Father of young man from Vuca: Police overreacted with use of force

Vladan Milojevic, father of one of the young men whom the Kosovo Police stopped yesterday in the village of Vuca near Leposavic and then fired a shot with a firearm when his friend started to run away, believes that the Kosovo police officers overreacted.

According to him, his son Djordje and his friend Mladen Miladinovic were having a barbecue with friends yesterday in the village of Grkaje. When they went to get a charger, they were stopped by the Kosovo Police accompanied by KFOR vehicles.

After the ID check and a search, the police asked for the young men’s phones. Djordje handed over his phone, while Mladen refused and began to back away, then ran toward the forest.

Milojevic says that his son heard the gunshot but does not know if it was fired at Mladen or into the air.

“My son Djordje went with his friends around noon yesterday to the village of Grkaje for a barbecue. His friends were all kids between 16 and 20 years old, about ten of them. They brought all the barbecue supplies, and at one point realized they had forgotten a charger. He and his friend Mladen Miladinovic went to our village to get it, and about halfway from the barbecue spot to the village, they encountered a Kosovo Police vehicle, a grey Toyota, which was accompanied by two American KFOR vehicles. They immediately stopped when signaled by the police. The Kosovo police officers checked their IDs. My son didn’t have an ID on him. Mladen had one and gave it right away. Then they searched the vehicle and found nothing inside, but then they demanded their phones. My son gave his phone immediately, but for some reason Mladen didn’t want to. I guess he didn’t want to because Kosovo Police have a habit of taking phones for some expert analysis and never returning them,” Milojevic explained.

While trying to convince Mladen to hand over his phone, Milojevic says Mladen slowly moved toward the edge of the road and then ran away.

“The police ordered my son to crouch down and stay calm, which he did, and three officers went after Mladen. At that moment, my son heard a gunshot. Since he was sitting, he’s not sure if they fired directly at him or just as a warning shot, but there definitely was a shot. When they returned from the chase after a few minutes, they handcuffed my son with his hands behind his back, and there were insults shouted in Albanian during the handcuffing. My son, who doesn’t speak Albanian, said they were cursing but wasn’t sure if they were cursing him or Mladen, who managed to escape,” Milojevic said.

The police took Djordje with handcuffs to the station in Leposavic, where, Milojevic adds, he gave a statement to the local and investigative units from Pristina.

“They put him in a car and drove down to the Ibar River, to the bridge in our village where I got information that they were there. I started the car and went to see what was happening. The police were holding my son handcuffed inside an armored personnel carrier but were polite to me and let me see him. I saw he was fine, with no visible injuries and that he wasn’t beaten. He was in good spirits. At that moment, they asked me to go home and bring his ID, which I did, but they took my son to the police station in Leposavic where he had to give a statement. He stayed at the police station for a long time because when a weapon is used, the investigative unit from Pristina has to come, so he gave two statements, one for the local police and one for that investigative unit,” Djordje’s father said.

His son stayed in the police station for three to four hours but, he says, was not mistreated or beaten.

He says he read somewhere that the deputy police commander Veton Elshani stated that the young men ran away and that there was a chase after them, but that this is not true.

“That road in the village of Grkaje is very narrow, and as soon as they went out on patrol they stopped immediately, so there was no chance or intention to try to run away, so that information is simply not true. My son is calm and disciplined by nature, so he obeyed all the Kosovo Police orders and they did not mistreat or beat him or anything else,” Milojevic said.

He assumes that Mladen probably ran out of fear and the desire to keep his phone, and maybe an adrenaline rush.

“When they fired the shot, he got even more desire for life and freedom and started running. However, at the urging of family and friends, he reported to the Leposavic Police Station last night, gave a statement, and this morning I called his father who confirmed they released him and that he is currently at home,” Milojevic added.

He adds that, as far as he knows, the boys were not physically mistreated.

“They didn’t beat anyone, that is also a lie. They weren’t mistreated, there was only the police’s exaggerated reaction. What I also noticed and found interesting is that there was a huge number of police vehicles and a large number of police officers, as if they were arresting some serious criminals, not kids aged 17 or 18,” Milojevic emphasized.

He says the children were certainly afraid and that, as parents, they are doing everything to help them overcome it together.

“Who would be indifferent after such an event? Whatever the kids did, it is no reason to shoot at them. That was an excessive use of force for something almost insignificant. But what can we do? We are with them and trying to calm them and guide them on the right path,” Milojevic said.