Serb suspect "was on Priština company payroll"

A Serb man whom KFOR says organized violence against its troops was until recently employed by a public company of the Kosovo Albanian institutions in Pristina. B92 TV's Insajder (Insider) investigative program will focus on Kosovo in episodes that will be aired early next year, and its reporters found out that Zvonko Veselinovic was until several months ago on the payroll of the postal and telecommunications company PTK, listed as a technician. Serb suspect "was on Pristina company payroll" The business entity "was formed from the Serbian PTT company", and is now a shareholder society with the government in Pristina as its majority owner. The investigative program has obtained a list of names of 70 Serbs who are employed by the PTK, including Zvonko Veselinovic, his wife, and his brother. Veselinovic otherwise presents himself as "a fighter for Serb rights in Kosovo who does not recognize the institutions of Kosovo". A spokesman for the PTK said that "Veselinovic and his wife and brother were employed as technicians and guards". "But in the meantime we no longer have our equipment and we no longer need them, so we terminated the contract," said Menhan Abazi. Abazi also stated that Veselinovic had contracts with PTK to install its antennas in the north, but that he in the meantime "became problematic and was mentioned in the media, so all contracts were terminated". Veselinovic in 2007 leased premises to PTK in Kosovska Mitrovica to place their mobile telephony antennas. The contract that Insajder has seen stipulates that the company paid Veselinovic EUR 350 per antenna each month. The placement of antennas allowed PTK to cover the north with its signal. In the meantime, PTK's rival IPKO had its antennas destroyed in several explosions. These cases have not yet been solved. The EU mission in Kosovo, EULEX, said that it had launched an investigation against Veselinovic on suspicion that he organized the unrest at Jarinje and Jagnjenica. The announcement came after KFOR commander Erhard Drews said the NATO troops had video footage showing Veselinovic was the chief organizer of the violence at the barricades. In a statement for the Belgrade-based daily Politika, Veselinovc said that the footage might show him "somewhere among the people", and that he was "a participant, not the organizer". He also rejected accusations against him to say he "considers himself not guilty", and that "the renewed media campaign would not intimidate him". "I will participate again," he told the newspaper, adding that he would show up to defend himself against the accusations "wherever I'm sent, to Serbia or to EULEX". Local Serbs in the north of several occasions clashed with the NATO troops, KFOR, at the barricades in northern Kosovo, raised to prevent customs and police workers of the Pristina institutions from reaching the checkpoints at the administrative line between northern Kosovo and central Serbia. Serbs in the north form a majority and reject the authority of Pristina, and the Kosovo Albanian unilateral declaration of independence made in early 2008.

Serb suspect "was on Priština company payroll"

The business entity "was formed from the Serbian PTT company", and is now a shareholder society with the government in Priština as its majority owner.

The investigative program has obtained a list of names of 70 Serbs who are employed by the PTK, including Zvonko Veselinović, his wife, and his brother.

Veselinović otherwise presents himself as "a fighter for Serb rights in Kosovo who does not recognize the institutions of Kosovo".

A spokesman for the PTK said that "Veselinović and his wife and brother were employed as technicians and guards".

"But in the meantime we no longer have our equipment and we no longer need them, so we terminated the contract," said Menhan Abazi.

Abazi also stated that Veselinović had contracts with PTK to install its antennas in the north, but that he in the meantime "became problematic and was mentioned in the media, so all contracts were terminated".

Veselinović in 2007 leased premises to PTK in Kosovska Mitrovica to place their mobile telephony antennas. The contract that Insajder has seen stipulates that the company paid Veselinović EUR 350 per antenna each month. The placement of antennas allowed PTK to cover the north with its signal.

In the meantime, PTK's rival IPKO had its antennas destroyed in several explosions. These cases have not yet been solved.

The EU mission in Kosovo, EULEX, said that it had launched an investigation against Veselinović on suspicion that he organized the unrest at Jarinje and Jagnjenica. The announcement came after KFOR commander Erhard Drews said the NATO troops had video footage showing Veselinović was the chief organizer of the violence at the barricades.

In a statement for the Belgrade-based daily Politika, Veselinovć said that the footage might show him "somewhere among the people", and that he was "a participant, not the organizer". He also rejected accusations against him to say he "considers himself not guilty", and that "the renewed media campaign would not intimidate him".

"I will participate again," he told the newspaper, adding that he would show up to defend himself against the accusations "wherever I'm sent, to Serbia or to EULEX".

Local Serbs in the north of several occasions clashed with the NATO troops, KFOR, at the barricades in northern Kosovo, raised to prevent customs and police workers of the Priština institutions from reaching the checkpoints at the administrative line between northern Kosovo and central Serbia.

Serbs in the north form a majority and reject the authority of Priština, and the Kosovo Albanian unilateral declaration of independence made in early 2008.