Za "Time" from Lake Gazivode
On Friday (September 4), thick white smoke billowed over a forest near a lake Gas pipelines - it was dust from the demolition of several buildings in the village of Rezala and the Krasići hamlet by the lake. From afar, one could see the excavator demolishing the house of the Đurić family. They, hoping that the demolition would not happen, left some furniture in the house. Those things were taken away by the truck of the company whose machinery was in the field. The road to the village of Rezala was blocked. Deputy commander of the Kosovo Police for the northern region, Veton Elšani tells "Vreme" that it is for security reasons, and that only vehicles were allowed through that day of KFOR, KP and heavy machinery, as well as EULEX, but only in the afternoon.
On the day when the deadline for "releasing property" in Rezale expired, the deadline also expired in the village of Kovače. Among those affected is the Đukić family, whose house is still standing at the time of writing because the heavy machinery did not reach the village. The Đukić family left behind orchards full of fruit - plums, pears, apples, quinces, blackberries - and a house with empty white walls, torn-off doors, a sink and a side table. The yard is still guarded by four dogs.
The company "Ibar-Lepenac" claims that these houses are its property. The Đukić and Đurić families sued the company, seeking the determination of a temporary measure that would prevent the demolition of buildings or changes to the existing situation on the ground until the end of the court proceedings, Zubin Potok INFO wrote. However, their requests were rejected.
There is no official information on the number of houses that were demolished on Friday. A day later, KoSSev confirmed that at least nine houses were demolished, as well as the village hall of fame. According to unofficial information, from June, when the demolition began, to the conclusion of this issue, more than 20 buildings have been demolished.
(NE)PROTECTED CITIZENS
Lawyer Predrag Miljković represents part of the owners whose buildings were demolished.
"For the citizens whom I represent, we filed both a lawsuit and a proposal to establish a security measure. It is a provisional protection. However, the court rejected us both times with almost the same explanation - that we did not prove the necessity and urgency of the measures. And, the necessity and urgency is clear. The competent authorities started the demolition immediately after the refusal. The proceedings are still before the court, but the damage done so far is significant," says Miljković for "Vreme" and adds that citizens cannot complain to anyone without the proceedings started "upside down" from the beginning.
"If 'Ibar-Lepenac' claims to be the owner and requests the release of its immovable property, it can request it through the court, and the court orders my clients to release the immovable property. When the judgment becomes final, they can initiate the execution procedure," emphasizes Miljković. "'Ibar-Lepenac' cannot demolish on its own, and there is no decision. A notice was only issued to remove the cottages within fifteen days. There is no other order or decision by which they implement it, so they can say: 'Here, we have the court's verdict.'" Miljković finds it even more strange that the police provide protection when there is no original decision either.
"According to whose orders and orders did the police provide protection by engaging special units and other personnel. This is essentially what 'Ibar-Lepenac' carried out. It is the criminal offense of 'autonomy' - when you take matters into your own hands and administer justice in the way you think it should be", concludes Miljković.
WHO IS SCHEDULED?
Milica Andrić Rakić, executive director of the New Social Initiative (NSI), tells "Vreme" that the problem lies primarily with the prosecutor's office and the police because "they are not doing their job properly."
"The rest of the system has failed: the police and the prosecutor's office. The police cannot provide assistance to the authority or the public company because we do not know who is doing the demolition. That is, we see that they are the 'Ibar-Lepenca' trucks because the logo is clearly displayed on them, but they deny in court that it is them. Furthermore, they claim that the Ministry is doing it, and in fact, according to the law, only the municipality could do the demolition," says Andrić Rakić and adds that, if the system works, the police prevent the demolition without a court order. The Prosecutor's Office should prosecute people who potentially abuse their position. "Now abuses are already happening in 'Ibar-Lepenac', and in the Ministry's inspectorate, and in the police that provide assistance, but the prosecutor's office is not responding," she says and emphasizes: "We have a complete collapse of the executive system in Kosovo."
We asked Faruk Mujka, director of the company "Ibar-Lepenac", about how many buildings they claim to be on their property, and who implements the demolition decisions, and considering that after the European Union's request to stop the demolition, they continued with actions, which is why they did not fulfill what the EU publicly demanded of them. Until the publication of this text, we have not received any answers.
Andrić Rakić reminds that there are people on Lake Gazivode whose land was expropriated by the communist government in the 1970s when the lake was built, and that the de-expropriation procedure was initiated and the property was partially returned to the original owners. The problem is that the decisions on expropriation made before the war are in the cadastral documentation that is in Serbia.
According to our interlocutor, this should have been resolved through dialogue - Belgrade and Pristina reached the Cadastre Agreement back in September 2011, when Borislav Stefanović was the head of the negotiating team on behalf of Belgrade.
"A tripartite commission consisting of cadastre experts - a Serb, an Albanian and a representative of the international community - should have been formed to decide who is the real owner. This problem is particularly pronounced in Serbian communities, and with the case of Gazivoda it became visible", explains Andrić Rakić.
He adds that, even if the "illegal" demolition is abandoned and legal proceedings are initiated, there must be some political solution to the conflicting information from the cadastre. If the courts will accept data from the Kosovo cadastre, then according to the owners of those plots registered in the Serbian system, it will be unfairly established that their property is not theirs.
"That is the second level of problem that we will face when the first cases of private parcels come to court, if they come to court," Andrić Rakić points out.
In Zvečan and North Mitrovica, requests are coming for the release of property from the company "Trepča jug". It has already taken over several buildings and requested the release of three bars. Our interlocutor emphasizes that this is also a consequence of the lack of synchronization of data from the cadastre.
"There is the key. There are people who bought the 'Trepče' property in the 1990s. Their documentation in the Serbian cadastre is correct and it can be seen, but it needs to be verified in the Kosovo system. This did not happen, even though the Cadastre Agreement was one of the first to be signed," says Andrić Rakić and adds: "That's why today in Kosovo companies are demolishing and taking over property."
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