KOSOVO SERBS DEMAND APOLOGY FROM UN POLICE FOR HIDING TRUTH ABOUT ATTACK
FoNet - January 8, 2004

Belgrade, 8 January: The Raska-Prizren Eparchy today asked for an apology from the chief of UNMIK (UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) police, Stefan Veller, for falsifying and concealing the truth about yesterday's attack on Russian humanitarians who visited the Visoki Decani Monastery on Wednesday (7 January).

Concealing the truth and falsely informing the public is a form of collaboration with the extremists' attack and a support for violence, the statement says.

The Raska-Prizren Eparchy expects the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Federation mission in the UN to submit a strong protest against the Kosovo Albanian attack on its citizens.

The statement says that (Harri) Holkeri (UNMIK chief) visited Decani and had talks with the head of the municipality, but had not been informed of the incident.

Moreover, UNMIK continues to insist that no incident had occurred as the latest police report issued today does not mention any kind of incident in Decani on Christmas Day (Orthodox, 7 January).

The (Decani) municipality UNMIK chief Louis Perez visited the Decani Monastery today and said that neither the UNMIK police nor Kfor (NATO-led Kosovo Force) had any kind of information regarding the incident, and as he said, the local UNMIK police chief was present in the centre of town at the time and he "did not see anything".

One of the eye-witnesses to the incident, Prof Dr Ljubisa Folic, said that the attack on the three minibuses, escorted by French and Polish members of the UNMIK police, happened after returning from the Christmas service in the Visoki Decani Monastery, which was attended by UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri.

Folic said that about 1,000 (Kosovo) Albanians were waiting in the centre of Decani and greeted the travellers with swearing, whistling and stones.

"A large stone hit the bus window which shattered into many pieces. Two Russian women sitting next to the window threw themselves on the floor in fear. They sustained light scratches. We had the feeling that there would be a lynching. The UNMIK police driver increased his speed and the column of vehicles continued in the direction of Pec without stopping," Folic said.

The column stopped once it arrived at Belo Polje, where the travellers transferred to a military personnel carrier, he added, pointing out that the UNMIK police had seen the damage done, while Russian journalists had recorded the moment of attack.

The Visoki Decani Monastery brotherhood has also protested against the attack on the monastery's guests, the statement says.

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1428 gmt 8 Jan 04

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