Albanians protesting in Preševo

6 January 2009 PREŠEVO -- Preševo Valley Albanians are calling for the release of the members of the Gnjilane Group of the Kosovo Liberation Army arrested on suspicion of war crimes. The mayors of Bujanovac and Preševo meet with ministers in the wake of the arrest of the Gnjilane Group (FoNet, archive)The protests will last until every single Albanian arrested on the orders of the War Crimes Prosecution on December 26 is released from custody, says Memet Azizi, one of the protest organizers.

“We want the authorities in Belgrade to release all the suspects on bail because they did not commit the war crimes that the prosecution has accused them of,” says Azizi. The protest will serve to send a message to the public and condemn members of the police and Gendarmerie for their heavy-handed and “spectacular” arrest operation, during which Albanian property was destroyed, the protestors say. The atmosphere has been further charged by an appeal sent to civil rights organizations yesterday.

The appeal was signed by MP Riza Halimi and Preševo and Bujanovac Municipal Presidents Nader Sadiku and Šaip Kamberi. The signatories have called on the organizations to send their representatives to visit the imprisoned Albanians to hear from them how they were physically and mentally abused during the arrests, thus breaching international conventions on human rights and freedoms.