and still receiving pay for so long,” Kelmendi explained.

Prior to Kosovo’s unilateral independence declaration, 96 Serb and Roma employees worked at KPD facilities. After the declaration, 85 left their jobs while 11 continued to work.

After several weeks of protests and blockades of the Gračanica coordination center building, the Serbian Justice Ministry concluded agreements with a total of 74 workers—59 former KPD employees in Lipljan, and 15 prison officers from Gnjilane.