„Fascist militia, violent extremists,“ Kurti repeated from the Kosovo parliamentary rostrum, speaking about the persons he considers responsible for the latest incidents and crisis in the north. It was from this very place two weeks ago that he revealed the names of those he claims are behind the recent riots in the north.
Four days after the Serbs clashed with KFOR on May 29, Albin Kurti revealed the names of 33 Serbs in the Kosovo Assembly, whom he labeled as the chief organizers and criminals.
Moreover, the PM continued to mention the „fascist militia“ – a term he used the day after the Zvecan riots, which was then also picked up by other Kosovo institutions such as the police – who included the term in their official announcements, the media and other Pristina officials.
In numerous interviews for regional and international media that followed as part of the intense campaign launched by Pristina, after the international community placed pressure on Kurti and the Kosovo authorities, who they held responsible for the escalation of the crisis in the north, Kurti and his associates conspicuously and repeatedly used this term.
On June 2nd, he went a step further when he, standing at the parliamentary rostrum, read out the full names of dozens of people whom he described as criminals.
On the same day when Kurti revealed these names, several denials followed – some of the listed persons said that they were not even in Kosovo during the conflict and incidents in the north of Kosovo at the end of May. The leaders of Srpska Lista, together with a woman Lj.A, who was also on Kurti’s list, denied these accusations.
Kurti’s move mostly did not provoke a public reaction, except from those who welcomed the performance of the Kosovo Prime Minister.
Security expert Drizan Shala was one of the few voices from the Albanian community who condemned this move.
As Ekonomia Online reports, Shala said that institutions’ operational work being misused at the political level was a big mistake.
He emphasized that revealing the names actually makes it more difficult for the police to arrest them, and that the Special Prosecutor’s Office would have to interrogate Kurti for „leaking operational and confidential information.“
The Kosovo PM assumed the role of a judge who, moreover, read out the verdict in the assembly, which resembled „the public trial of the century“, the editor of the KoSSev portal, Tatjana Lazarevic, assessed.
In last week’s „Dogovor“ talk show on RTV Kim, Lazarevic recalled that it is the Prime Minister of Kosovo who constantly emphasizes that „his people are sovereign“, and that he used the same argument in response to international calls to withdraw special forces from municipal buildings and relocate mayors to alternative locations.
„He abused that same ‘sovereignty’ and institution by going there, and as if the trial of the century had ended – he read the names and surnames of convicted war criminals, fascists, criminals, whatever he called them,“ said Lazarevic.
She emphasized that with this performance, Kurti violated his own laws and constitution, thus doing harm to a part of, as he pointed out, his citizens.
Two weeks after his address to the MPs, also in the Kosovo Assembly, Kurti explained why he read the names of these persons.
Kurti justified his move by saying that he has nothing against the Serb community, but against the individuals whose names he read. „Who are responsible for violence, escalation and continuous destabilization efforts,“ Kurti added.
„One of the reasons why I mentioned their names in this Republican Assembly, 33 of them – on June 2, 5 were arrested and 28 on the run, today – 6 have been arrested and 27 are on the run – I did it to show that we do not have the problem with the Serbian community, but with those names, responsible for violence, escalation and for continuous destabilization efforts,“ he said, without giving any other details about the arrested persons.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
