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A:
Organisers of March pogrom in Kosovo must be found, punished
Belgrade,
17 March 2012
Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovic said today that the March pogrom is the greatest suffering of the Serbian people in Kosovo-Metohija in recent history and that innocent victims of the organised violence by Albanian extremists on this day eight years ago must not be forgotten.
Author:
Tanjug
Bogdanovic told Tanjug news agency that the fact that not even after eight years have the instigators and organisers of the March pogrom been found is devastating, but also very worrying.
Only individuals who participated in the violence were punished and mostly for minor offences. Those who masterminded the March pogrom achieved their goal - the ethnic cleansing of Serbs in six towns and nine villages, to which no one has returned from exile to date, he said.
He noted that the wave of the March violence launched a series of political events and made a part of the international community observe that the unresolved status was one of the key drivers of the unrest, which was later used as an alibi for the illegal declaration of independence of Kosovo.
He pointed out that the international mission in the province is responsible for not having prevented the March pogrom and for not having found and punished the organisers and instigators.
The Minister noted that in this way the message is sent to the Albanian extremists that every crime against the Serbs will go unpunished. Bogdanovic said that he will continue to insist and ask EULEX and all international actors in the province to find the main organisers of the March violence and also the murderers of 14 Serbs in Staro Gracko, of the children in Gorazdevac, of the Stolic family from Obilic, the perpetrators of the crime in Livadice and of many others in which the victims were Serbs.
He noted that the passivity of the international factors in preventing the March violence deepened the mistrust and suspicion of Kosovo Serbs in the international factors and the integrity of their principles.
The Minister pointed out that eight years after the March pogrom, the Serbs are being arrested and beaten up and that the top officials of the so-called Kosovo institutions threaten them.
All this shows that the violence against Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija is institutionalised, the Minister said and added that the so-called Prime Minister of Kosovo Hasim Thaci raises tensions with his statements these days and encourages Albanian extremists, which in the Kosovo society of today can easily lead to a situation with immeasurable tragic consequences.
He reiterated that all international factors must take measures to prevent encouraging extremism and conflicts, for which the tragic experience with the March violence serves as a warning.
Only individuals who participated in the violence were punished and mostly for minor offences. Those who masterminded the March pogrom achieved their goal - the ethnic cleansing of Serbs in six towns and nine villages, to which no one has returned from exile to date, he said.
He noted that the wave of the March violence launched a series of political events and made a part of the international community observe that the unresolved status was one of the key drivers of the unrest, which was later used as an alibi for the illegal declaration of independence of Kosovo.
He pointed out that the international mission in the province is responsible for not having prevented the March pogrom and for not having found and punished the organisers and instigators.
The Minister noted that in this way the message is sent to the Albanian extremists that every crime against the Serbs will go unpunished. Bogdanovic said that he will continue to insist and ask EULEX and all international actors in the province to find the main organisers of the March violence and also the murderers of 14 Serbs in Staro Gracko, of the children in Gorazdevac, of the Stolic family from Obilic, the perpetrators of the crime in Livadice and of many others in which the victims were Serbs.
He noted that the passivity of the international factors in preventing the March violence deepened the mistrust and suspicion of Kosovo Serbs in the international factors and the integrity of their principles.
The Minister pointed out that eight years after the March pogrom, the Serbs are being arrested and beaten up and that the top officials of the so-called Kosovo institutions threaten them.
All this shows that the violence against Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija is institutionalised, the Minister said and added that the so-called Prime Minister of Kosovo Hasim Thaci raises tensions with his statements these days and encourages Albanian extremists, which in the Kosovo society of today can easily lead to a situation with immeasurable tragic consequences.
He reiterated that all international factors must take measures to prevent encouraging extremism and conflicts, for which the tragic experience with the March violence serves as a warning.
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