Zdravkovic: They harassed me and my sick father, a police officer slapped me and insulted my Serbian mother

Bojan Zdravkovic from Paralovo said for Kosovo Online that Kosovo Police officers at the Bela Zemlja crossing yesterday physically and verbally harassed him. As he stated, he was in the car with his ill father, who witnessed the harassment, and after slapping and kicking him, the police officers also used eye spray simply because he tried to ask them to allow him to go to Bujanovac to buy medicine for his father.

Zdravkovic says that yesterday morning he set out with his sick father toward Bujanovac to buy medicine and that he borrowed a car from his uncle that had Kosovo license plates.

“When I arrived there, I gave my documents and the officer asked me for an authorization that I did not have. He told me to park the car on the side, which I did. I got out of the car and asked him to let me go because my father cannot be without his medicine. He said that was not possible and that we should return. Then I asked if there was some supervisor so I could ask him to let me pass. A young police officer then grabbed me by the arm and in Albanian told me ‘come, I will show you.’ He dragged me between the barracks and slapped me twice and kicked me.  Then I turned around and went back to the car, but they still did not return my documents,” Zdravkovic explained.

He claims that the police officer insulted him and called him derogatory names, and that he also kicked the car Zdravkovic was driving.

“I started heading home. After about 20–30 meters, I noticed in the rearview mirror that he got into a civilian car and started following me. Then I stopped the car and got out. At that moment, he sprayed my eyes. My father got out to see what was happening, they knocked him to the ground and put handcuffs on him, and then on me as well. There are some things I do not even remember. I begged them not to touch my father, that he is sick, I was crying… it lasted about ten minutes,” Zdravkovic said, adding that the police officers then took them to facilities at the crossing.

Zdravkovic claims he also experienced verbal attacks from a police officer whom he says was the supervisor.

“In the car, the main supervisor also insulted us in Albanian. I was afraid they would beat us or kill us. My father was in one barrack, and I was in another. We were there for three and a half hours and gave statements about what happened. I told the supervisor that he personally drove the car and that he insulted my Serbian mother, and he claimed he did not, but in the end, he admitted it,” he said.

Zdravkovic stressed that he reported the case to the Kosovo Police Inspectorate in Pristina and that he hopes the cameras at the crossing will show the real truth.

“Many cases have remained unresolved, and I fear this one will too. We are here without protection, only God protects us. We have no one to turn to, I do not see any perspective. For a police officer to treat civilians like this… if I had attacked him, that would be different, but I did not touch him. I did not behave arrogantly, but he did. God forbid anyone experiences what I experienced yesterday,” he said.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated that such incidents further endanger the position of Serbs in Kosovo.

“Yesterday’s abuse by members of the so-called Kosovo police at the administrative crossing Bela Zemlja against Bojan Zdravkovic from Paralovo near Gnjilane and his sick father is another example of the brutality of the regime of Albin Kurti and the oppression of Serbs in the area of Kosovo and Metohija. After they were not allowed to cross the administrative line, one of the members of the Kosovo police refused to return the documents to Bojan Zdravkovic and then physically attacked him and directed a barrage of insults on a national basis. According to Zdravkovic’s testimony, Kurti’s police officers then followed him by car and, using force, detained him and his father for an informational interview where they were held for two hours,” the Office’s statement said.

Media outlets reporting in Albanian said that the Kosovo Police stated that one person was arrested on Thursday at the Bela Zemlja crossing after ignoring the orders of police officers.

According to the police statement, the same person attempted to leave the scene by car.