Leposavic

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Wednesday the arrests of three Serbs in the province by Pristina's special police units earlier in the day were a continuation of an ethnic cleansing of Serbs there.

LEPOSAVIC - Pristina's police stormed the building of the Leposavic municipality in the north of Kosovo-Metohija on Friday after taking control of municipal buildings in nearby Zvecan and Zubin Potok earlier in the day, a Tanjug reporter on the ground said.

Kosovo's government decided on Thursday to approve expropriation of property for infrastructure projects "of public interest" in the Serb-majority north despite locals protesting earlier that day that such decisions were illegal.

Kosovo police confirmed that they shot at a vehicle in which there were two Serbs in Bistrica, in the northern municipality of Leposavic, after trying to stop the vehicle.

Police on Monday said the police unit had been deployed at a checkpoint "with the aim to preserve order and public safety and also to prevent crime and smuggling".

At this checkpoint, which is still under construction (the asphalt is being widened and filled several meters deep), a crew with one armored vehicle was "on duty" yesterday, and this morning only the morning shift of the Border Police.
U.S. KFOR members are stationed at two checkpoints in the municipality of Leposavic.

Powerful Belgrade-backed businessman and politician, Milan Radoicic, must be arrested if he is in Kosovo as Serbian media have reported, Rasim Maloku from the Ferizaj/Urosevac Basic Prosecution told BIRN on Wednesday.

"The arrest warrant [for Radoicic] related to the 'Brezovica'case is active," Maloku said.

Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla told MPs on Friday that alternative routes will be constructed in the Serb-majority north to enable citizens to move freely, without needing to pass through Serbian territory, while illegal roads used for smuggling remain closed.

They are suspected of being involved in the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, Pristina-based Kosovapress reports.
Reportedly, one of those arrested is a police investigator in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, Rade Basar, who has been investigating the murder of Oliver Ivanovic and is suspected of hiding evidence.

According to reports, the protests are taking place on Friday in several Serb communities in Kosovo and Metohija.

The majority of citizens are at the protest in Rudare, where they carry the flags of Serbia and slogans inviting the international community to react. Some of them read, "EU, open your eyes," "Do not starve our children," "We don't want to go to ghettos."

The police intervened afterwards and recovered some of the money - it has not been specified how much there had been in total - along with another car.

According to local media, a total of about RSD 18 million (EUR 150,000) was taken from the vehicle belonging to the Henderson company.