UNMIK/PR/1148
PRISTINA – PDSRSG Charles Brayshaw today visited religious sites and homes attacked during the recent rioting in Kosovo and visited a temporary shelter for people displaced by the violence.
Mr. Brayshaw travelled to Prizren, where he first met with the Regional Representative and the Municipal President Eqrem Kryeziu. He then went to see several houses and religious sites burnt in the rioting, including Sveti Archangel Monastery, Sveti Djordje Church and the Bogoslovje Seminary.
He also met with some of the victims of the violence, who found temporary shelter in the KFOR base in Prizren. The PDSRSG listened carefully to their descriptions of how they lost their homes and the injuries they suffered in the attacks. “Listening to what you say convinces me even more than ever that this was a terrible crime,” he told those assembled.
Mr. Brayshaw expressed his disgust and his sorrow about the recent riots and stressed the major task ahead to repair the physical and psychological damage caused by the rioting. “I was very pleased to hear from the Municipal President’s commitment to work with everyone to rebuild this damage,” the PDSRSG told the press outside the UNMIK regional office. “And I was also very, very pleased to see the commitment from the Kosovo Government to allocate the funding that we will need to carry out the physical reconstruction.”
The Principal Deputy of the SRSG further stressed that, “all of us must work together to rebuild the trust that is needed in Kosovo society. And all of us must work together as well to identify and bring to justice those criminals elements that are responsible for this damage to Kosovo.”
Mr. Brayshaw condemned the violence, saying, “I think it is absolutely clear that this violence didn’t just happen. It was not just an earthquake that happened. It was planned by people. And those people must be identified and brought to justice.”