Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

UN investigation into March 17 incidents in Kosovo begins

Belgrade, 28 April 2008

A special four-member UN team appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to investigate the events which took place on March 17 leading to violence in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, will commence their investigation today.

The Office of the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija in Kosovska Mitrovica stated that the UN team could determine as early as today the role played by Washington and UNMIK representatives in the plan to use force in Kosovo on March 17.

According to the statement, the plan was implemented by Deputy Chief of UNMIK Larry Rossin, UNMIK police commissioner Larry Wilson and head of UN special police operations Gary Smith, and according to a reliable source, following consultations between Wilson and Rossin, Smith was authorised to use force against civilian court personnel in northern Mitrovica, who took over the court building on March 17.

The Ministry Office stated that the UN team will not be able to hold a hearing with Wilson, since he travelled to the US before the arrival of the team and most probably does not intend to return to Pristina.

The basic question which Rossin, Smith and Wilson must answer is why UNMIK police allowed Serb judges to return to the court on March 14, and arrested them just three days later.

According to the statement, Serbs were arrested in a planned provocative action in which a large numbers of UNMIK police and French tank units took part.

The Ministry Office stated that the “US Trojka” wanted to create chaos throughout Kosovska Mitrovica, which can be proved by photographs and video material which show that teargas was used in school yards in the peripheral areas of the city.

UN investigators could also establish why the arrests were ordered precisely on March 17, considering the fact that the largest acts of violence against Kosovo Serbs took place on that day four years ago.