Businessmen ended up in a police station and were fined due to protests against the ban on Serbian goods

Businessmen Dusan Gasic and Nenad Bozovic were summoned to the police station today to give statements regarding a peaceful protest by businessmen against the ban on importing Serbian goods to Kosovo. As Gasic explained after giving his statement, they were fined 100 euros each and characterized as organizers.

Gasic stated that he and Bozovic had denied being the organizers of the gathering, not because they had wanted to "get away with it", but because the protest had had no organizers. In other words, the businessmen and citizens spontaneously organized it without any designated organizers.

"On Sunday, there was a meeting, around 60-70 people gathered who decided to express their protest through that petition. The protest is related to the ban on Serbian-origin goods, and this ban harms all of us living in this area. Nenad and I decided to give a statement because the majority considered us the most articulate, and they did not want to highlight some people who already had statements and situations. The circumstances were such", Gasic explained.

As he says, they did not want anyone to be misunderstood or to say something wrong.

"We thought it was best for the two of us to say what we said and stand behind it, but we are not the organizers. If there must be organizers, there are many. The agreement was to bring out tables, stands, petition papers on that day, and citizens started signing the petition", he adds.

Asked about the petition, Gasic says that the petition signing continues and will last until tomorrow, or Friday.

"When the petition signing is completed, we will decide who will attend the meeting. It won't be an organizer but someone who makes the most sense to go to that meeting, who will present the story as it is. This is a story from the people, not tied to politics. We want a basic right - to buy and eat and drink what we want, whether it's from Serbia, China, Turkey, Bangladesh, let it be our choice", he emphasizes.

Gasic points out that no one is asking for the import of goods to be free.

"We want to return to the state before June, that is, to the situation as it was in May of this year", Gasic said.

In North Mitrovica, near the monument to Prince Lazar, on Monday, December 25, a peaceful protest was held by businessmen who signed a civic petition for permission to import goods produced in Serbia.

The signing of the civic petition, demanding all relevant authorities to again and unhindered allow the import of all kinds of goods produced in Serbia, followed six months after the Kosovo Government banned the import of Serbian products.