Serbian Journalist’s Car Damaged in Kosovo Police Operation

Zoran Maksimovic told BIRN that police badly damaged his car while trying to remove one of the barricades set up by Serbs in the north of Kosovo during unrest sparked by an operation against organised crime suspects on Tuesday, despite the fact that the vehicle was identified with a 'Press' sign.

"I was driving down the road, and near the village of Ugljare [near Gracanica] I saw barricades, Serbs and Kosovo Police members on the opposite side. So I stopped to make some footage. But then Kosovo Police started their operation to break down the barricades and they started to shoot in the direction where I was," Maksimovic, who works with Serbian television station Prva, told BIRN.

He added that when realised that his life was in danger, he got back in his car and tried to drive away again.

"But Kosovo police continued to shoot in the same direction while driving armoured vehicles and demolishing everything in their way, so I decided to stop the car and escape into the woods," Maksimovic explained.

He was hiding in the woods for around 10 minutes, then decided to try to approach his car again.

"But I saw Kosovo police vehicles damaging cars too, and mine was among them. And I had a press card in it, so it was properly marked, and they saw me with a camera," the journalist said.

Asked whether he tried to speak to the Kosovo police at that point, Maksimovic said no, adding that he feared for his life.

BIRN tried to reach Kosovo Police for a comment, but received no immediate answer.

Maksimovic also said he will report the issue on Wednesday to the Serbian Journalist' Association, UNS, which already condemned the incident and asked the EU's rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, and NATO's Kosovo force, KFOR, to protect...