Hunger Strike – day 6 (Prishtinë, 06.06.2013) We, the four strikers, continue to be in good health and morale, despite our physical fatigue. We would like to publicly thank Ambassador Sylejman Selim’s wife for visiting us with her children yesterday. However, the pleas by the Ambassador and his family to stop the hunger strike for the sake of our well-being must regretfully be declined. After experiencing tremendous grief and frustration last night due to the atrocious claims by the news website “indexonline” that we supposedly have been eating and drinking, we must say that we feel much more at peace today. It would have been fair “journalism” from them to take the time and meet with us so that they could see our deteriorating physical condition first hand, instead of taking photos from the prison door across the street. Despite the fact that other media outlets have denounced the claims by “indexonline”, we have filed a complaint with the Council for print media. We also just read experts from a daily newspaper of a television interview by the Head of EULEX, Mr. Bernd Borchardt. Among other things, Mr. Borchardt had stated that “the Kosova Parliament must decide whether or not the mission of EULEX is necessary in Kosova.” In principal we are not striking against EULEX or its mission, because the fragile institutions of Kosova need professional help and support in order to function effectively. It is instead the anti-Kosova EULEX and the selective practices of members such as Prosecutor Salustro that we are striking against. We ask Mr. Borchardt to meet with the Mayor of Suhareka, Mr. Blerim Kuqi, so that he may be personally informed of the mistreatment and pressure placed upon him by Prosecutor Salustro forcing him to falsely testify against his former comrades. Then, review the witness in the case of “Kleçka” for further proof of the injustices taking place. But with regard to the right of the Assembly to take the relevant decision, we are confident that our Parliament is equally autonomous, because the pressures of "internationals" against it have already been flagrant and outrageous, as was the recent case with the US Embassy in Prishtina. Mr. Borchardt’s other pronouncement that “…prosecutors and judges of EULEX in Kosova have completed fifteen cases, eight cases against crimes committed by Albanians and seven against those committed by Serbs.” I wish Mr. Borchardt had not been misinformed by his subordinates with this data, because we have never been informed of the fact that there have been eight cases against crimes committed by Albanians. But, according to the data provided by Mr. Borchardt, it would appear that Prosecutor Salustro had to mount a process against former KLA commanders, namely the murder of the well-known criminal Bullatoviq, in order to equalize the crimes of the Serbian armed forces and the KLA in Kosova. Appalling is it not? And frankly, we have no need for EULEX if this is its true mission. The people of Kosova are disappointed and discouraged because of Salustro, because they had hoped that EULEX would work to combat organized crime and corruption, as the competent institutions of the Republic of Kosova have been captured by supporters of the Milosevic regime and “friends” of organized crime and thieves in power. We will maintain our strike until Ambassador Sylejman Selimi and the others that have been wrongfully held in custody are released. We are still hopeful that Mr. Borchardt will come visit us and listen to our reasoning; even though he has yet to respond to a letter sent to him by Mr. Ibrahim Kelmendi. Strikers, (Blerim Muriqi, Xhemë GJura, Murat Bajrami, Ibrahim Kelmendi) Translated from Albanian on June 6, 2013
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:58:53 +0000
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