We would like to inform the public, relevant police and judicial organs, as well as local and international institutions and their representatives, that today, on Monday the 14th of November, in the north of Kosovo, the Executive Director of NGO AKTIV, Miodrag Milićević was subjected to physical and verbal abuse by members of the Special Operations Unit of the Kosovo Police.
The incident occurred at around 09:30, in the vicinity of the Jarinje crossing, when Mr. Milićević was stopped by members of the Special Operations Unit of the Kosovo Police, removed from the queue, and during the course of questioning, hit in the stomach by one of the officers.
At the same time, Mr. Milićević was also exposed to verbal mistreatment by the same officers, who yelled at him and demanded that he ‘shut up’ and demanded to know why he didn’t have Kosovo documents.
Throughout the entire procedure, from being pulled over to being questioned, AKTIV’s Executive Director complied with the police and did not in any way shape or form do anything to warrant a violent reaction from the officers.
NGO AKTIV is deeply appalled by this incident and condemns in the strongest possible terms the violent behavior on the part of members of the Special Forces Unit.
AKTIV points out that “A blow to the stomach is pure brutality and a wholly unwarranted use of force on the part of special police units and is indicative of the deteriorating security situation in the north of Kosovo and out-of-control actions of police officers that threatens to deepen the crisis and potentially worsen an already-collapsing security situation in the north of Kosovo.”
NGO AKTIV, which works in advocacy, the promotion of democracy and dialogue in society, warns of the unacceptable behavior of members of the special police units and calls on the government of Kosovo and its relevant institutions to launch an urgent investigation that would confirm the responsible of the officers in question and therefore prevent such a situation from repeating itself in the future.
AKTIV states that “this is a particularly dangerous situation in light of the expiration of the issuing of warnings and the announcement of the implementation of the second phase of the Kosovo government’s decision on fining owners of vehicles with older number plates.”
A complaint will be made to the Police Inspectorate and other relevant bodies against the officers of the special forces.
