Special forces of the Kosovo Police physically and verbally harassed Milievic in Jarinje

The CEO of the NGO Aktiv from Severna Mitrovica (North Mitrovica), Miodrag Milicevic, was physically and verbally abused by members of the Kosovo Special Police Unit today at the Jarinje crossing.

On this occasion, the NGO Aktiv issued a press release stating that the incident occurred at around 9:30 a.m., near the Jarinje crossing, when Milicevic was stopped by a member of the Kosovo special unit, took aside the column and at the time of questioning he was punched in the stomach by a member of the special police.

At the same time, there was also verbal harassment when police officers shouted at Milicevic and told him to be silent and asked him questions "why don’t you have Kosovo documents".

During the entire procedure, from the moment he was stopped and the questioning started, the CEO of the NGO Aktiv fully cooperated with the police and did nothing to provoke a violent reaction from the police.

NGO Aktiv is horrified by this incident and strongly condemns the violent behavior of members of special units.

"The punch in the stomach is pure brutality and the unprovoked excessive use of force by special police units points to the damaged security environment in the north of Kosovo and the uncontrolled actions of members of the police that threaten to deepen the crisis and the possible escalation of the already damaged security environment in the northern Kosovo", the NGO Aktiv indicates in the announcement.

NGO Aktiv, which deals with advocacy, promotion of democracy and dialogue in society, warns against the unacceptable behavior of members of the special police unit and calls on the Government of Kosovo and competent institutions to launch an urgent investigation that would determine the responsibility of the members of the special police unit and thereby prevent the recurrence of similar situations.

"This is a particularly dangerous situation on the eve of the deadline for issuing warnings and announcing the implementation of the second phase of the decision of the Government of Kosovo on punishing owners of vehicles with old license plates", the NGO Aktiv says. 

A report will be filed against the members of the special police forces to the Police Inspectorate of Kosovo and all competent authorities.