The liaison officer visited the “High-Security Prison Detention Unit” located in Grdovac on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at 10:00 am. The following individuals were visited:
1. Milun „Lune“ Milenković
2. Nemanja Vlašković
3. Milovan Božović
4. Dalibor Spasić
During that same visit, prison officials were not present during the liaison officer’s conversation with the detainees. The liaison officer established the following facts while speaking with these individuals:
1. Milun „Lune“ Milenković, a father of two minor children, displayed visible injuries at the back of his head, under a bandage, where, according to him, several (he is unsure of the exact number) „stitches“ have been sewn after an injury inflicted with the but of a rifke by the so-called Kosovo police. He also has a visible hematoma above his right eye and bilateral hematomas on his neck, over his clavicle, ribs, and under his rib cage on the left side. Abrasions caused by restraint devices that are healing are visible on the wrists of both hands, and Milenković complains of numbness and tingling in both thumbs as a result of prolonged restraint. The liaison officer found Milenković in a very poor mental state, who appeared visibly confused, strikingly anxious, and significantly disturbed throughout the visit.
According to Milenković, during his arrest, members of the so-called Kosovo police beat him, abused him, yelled, cursed, and threatened him based on his nationality. Upon his arrival at the police station, they told him they were taking him to Bajgora, then showed him pictures of the “KLA terrorists” from 1999, with the intention to intimidate and break him to give a statement that goes „in their favor“. Since they failed, they told him he would „lie“ in prison for at least ten years and charged him with attacking the premises of the “CIK”, throwing explosive devices at it, and they have pictures from the city, and pictures showing him taking bombs from an ambulance. They also charged him with attacking KFOR drivers in Zvečan (he was not in Zvečan on the critical day because a day earlier, certein analysts from Pristina publicly, through the media, „put a target on his forehead“ by marking him as a person who can cause potential unrest in the north of KiM).
Milenković stated that they then began brutally torturing him, hitting him with a rifle butt, hands and feet, while his hands were tied. Then they lifted him onto a chair to sit, knocked him to the ground with a kick to the head, then raised him back onto the chair and repeated the blows. All of this continued until “inspectors from Pristina* arrived, after which he was taken to the hospital where a CT scan of his head was carried out due to suspicions of a skull fracture or brain hemorrhage.
During the visit, Milinković emphasized to the liaison officer that he is an athlete, never having been suspected of any criminal activity, and he fears for his reputation.
He requested assistance to be transferred to the „prison“ in Kos. Mirovica, so his family can visit him more easily. This request was also supported by other detainees whom the liaison officer visited on June 20, 2023, at the “High Security Detention” Unit in Grdovac.
2. Nemanja Vlašković, a father of two, shows no visible signs of physical injury. According to his claims, following his „arrest“, members of the so-called Kosovo Police beat him in the station in south Kos. Mitrovica. He is charged with spreading national, racial, and religious hatred, attacking journalists, destruction of others’ property, as well as „illegal border crossing“.
3. Dalibor Spasić, a father of one child, has no serious injuries. The liaison officer noted visible bruises on Spasić’s hands and abrasions on his wrist caused by restraints. According to Spasić, during the interrogation, the so-called Kosovo Police hit him several times in the head area, constantly asking him who were the people with „masks“. He responded that he did not know and that he is not a criminal, but a medical technician who worked in “Covid facility” for months, helping both Serbs and Albanians. He also told them that he is a „DJ“, playing music enjoyed by both Serbs and Albanians. He told the liaison officer that he was charged with: attacking journalists (after he claims he was protecting a cameraman from having his camera and phone broken), and attacking KFOR.
He then claimed that at the Jarinje checkpoint, on the day of the arrest, after a half-hour detention, they let him continue to Raška, but on his return, they arrested him, after which they insulted and threatened him on a national basis.
4. Milovan Božović, a father of three, has been in „detention“ for two and a half months. He has no visible injuries, except for a ruptured muscle on the right forearm, which occurred during his apprehension. According to his claims, he was not mistreated, but members of the “Kosovo Police” used excessive force during and after his arrest, and he is charged with attacking a public official, assaulting police, burning a car, shooting at the police, and participating in an organized criminal group.
The liaison officer also determined during the visit that:
Almost all the detainees he visited are charged with the criminal act of spreading national, religious, and ethnic hatred, while the members of the “Kosovo Police”, during the arrest of all mentioned persons, insulted and threatened them based on nationality, including derogatory remarks about their Serbian mothers, etc.
According to all the above-mentioned individuals, the “Kosovo police” and prosecutors kept repeating the same line, that they are victims of Serbia, that the state of Serbia forced them to commit the acts they are accused of, and then asked them where is their state now, with comments along the lines of „sit and ponder on your deeds“, while they will „serve“ ten years in prison.
All detainees generally spend 21 hours a day in solitary cells (equipped with a bed, table, chair, TV, and toilet) while they spend two hours (one hour in the morning and one in the evening) walking, one hour in the corridors of their (Serbian) pavilion. This is currently only applied to Božović, while the others are in „quarantine“ and spend 23 hours a day in the cell, walking alone, therefore deprived of any human interaction.
II.
A liaison officer officially visited the so-called detention unit of the prison in Gnjilane on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, around 1:00 PM, where he met the following individuals:
1. Radoš Perović and
2. Dušan Obrenović
During the aforementioned visit, two officers working at the prison were present the entire time in the room where the liaison officer spoke with the detainees. The liaison officer determined the following facts during his conversation with these individuals:
1. Radoš Petrović claims that he was apprehended by KFOR troops, who took him from the protest before the conflict began, as documented by media and surveillance cameras. This should automatically exempt him from the charges filed against him. According to his statements, he was not mistreated after the arrest, and he has no complaints about the conditions in „detention“.
Petrović is a respected businessman who employs both Serbs and Albanians and often visits areas south of Ibar due to business contacts with Albanians. He states that he has asked doctors to increase his therapy „for his nerves“. He also said that he was visited by ICRC members, and that his lawyer and family visit him regularly. He left the impression that he did not want to talk much in the presence of the prison guards.
2. Dušan Obrenović has visible scars on his head and face, and during the conversation, he showed the liaison officer a scar on the upper part of the pelvic bone on the right side. According to him, the scars are the result of brutal beatings after the arrest and taking him to the station of the “Kosovo Police”. He also claimed that he was taken by KFOR troops before the conflict began.
Also, he says that the same soldiers were present at his first appearance before the so-called court, „taking notes,“ but did not tell the so-called judge anything, specifically they didn’t mention that he was apprehended by KFOR troops before the conflict with them occurred.
III.
The attitude of the subjects of the international community present in Kosovo and Metohija towards the detained persons visited by the liaison officer.
During the visit to the above-mentioned prisons, the liaison officer determined that none of the detained persons mentioned in this report were visited by members of any international mission or organization present in Kosovo and Metohija (EULEX, KFOR, EU Office/EUSR, OSCE, UNMIK, etc.), nor did they express any interest in the treatment these persons had during their arrest and detention. Such interest was also lacking from the diplomatic-consular representations located in Pristina.
The most disturbing fact is that KFOR has not taken any action to inform the so-called Kosovo justice that Radoš Petrović and Dušan Obrenović, during the conflict of KFOR with demonstrators in Zvečan on May 29th, were detained by KFOR members and were taken from the scene at least 15 minutes before the riots began.
Report compiled by:
Dejan M. Pavićević
Liaison Officer at the European Union Mission in Pristina
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
