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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija demands independent investigation

Belgrade, 20 March 2008

The Serbian Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija sent a request to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon demanding that the UN send an independent team to find out who took part in the riots, who caused them and exceeded authority in northern Kosovska Mitrovica.

In a statement to Radio Television Serbia last night Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Slobodan Samardzic said that for the sake of the truth he demands that independent investigators look into the matter and refuted UNMIK’s allegations that its members did not use fire arms.

Samardzic showed the casing of a sniper bullet which was retrieved from the upper arm of an injured participant in the riots and said that he was given the casing by surgeons from the hospital in Kosovska Mitrovica.

We have more such pieces of evidence and we will present them to the investigating committee, said Samardzic and stressed that Serbian protesters were fired on from sniper rifles.

He believes that the aim of the operation carried out by UNMIK and KFOR on March 17 was to frighten Serbs and force them to stop resisting Kosovo’s independence, as well as to show that there is a power beyond any control which can arrest innocent people, in this case judges.

According to him, the key question to which Belgrade demands an answer is who ordered that.

Samardzic also refuted UNMIK’s allegations that representatives of the Serbian police were in the courthouse and said that if UNMIK had any evidence it would have made it public by now.