Koha Digest # 74.

EDITORIAL

THE INTERVIEW IS AWAITING THE PRESIDENT

by VETON SURROI

My fax arrived in President Gligorov's cabinet just about in the same time Belgrade
communicated that he had met with Serbian President Milosevic, and that the result of this
meeting (as well as the previous secret ones) would be the soon institutionalization of the
Macedonian-Serb relations. Gligorov had, verbally, agreed to give us an exclusive, for both
Prishtina and Shkupi publications.

The interview should have taken place last week. On Tuesday, instead of a reply to my fax
about the exact time of the meeting, came the public explosive information about the
impossibility of the President to receive us.

Game of the Destiny, this time between an interview and a terrorist act... The Destiny of the
interview is not that important compared to what is happening to President Gligorov. But
Destiny is playing a bigger game. For example, with the fact that the act of terror affected one
of the few leaders of the Former Yugoslavia who was predestined for peace, a kind of
maturity symbol of an old man from Southern Balkans. Or, that violence is happening in the
very moment the tensions between Macedonia and the northern and southern neighbours
started easing.

Western diplomats in Shkup say that Gligorov, who is now suffering serious brain injuries,
will hardly go back to work. If this were true, the bomb which exploded beside the President's
vehicle, will be a reason to make a collective interview, first of all with the people in
Macedonia, and then all those who are interested in the region. Because, Gligorov managed,
with the results of a sixty-years' long political career, to become the symbol of independence
and existence of Macedonia: since ASNOM, the assembly of Macedonian partisans and up to
the solution of the conflict with Greece, now as a president of an independent state. He is,
right now, the point of credibility for a relative domestic (inter-ethnic) stability of the state,
and good neighboring relations with the surrounding sates. And, what is also very important,
he is an accepted figure by the majority of the Macedonian ethnicity, so much that he has
become the symbol of the development of this ethnicity in the period following WWII.

The collective interview which is conducted these days in Macedonia and the world is
centered on the question usually put to the aged heads of state in societal circumstances when
these aged men are the most relevant institution of a state: what after him? It is a very
difficult question for a society which in such has created only one institution of the kind in

The weekly Koha (The Times) was published in Prishtina (Kosovo) between 1994 and 1997. Edited by Veton
Surroi, a young Kosovar journalist and one of the pioneers of democratisation in former Yugoslavia, Koha
soon became a symbol of quality among the region's media. In 1997 it started to be published daily under the
name of Koha Ditorë. W ith the kind permission of Mr. Surroi, Koha digests were originally posted on
http://koha.estudiosbalcanicos.org.
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such a brief period. It is also that difficult for a society which lives in the Balkans of the end
of the centuries.

MACEDONIA

WHAT AFTER TERRORISM?

by ISO RUSI / Shkup

Tuesday, 3 October at 9,45 hrs., an attempt to assassinate

Macedonian president Kiro Gligorov was perpetrated in front
of Hotel Bristol. The attempt to kill President Gligorov,
people say, was the sole example of classical terrorism and
political violence conducted in the past 50 years.
The destructive blast of 20 kilos of explosive, placed in a
parked Citro‰n Ami and activated by remote control, seriously
wounded Gligorov on the head, who was subjected to
complicated surgeries. His health condition is still uncertain,
even though the statements of medical teams from Macedonia,
Yugoslavia, Greece, France, Germany, G. Britain and USA
are optimistic and moderate. From the medical point of view,
everything possible was done, and the rest will depend on
Gligorov's organism, which is for the time being stable and
strong.

The attempt against Gligorov's life has upset almost every

citizen of Macedonia. Not very many could have thought that
something of the kind could happen in the political scene of
Macedonia. So far, many things have been said. Since the
beginning of the pluralist life in Macedonia, especially in the
first month of the activities of some national radical parties,
as VMRO-DPMNE, many threats, even with physical
liquidation, were spoken out; some so called "defending
committees" even sentenced people to death. There were also
some small and naive activities of throwing "bombs", but all
of it was considered part of the political folklore.

The problems Macedonia faced since the proclamation of its

independence in the aspect of wide international recognition
and especially in the two years long dispute with Greece, the
official posture, the concrete steps of the Macedonian side
which was identified with President Gligorov, were sometimes
criticized harshly by the opposition.

The agreement with the Greeks, which opened the new

process of regulation of the mutual relations with the southern
neighbor, was accepted quite calmly by the public. The
majority expected that the agreement and its publication would

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cause abrupt reactions of the opposition parties and the
Macedonians proper. With this agreement, Macedonia
practically accepted what it had been denying decisively for
years. The forecast was that this would cause strong reaction
of the Macedonian public, which until then considered that
none of the Macedonian postures would change. However,
everything was reduced to severe verbal reactions and a
protest meeting in Shkup, which managed to gather only
several hundreds of people. There was no time for reactions
to Gligorov's visit to Belgrade, because the attempt occurred
the very next day.

Thus, the suppositions about the background of the attempt

were self-imposed, and this was first obvious in the reaction
of the foreign media. The majority of them, in one way or the
other, connected the "Macedonization " of the parties with the
attempt. The elements for such ascertainment were found on
the act of signing the "shameful" agreement with Greece, the
visit to Belgrade, the announcement to change the flag (which
happened in the meantime), the information that by the end of
the month, there will be conversations in New York between
Macedonia and Greece about the name of the state, on which
occasion the Greek side stressed that it will not allow the
application of the name of Macedonia in any variant. This
thesis was strengthened with the previous statements about
"treason and sale" of Macedonia and "Macedonian
revolutionaries", but also some events after the attempt, and
some pamphlets stating "Kiro is dead, deep be the soil", "the
blockade" caused by small rocks, of the train from Belgrade
to Thessaloniki, or the alleged statement of the "Ilinden"
organization (of Macedonians in Bulgaria) in Sofia's media
saying that any Macedonian should feel proud if he has
attempted against the life of the man who has sold the state
and the flag!

The first comments of the Macedonian press in regard to the

background of the attempt are restrained, even though there
are some signs which connect the act with the nationalist
right. Thus, e.g., Nova Makedonija, in an article signed by
the Deputy Editor in Chief, Erol Rizaov, states: "How
responsible do our politicians, their parties, associations, fora,
conventions, etc. feel for the offenses expressed after the
agreement was reached, and the reactions that such things may
cause among the mentally unstable or the politically blind
people with a foggy conscience?". Similar is the opinion of
"Puls's" Editor in Chief, Vasil Mickovski: "We believed that
Macedonia made a great step towards its democratization, and
we had almost forgotten the political excursions in the past
and we learned to consider them as different opinions. This is
why we haven't paid much attention to the threats which came

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from the political leaders and parties, different adventurers,
and their volunteers which appeared proposing radical
measures".

Former Macedonian politician, Krste Crvenkovski also

appeared saying: "The assassination attempt against Gligorov
is a repetition of tragic events from the twenties of this
century when Ivan Mihajlov's terrorist bands killed many
Macedonian revolutionaries on Sofia's streets, including some
of the leaders of the Ilinden insurrection. I believe that the
ideo-political inciters of this crime were the Mihajlov's
"grandchildren" here and abroad. Especially the ones from
Australia, who have threatened Gligorov that he would be
punished if he continued with his policy of "treason of the
national interests of the Macedonian people".

It is totally clear that the government controlled media have

placed the perpetrators on the side of the (national) domestic
opposition, and at the same time, they declared the leaders of
the opposition as inciters of the crime. Honestly, it was
precisely the opposition leaders, the "national", that reacted at
a very high level on the occasion of the attempt, distancing
themselves from the use of violence for political means. On
the other hand, as if the comments imply the need to "put
things back to normal". In fact, there are forecasts which state
that this attempt will be used by the government to impose
"the strong rule" and thus exclude the opposition, making it
disappear from the scene.

The way the attempt was perpetrated leaves much space for
dilemmas and different speculations. All experts have
evaluated that it was done by professionals. The car was
bought in the market and the property was not transferred
formally, meaning that the buyers remain unknown and even
no one knows how they look like. The car which was full of
explosives and sand bags which oriented the blow towards the
street, was most likely parked there at least a night before. On
the next day, when the President took the normal route (as if
it were the only one!) from his residence towards the building
of the Parliament, where his office is, the explosive was
activated by remote control. Twenty kilograms of explosive
burst only one meter away from the Mercedes which was not
armoured. A piece of the car-shell passed by Gligorov's head
and killed his driver. The pieces of metal wounded the
President who was sitting up front(!?) and his bodyguard who
was sitting behind. The professionalism applied launched the
wave of suspicions that it could have been ordered from the
neighboring countries, or that it is an act of the western
informative agencies to force Macedonia to enter the package
of solutions which doesn't foresee independent Macedonia.

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Speculations go so far that they don't exclude the possibility
that Gligorov were to be liquidated from the inside, because
he started being an obstacle for some people reaching for
power.

The situation following the attempt could be characterized as

"under control". People, naturally, are concerned with
Gligorov's health condition, and hardly wait for the official
communiques. On this occasion, contradictory information, as
was Bulgarian foreign minister's statement after meeting the
head of the Bulgarian secret service, that Gligorov's condition
is worse than presented, that he had gone blind on both eyes
and that his right hand was amputated, despite the
ascertainment of France-Press that Gligorov was conscious
and able to communicate, and if no complications occur he
could go home within a couple of weeks, only confuse the
public. This atmosphere was also contributed by the press
conference of the Ministry of Interior of Macedonia, in which
the dazed officials only caused more disorientation than
clarified some things regarding security issues. This was a
reason enough for the press to criticize the police for the poor
protection offered to the President, which as is supposed, is
the beginning of the attacks directed against Minister
Frckovski.

On the other hand, it is well known that the cohesive factor

inside the League for Macedonia was President Gligorov
hismelf. His absence, let's hope temporary, could cause
serious divisions in the coalition composed by the Social-
Democrats, the Liberals and the Socialists. The Liberals'
insisting on Frckovski's resignation, as one of the strong men
of the Social-Democrats, should not surprise anyone, because
there are many unsettled dues between them. This especially
having in mind that Gligorov will be replaced by the leader of
the Liberals, Stojan Andov, who is at the same time Speaker
of the Parliament. The couloirs stories claim that Andov is
already using Gligorov's cabinet and has started making use
of the President's authorizations. "Fokus" weekly, dedicating
its first page to him, ascertains: "After the attempt against
Gligorov, only one thing is sure: Stojan Andov is the new
tenant of Gligorov's cabinet". The same issue unkindly
criticizes the Ministry of Interior, and ascertains that only
Frckovski has an armoured official vehicle.

Gligorov, however criticized he was, has so far been the

stabilizing factor of the political life in Macedonia. He was the
common denominator of Macedonia's departure from
Yugoslavia without shocks, of the relative stability in
Macedonia so far. He was simply the cohesion force. But the
policy which is grounded on one person alone, along with the

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policy of not solving the problems but stalling them, is proven
to be the biggest weakness of the policy, which was often
qualified as - wise. The lack of the wise politics can cause
problems in the coalition, as well as the government and the
opposition. The continuation of the Greek-Macedonian
negotiations is in danger. The unsettled relations with
Yugoslavia, the obstacles in the reactions with Bulgaria and
the internal problems, could be the causes of destabilization.
Macedonia will be the biggest loser.

COMMUNIQUE - PPDSH

THE TERRORIST ATTACK CANNOT DESTABILIZE MACEDONIA

The assassination attempt against the President of Macedonia,

Kiro Gligorov, is an act of political terrorism which aims at
eliminating from the political scene a politician of great
political experience who managed to safeguard the stability
and peace in Macedonia, as well as incite future internal
contradictions which would imperil the fragile stability.
The attempt is directed against his personality and for the time
being there are no indications of a plot.

The way the attempt was perpetrated, without any precedents

in these region, manifested too much weaknesses in the
physical protection of the President, which was taken
advantage of by the criminals who with this act expressed
their dissatisfaction with the development tendencies in
Macedonia, but also their potential , which should not me
underestimated, to accomplish their projects which endeavours
the destabilization of their present political course.

This act of political terrorism will, nevertheless, not manage

to destabilize Macedonia, for all political subjects, as well as
all citizens have reached a consensus to unconditionally
safeguard peace in the Republic and the region.

COMMUNIQUE - PPD

ACT AGAINST THE PEACEFUL ORIENTATION

The Party for Democratic Prosperity (PPD) energetically

condemns the assassination attempt against the President of the
Republic, Kiro Gligorov, and qualifies it as a terrorist attack
without any precedent in this region.

PPD considers that this filthy act is at the same time an

attempt against the democratic processes in Macedonia,

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against the peace-wanting orientation, against the alternatives
of peace of this state and its citizens, against the tolerance and
inter-citizens, i.e. inter-ethnic harmony, one of the main
columns of the internal and exterior policies of Macedonia.

On this occasion, PPD, expressing its concern and that of the

whole Albanian public in Macedonia about this shameful
terrorist act, appeals at its membership and citizens in
Macedonia to safeguard peace, dignity, harmony and once
again reiterates the conviction that democracy in Macedonia
is a common value, orientation and fate of all citizens of this
state and will always have the support of all.

PPD wishes President Gligorov a fast recuperation and is

convinced that he will continue his mission of special
importance for the democracy and the peace of this country,
the Balkans, Europe, an orientation he was praised for by the
whole international public.

TRUSTEESHIP

WHISPERING TRUSTEESHIP

by KOHA / Prishtina

Since long ago, President Rugova has been repeating the

request for the introduction of international civil trusteeship in
Kosova. Last week, the same thing was repeated in the form
of item two, out of possible five, of the agenda and
conclusions of the Main Board of the LDK, chaired by Dr.
Rugova.

According to the external sources of KOHA, Dr. Rugova's

request is in full concordance with a several years' long
activity of a western NGO, the first one to present the idea,
and which, was offered to be tested with the Albanian and
Serbian sides.

According to the most recent version, offered by this specific

NGO to the Albanian party in Prishtina and the Serbian party
in Belgrade, the main idea of this projects would be to declare
Kosova a territory provisionally under the administration of
the UN. The content of such a mission could also be
understood as of the suggested acronym - UNTANS (United
Nations Temporary Authority for a Negotiated Settlement in
Kosovo).

According to the suggested procedure, the UN Secretary

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General, oriented with the consent of the self-proclaimed
Yugoslavia (quote -respecting the sovereignty and the
territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia -
unquote), would declare Kosova a territory under temporary
full or partial administration of the UN for a period or three
years, with the right to extend the mandate for additional three
years - or as many as needed - until the final solution reached
in negotiations between FRY officials and those of Kosova
(further referred to as "territory").

Still according to this proposal, which should be adopted by

the Security Council, UNTANS would be given the right by
the FRY to organize life in Kosova in those segments for
which the other party, FRY, would give its consent - it would
appoint the civilian administrator which would be accepted by
FRY and Kosova Albanian authorities. This person should
come from a state which has no expressed interests in the
region.

As soon as the administrator is appointed and he arrives to

Kosova, UNTANS mandate would start running. Initially, this
would be done by replacing Kosova's officials by those
coming from abroad (non-interested countries), and would
hire Albanian and Serb staff, according to the mandate (the
creation of human rights situation according to the Paris
Charter for a New Europe and the creation of conditions for
negotiations which should solve the status of Kosova).

The Administrator would preserve all the existing laws (but

those contrary to the Mandate), which would also imply the
laws forcibly imposed by Serbia. On the other hand, instead
of the existing Serbian police, a contingent of civilian
policemen (CivPol) chosen by the Administrator would come.
The military in Kosova would be reduced to the level
necessary for self-defence (according to Art. 51 of the UN
Charter), while the "civilian peacemakers" would be installed
in the territory, i.e. people form NGOs whose mission would
be to create bridges between the nationalities in conflict -
Albanians and Serbs.

At the same time, according to the project, a professional

negotiating team would be installed in Kosova, and whose task
would be to start negotiations between the confronted parties.
The UN flag would fly in Kosova, while the whole operation
would be covered by donations directed to the UN, meanwhile
one fourth of the taxes which would be gathered in Kosova
would go to the Temporary Authority.

This idea is not a recent one. The truth is that during this
century, trusteeship became a component of the decolonization

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process, especially the one in Africa. Nevertheless, differing
from trusteeship, which expressively was a means of gradual
decolonization, the basic idea of UNTANS would be the
application of a peaceful conservation of the present situation
(preservation of Serbian laws, the recognition of FRY as
successor of SFRY, its domination *over Kosova, the
recognition of the process of the des-institutionalization of
Kosova as a fait accompli), as of a state, in which, with the
help of civilian peacekeepers, negotiations could be organized.

This idea is linked to the UN precisely in times when the

whole mission of the world's organization failed over and
over again in Croatia and Bosnia and when it became clear
that the efficiency of the regional organizations (NATO) could
double or more the efforts to find peace.

UNTANS's proposer sent three versions to the Albanian and

Serb parties. On the Serbian side, the informed were the then
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vladislav Jovanovic, and the
Minister for Minorities and Human Rights, Margit Savovic,
who also replied in writing. According to the author of the
proposal, Ibrahim Rugova signed the Albanian reply, after
"complicated consultations with the LDK leadership". The
lack of balance (in writing) of the collocutors - on one hand
President Rugova as the leader of Kosova Albanians and on
the other side the minister who apart from speaking to the TV
audience has nothing else in her hands - maybe is the best
illustrator of how and who has seriously taken the proposal
for international trusteeship.

The NGO is now awaiting for the third round of replies by

Rugova and Savovic.

SERBIAN REMARKS:

1. UNTANS threatens the territorial integrity and sovereignty

of FRY and in fact represents an alien trusteeship.
"The 1990 Constitution of Serbia, as well as the 1992
Constitution of FRY foresee the territorial autonomy for
Kosovo and Metohija, as well as Vojvodina. This enables the
citizens to enjoy their specific national, historical, cultural and
other (educational, economic, scientific, demographic) rights
in accordance with the highest standards of the international
community.

The only element that these two autonomies are missing is

statehood. The reason is that FRY, whose undisputable part is
Kosovo and Metohija, has full sovereignty over its territorial
integrity".

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2.FRY was suspended from the UN and other bodies.
"We are willing to cooperate with the states, members of the
UN, separately as well as with individual governmental or
non-governmental organizations, but to have such a
cooperation with the UN we must have an equal treatment and
participation in the bodies of this organization".

3. The presence of the Administration would not increase the

civil and minority rights in the Territory.

"Since Albanians have all the rights and guaranteed

autonomy, the presence of the Authority changes nothing.
It is a matter of Albanians whether they choose to enjoy these
rights or not, based on secessionist tendencies..."

4. UNTANS offers Albanians precisely what they are after,

the internationalization of Kosova's issue. We consider this an
intrusion in FRY's internal affairs.

5. We needn't something like UNTANS. The only thing

needed is to make Albanians conscious of the necessity to start
the dialogue.

ALBANIAN REMARKS

1. The proposal prejudges the solution, i.e, that Kosova

should remain inside FRY.

2. Since UNTANS refers to Kosova's issue, it should also be

a contractual party (It is also requested that the Memorandum
should state the respect for the territorial integrity of the
Republic of Kosova).

3. The document should refer to the UN Charter, Chapters

XII-XIII on trusteeship.

4. There shouldn't be any referrals to the legitimate right of

the FRY on individually and collective defense guaranteed by
Article 51 (It is also requested not to refer to the territorial
integrity of FRY, but to make referrals to the Constitution of
the Republic of Kosova).

5. The Memorandum does not precise what would happen

when UNTANS mandate expires.

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KOSOVA

PALE MEMORY

by YLBER HYSA / Prishtina

"There is a tendency to forget that in 1989, when Serbia

adopted the new Constitution, it was then that it became a
whole. The Assembly of Kosova, where the majority of the
members were Albanians, voted in favor of this Constitution.
This was done democratically, but later, when the Yugoslav
crisis opened, the separatist tendencies in Kosova revived".

This is what Milosevic declared to BBC. This is the second

time that the Serbian leaders, with such demagogy and irony,
refer to a tragic event, so decisive for the crisis which
exploded in Kosova and which was the initial spark of what
is today known as the Yugoslav crisis. Some time ago,
interviewed by KOHA, the ideologue of the Serbian Socialist
Party, Mihajlo Markovic, declared that "it was the fault of
your MPs, who voted in favor of the amendments and the
unification with Serbia".

Maybe this can sound strange to a foreigner, but it will not

sound strange to those who remember well what really
happened. It was the time of deep turmoil in the Kosovan
political scene when pressure and violence were applied by
police and military forces, to change the constitution. This is
why this constitution is known as the "Constitution of Tanks".
In this period, according to some sources, there were around
40 thousand military troops in Kosova, which at that time
comprised one fourth of the fantastic military effective of what
was known as Yugoslav People's Army, in the times when
Kosova made up only 3% of the total territory of the former
SFRY! But, continuing with chronology. First, in regard to
the irregularities and pressure before the celebration of the
session, something that will create a special picture. In the
appeal presented to the Constitutional Court of Kosova by late
academician Gazmend Zajmi and attorney Bajram Kelmendi,
they elaborated seven forms of pressure in relation to the
approval of the Serbian amendments for the annulment of the
Kosovan autonomy. These were the following: The political
macro-pressure on constitutional and political organs through
(Serb) meetings of protest in Serbia and all over; the
intervention and monopolist arbitration of the central party
organs, as well as the abuse of the "democratic centralism" as
a factive derogation of the constitutional right of free choice
of the citizens, as e.g. in the 17th meeting of the Central
Committee of the Communist League of Yugoslavia, the fate
of the autonomy was sealed and similar; the harsh tagging of

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the political debate on the Constitution (e.g. Borislav Jovic:
"The opposers of Serbia's unification are now isolated",
Politika, 6 January 1989); Threats and imposed staffing
changes; at the eve of the declaration, the state-party dictate
was imposed (Raif Dizdarevic, President of the Presidency of
SFRY would publicly say: "The constitutional changes in
Serbia must be ended by all means"), and something similar
was said by the member of the Presidency, Lazar Mojsov and
many others from the political leadership; a special form of
pressure was the declaration proper, in conditions of imposed
martial law. "It is not allowed in the constitutional-juridical
plane to make any decisions in conditions of external
psychological pressure, which implies the increased pressure,
the threat and application of physical state force outside the
juridical-constitutional framework which restrict the spread
and application of the physical state violence" - was the
content of the appeal. Finally, the seventh form of pressure
was the direct psychological pressure on the delegates of the
Assembly of Kosova in informative talks just before the
session and the different, serious threats, and also inside and
during the session proper, through the presence on an
incredible number of "non-delegates" coming from different
societal-political structures with the delegates. All of these are
corroborated by a series of archive material, video shots,
photographs, newspapers, statements of the members of the
Constitutional Commission of the Assembly of the SAP of
Kosova, the minutes of the session. There was another very
illustrative moment, described in the report of the Belgrade
daily "Politika", dated 24.03.1989, stating that after MP
Melihate Tërmkolli discussed, insisting that the amendments
were not harmonized and as such should not be given
approval and consent, Vukasin Jokanovic, the then Speaker of
the Parliament (and present Federal Minister of Interior)
reacted by saying: "...MP Tërmkolli is denying all postures of
all the organs of Kosova, Serbia and Yugoslavia. She either
is not informed, or she is into something else". In conditions
of the state of emergency and such political mentality, it is
very clear how serious allusion would this stigmatism and
disqualification represent. But, irregularities happened in the
session proper, celebrated on March 23, 1989. Even though
it was said that there was quorum, the total number of
delegates was never ascertained, i.e."the attendance of the
majority of delegates of all chambers" was never established,
and the votes "in favor" were never counted. Article 339 of
the Constitution of Kosova, which was still in force while the
disputable decision was made, foresaw that "the consent to
change the Constitution of SFRY and that of SRS will be
granted by the Assembly of the SAP of Kosova if the majority
of two thirds of delegates of all the chambers (there were
three chambers) votes in favor". According to Art. 152:1 of

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the Constitution of SAP of Kosova, the delegates have the
independence to vote and declare themselves. In fact, from a
series of breaches, the one referring to Article 230:1 of the
Constitution of Kosova is specific, because the disputed
decision was never published, despite the obligation. On the
other hand, Article 399 of the Constitution of Kosova
determined the procedure of adopting a decision, in fact it
determined that the majority made up of three thirds of all
delegates of the Assembly means "special majority" and not
"voting majority". From this, it can be ascertained that is was
a constitutional obligation to precisely determine whether that
kind of majority voted in favor. This especially after the post-
festum analysis of the session was made, when photographs
showed that many of the people sitting in the room were not
delegates, but policemen, and what is worse, they are seen
raising their hands, voting.

All these complaints were strong grounds for the

Constitutional Court of Kosova (K. #54/90, Prishtina,
27.06.1990) to initiate "The Procedure of Evaluation of the
Constitutionality of the Decision on the Consent for the
Adoption of the Amendments IX to XLIX to the Constitution of
the SR of Serbia, on March 23, 1989". The Courts ascertained
that the issue should be discussed pursuant Art. 229 and 230:1
of the Constitution of Kosova, because the disputed decision
was not published, despite the obligation, therefore it could
not enter in force without its publication! This verdict was
signed by the President of the Constitutional Court of Kosova,
Dr. Petar Stanisic.

What happened afterwards? The Constitutional Court of

Kosova, on 27 July 1990, presided by Petar Stanisic, and with
the participation of judges Zeqir Marmullaku, Nikë Lumezi,
Jelica Kajtazi, Zoran Tabakovic, Sejfedin Bakalli and Zait
Xhemajli, grounded on Art. 372 of the Constitution of
Kosova, anulled the Decision to give consent to the
approbation of the Amendments!, and point two of this
verdict was that this decision should be published in the
"Official Gazette of SAP of Kosova"!

This verdict was prepared, but was never signed because the
Parliament of Serbia decided (and according to the
Constitution of SFRY it had not this right) to suspend the
Constitutional Court of Kosova!, In fact, the same day of this
act, the gathered citizens protested against this authoritarian
decision, and this cost Kosova another 30 mortal victims. This
was an original reply to this voting. This is also the end of the
story about "the democratic decision of the Albanian
representatives to unify with Serbia". This is maybe the best
reply to Milosevic, regarding the anatomy of the loss of

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Kosova's autonomy. And we believe that his mind has not
gone so blank in these past six years. But, the thick skin of
those who decided about the autonomy of Kosova seems not
to respect the philosophy of law and justice, despite the fact
that this is not addressed to them. This kind of communication
can't bring back justice, but at least can prove that the
deprivation from the autonomy was far away from what is
known to be democratic...

KOSOVA

COLONISTS BROUGHT LOOTING

by IBRAHIM REXHEPI / Prishtina

"They didn't come today" - a seller repeated several times

on Tuesday, market day in Prishtina. This seller was under
the impression of what happened one week ago, when the
financial police, assisted by the regular police, conducted the
biggest looting ever in Kosova's capital. It is not known how
much are the goods worth, but for sure, it never happened
before at such a scale: the producers and sellers were
confiscated fruits, vegetables, dairy products, furniture,
construction material, technical goods, etc. "All of these are
destined for the colonizers, because their poor country can't
sustain them", was the repeated refrain of the shocked seller.

Really, did the most serious and drastic looting wave come
together with the colonists? The responsible at the Council for
the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) state
that everything started on August 11, when first colonists
came. There is not one day, not to mention market days
throughout Kosova, in which the police raids are not
organized, when all goods are confiscated. The pretexts are
different: starting from the lack of different documents (sale
permissions, customs certificates, veterinarian certificates,
etc.) and to the extent that the goods are not exposed in the
place they should, that the people are dealing with hard
currency, etc.

However, it is very strange to see that the affected do not

complain nor do they initiate a juridical procedure to get back
the goods or request to be paid back. Everything ends in the
CDHRF weekly reports and the newspapers. This is the
compensation which satisfies the damaged. The possibilities
are much bigger, even the return of the goods, but this
requires a long procedure, difficult and complicated, which
doesn't always end to the satisfaction of the affected. The case

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of a private enterprise is characteristic. Based on the turnover,
it is one of the largest in Kosova. It's confiscated goods worth
600 thousand DEM were returned one year and a half later,
and only thanks to bribery.

At the LDK Emigration Sector which follows all movements

since the first day the colonists started coming in, they say
that between the 10th of August and the 12th of September
alone, owners of enterprises, sellers etc. were looted goods
worth 391,5 thousand DEM. Their diary evidenced that
during this period, the colonists were distributed 92 tons of
commodities, which they suspect were stolen from Albanians.
In some municipalities, Istog, Gllogovc, Ferizaj and other
places, special taxes were imposed, ranging between 100 and
1000 dinars, paid into the funds used to finance the
colonizers. The workers which are still employed in public
enterprises - state owned, are formed to pay a day's wage, so
there is more money for the ones who fled war, which they
themselves wanted.

It is true that the damage is quite big, but that the figures
which are mentioned in different reports of associations and
institutions of Kosova, or even in the Albanian media, are
only estimations. The impression is that these figures only
contain the partial damage which is caused. Let's just mention
that one week ago, on market day in Mitrovica, the police
blocked the market and the areas where private shops and
artisans are located. On that day, clothes worth 70 thousand
DEM, potatoes and peppers worth 10 thousand, then
construction material worth 60 thousand were confiscated,
carpenters were fined with a total of 8 thousand DEM and the
police took away a total of 48 thousand dinars from private
shops owners. "Ashti commerce" in Prizren was confiscated
a total of 3.850 liters of kitchen oil, as the CDHRF claims,
without any reason. All the quantity was sent to the kitchens
where the food for colonists is prepared.

The Albanian property was, so far, attacked only in police

actions. However, there are cases in which Albanians are
evicted from their apartments, or their weekend cabins. So
far, four apartments, previously inhabited by Albanians were
settled by colonists, and the same thing happened with 9
resort cabins in Banjska (Mitrovica), all owned by Albanians.
The reason: they are available for accommodation right now.
Before the wave of refugees arrived, the sellers, dissatisfied
with the new imposed tax by the municipal authorities, striked
for two days. It was the first time in the past five years that
Albanians openly opposed a decision imposed by the Serbian
organs. There is no opposition of any kind for different taxes
which are being applied, without the knowledge of the

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citizens, as is the case with the special water tax. The
Albanians are avoiding to pay the tax, however, the rumor is
that the fines will be three or four times bigger than the fee.

All complaints were stressed only in the press, in the press

conferences of our parties, or trade union, in which it was
stated that the population was being fined for the needs of
financing the construction of the Serbian Orthodox Church in
Prishtina. Or, now, in order to keep the colonists, whose
number differs depending on the source, there are massive
looting of shops, enterprises or even sellers in the market and
on the street.

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