Sasa Blazic: Kosovo police beat my son at the checkpoint in Bistrica

The Kosovo Police stopped a group of Serbian youths this evening at the checkpoint near Bistrica and beat and injured one of them during an identity check, Sasa Blazic, the father of the injured young man, told Kosovo Online. The injured young man is 19-year-old Vukasin, who is at the Kosovska Mitrovica Clinical Hospital Center, where he received medical assistance.

According to Blazic, his son was returning from Raska with a friend of the same age and the friend’s 13-year-old brother when police stopped them at the checkpoint near Bistrica to check their identities.

“My son handed over his documents, everything was in order, his driver’s license and vehicle registration, but the boy had a Red Star symbol with the Serbian coat of arms on his phone. They took the phone from the 13-year-old. First they asked my son to explain what it meant, and he said it was the emblem of a football club. They asked him to remove the sticker from that phone, but Vukasin did not want to take someone else’s phone,” the father said.

As he explained, a police officer then took the phone, peeled off the sticker, and threw the phone at his son’s face.

“They took my child, who was wearing short sleeves, toward some pole, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him. They searched him there, kicked him, threw his documents into the car and told him he could continue his journey. My son called me immediately, and I informed everyone and the inspectorate,” Blazic said.

He added bitterly that in the end he would have to leave Kosovo because of such incidents.

“I was once a member of the Kosovo Police Service…. I fled Bosnia in 1993. I was driven out from there. From here, it seems, given how things are going, I will leave on my own,” he said.

He also said that six or seven years ago, while he lived in Suvi Do, his car had been damaged with stones.

“Now they beat my child… I am not asking for anything, only justice, which I will prove. I will hire lawyers. If that police officer had acted professionally, I would not complain, but kicking 13-year-old children, I heard that child was hit with a rifle in the leg. And kicking my child during a search and causing him injuries, I will not allow that,” Blazic said firmly.

He spoke with members of the Kosovo Police, who told him to wait for the inspectorate.

“They told me they have cameras down there, we will see what they do. We will wait for their reaction. If they do not take any action, tomorrow I will leave Kosovo,” Blazic said.
He added that his son Vukasin was admitted to the surgery department.

“They gave him an IV, and a psychiatrist also needs to examine him because he is under stress, but he feels well now,” Blazic added.