„Due to a spinal injury, he cannot run, let alone hit someone“ – the colleagues of U.V. from Leposavic, who was arrested for allegedly attacking journalists on June 16, said in a statement for KoSSev. They claim that he was unjustly arrested, as he is not guilty of the charges made against him. At the same time, they called on all institutions to put pressure on the Pristina authorities to release their colleague.
An ethnic Serb U.V. from Leposavic was arrested two days ago morning under the suspicion of being involved in the attack on journalists on June 16, the Kosovo police confirmed.
His lawyer, Nebojsa Vlajic, confirmed that his client was remanded a 48-hour custody, noting that U.V. is innocent.
U.V. works at the MTS.doo in Leposavic, and his colleagues, Milan Simonovic, Jovana Petronijevic and Milos Vulicevic, were astounded by the news that their colleague was „arrested, intercepted, taken away and accused of assaulting journalists last Friday“ while he was on his way to work.
All of his colleagues testified in front of our camera that U.V. is an innocent man.
„Our colleague U.V. was arrested in the early hours of the morning while on his way to work,“ Jovana Petronijevic, a sales agent in this company, specified for KoSSev.
They point out that the arrest was made near his house, more precisely near Bunker site, where he was intercepted by officers in civilian vehicles who took him in an unknown direction.
Furthermore, they reveal that they were stunned by the arrest.
„We were very surprised and shocked by his arrest, because our colleague U.V. is not really someone who stood out in public, someone who was part of the crowd, someone who would attack or make hasty moves,“ says Petronijevic.
According to her testimony, before his arrest, a video of the attack was shared on social networks.
„There is a video showing an attack on a journalist, but we responsibly claim that it is not our colleague U.V. Our colleague did not stand out from the others. Our colleagues can confirm, as do I on my own behalf, that it was not him, but that it was some other person,“ she points out.
The video in question, shared by RTK, shows a person attacking a journalist in Leposavic.
They claim that U.V., as part of its work duties, maintained the network in the municipality of Leposavic that day.
„Since our colleague U.V. works in our company as a fitter, he had to remove those disturbances on the field and we responsibly claim that he was not in the crowd that day and did not target journalists.“
„We are all witnesses here, that we were here together that day and that he did not participate in any kind of attack,“ his colleague Milan Simonovic, a technician at this company, underlined.
The same allegations were confirmed by U.V.’s colleague and school friend, Milos Vulicevic, who is also employed in this company.
„That day, like every previous day, U.V. was with us in the company, we also went out to the field and performed tasks, since he is a fitter like me, and it is possible that some camera recorded him in passing, but we all claim and guarantee that he is not guilty and that he did not attack the journalists, he’s not that kind of person, I’ve known him for a long time, we were childhood friends and went to school together,“ claims Vulicevic.
They describe U.V. as a serious and decent person, and not someone capable of doing the things he is charged with.
„He is someone we can all look up to, beloved by everyone in our municipality. A good young man,“ Petronijevic says.
Milan Simonovic emphasized that he has worked with U.V. for five and a half years, noting that he is an exceptional colleague.
„We have been in the team for five and a half years, an exceptional colleague, an exceptional worker,“ says Simonovic.
The colleagues of the arrested U.V. condemned the frequent attacks on journalists that have occurred since the beginning of the latest crisis in the North.
„We also strongly condemn attacks on journalists, regardless of whether they are Albanian or Serbian.“
We have a normal relationship with KFOR members, the only problem is access to certain rooms
The facility where they work is situated only a dozen meters away from the municipal building, which is fenced off and secured by KFOR members. They say that they have had a normal relationship with KFOR since the beginning of the crisis.
„All this time, we have had a normal relationship with KFOR members, who are located right next to our building, with whom we had to cooperate in order to enter our business premises,“ says Petronijevic.
Simonovic, on the other hand, says that one of the problems is access to certain rooms where the entire technical system of this company is located.
„The problem lies in accessing our premises from our office, we can only go there occasionally and for a short time, which is where our entire technical system is located,“ says Simonovic.
At the same time, they jointly appeal to all institutions to put pressure on Pristina to release their colleague.
„We appeal to each of our institutions from Belgrade or anywhere, as much as they can, to exert influence and pressure on the Pristina authorities to release him urgently because he is someone against whom no one has say a single bad word to say,” underlined Vulicevic.
„We call for my colleague and for all these people who were unjustly detained and arrested to be released“
On the other hand, his colleague Jovana Petronijevic says that she hopes for a quick and positive conclusion.
„I just hope that all this will end quickly – positively for our colleague and that he will soon be free because he is not guilty of anything,“ she told KoSSev.
Yesterday’s arrest of U.V. for alleged attacks on journalists in the north is the third such arrest in less than five days in the north of Kosovo.
An ethnic Serb N.V was arrested for the attack on journalists on May 29 in Leposavic on Friday. He has been remanded a month-long custody.
Then, on Saturday, D.S. was arrested at the Jarinje crossing, who was also sentenced to one month detention.
During that time, citizens in the north of Kosovo are organizing protest marches, claiming that the arrested persons are not the ones who attacked the journalists.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
