The Police Inspectorate of Kosovo has announced that it has initiated an investigation to assess the police response in managing Wednesday’s protest in Pristina, organized by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) to oppose the visit of Ekaterina Trendafilova, the President of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers of the Special Court.
The statement says that regarding the police response during the protest management, there have been complaints and public reactions from various journalists and the Association of Journalists of Kosovo.
The Wednesday protest escalated into violence, as members of this party, after finishing their political speeches against the Specialist Chambers, threw explosive and smoky devices at the members of the Kosovo Police, who were guarding the venue where Trendafilova’s meeting with civil society was taking place.
This prompted the elite police units to react, arresting the leader of the party, Dardan Molliqaj, and five other members. The police dispersed the remaining protesters using tear gas and pepper spray, not sparing even the journalists, some of whom were injured.
The PSD considered such a decision political and unfair, as it attempts to silence the opposition voice and downplay the injustice of the Special Court.
PSD activist Teutë Rrusta told Euronews Albania that the Police not only used force against the protesters but also against the journalists. According to her, they tried to prevent the possibility of filming by the media. Rrusta said there were no injured police officers during the clashes.
“These are tools used by fans, they are smoky. The others were pyrotechnic devices that only make noise, do not cause damage. We only threw them on the ground, let them slide on the ground, no police officer was injured by them, while we have six members arrested and journalists injured. The latest balance shows the ratio of force used. This is not the first time we have used smoke devices. They don’t damage anything,” stated Rrusta.
Previously, Dardan Molliqaj had stated that Trendafilova is unwelcome in Kosovo, as she has a political agenda to present the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) as a joint criminal enterprise.
He claimed that every time Kosovo is close to bad agreements with Serbia, there is persecution of KLA soldiers.
Molliqaj also accused Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti of rejoicing in the stance of former KLA leaders in The Hague. He said that now, with former KLA leaders in The Hague, Kurti is granting autonomy to Serbs in Kosovo.
After the situation calmed down, the deputy chairman of the party, Qëndron Kastrati, demanded the release of Molliqaj and the other detainees, accusing the police of being instrumentalized by political decisions and using disproportionate force against the protesters.
He added that the goal was to oppose Trendafilova’s visit through symbolic methods, stating that the throwing of explosive and smoky devices at the police could have been done independently by the protesters.
He warned that they would take further actions against the Special Court. After the protesters were dispersed, forensic officials arrived at the scene to examine the location of the protest and collect evidence where explosive and smoky devices were thrown.
