Kosovo Arrests More MPs for Disrupting Parliament

Vetevendosje MP Fisnik Ismaili being taken away by police on Monday night | Photo: BIRN

Police in Kosovo have now detained more than a third of opposition MPs following Monday’s unrest, when MPs again disrupted parliament by setting off tear gas on two separate occasions.

Three opposition parties have vowed to block the work of parliament until the Kosovo government of Isa Mustafa scraps Brussels-brokered agreements with Serbia and a border demarcation deal with Montenegro.

Police arrested Glauk Konjufca, chariman of the opposition Vetevendosje parliamentary group, as he walked out of parliament around midnight, after he told the media that he “personally threw the [tear] gas.”

Police on Monday night also arrested five other MPs, Aida Derguti and Besa Baftiu of Vetevendosje, and Pal Lekaj, Teuta Haxhiu and Time Kadriaj, from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK.

Two other Vetevendosje MPs, Fisnik Ismaili and Faton Topalli, were meanwhile arrested for a second time for violating the terms of their house arrests when they showed up in parliament.

In parallel to the incidents in the assembly, opposition supporters clashed with riot police in the streets of Pristina, resulting in the arrest of three protesters, according to police.

A total of eight opposition MPs were arrested in Monday’s incidents, bringing the total number of those under arrest to 13 out of 31 Vetevendosje, AAK and Nisma MPs. The assembly has 120 members in all.

Those arrested previously were Albin Kurti, Albulena Haxhiu and Ismajl Kurteshi of Vetevendosje, Donika Kadaj-Bujupi, from the AAK, and Haxhi Shala, from Nisma.

“The persecution of the opposition has reached a magnitude that cannot be tolerated any longer and the government has gone so far that a normal solution to the political crisis is hardly thinkable,” Vetevendosje said in a statement.

In an unexpected twist, the president of the assembly, Kadri Veseli, on Monday accused the now sacked head of security in parliament of cooperating with the opposition to sneak tear gas into the chamber.

“While the rest of us have tried to stop them… the security chief flirted with the opposition,” Vesely told ruling majority MPs in the assembly after the session was interrupted for a second time by tear gas.

Naming the official as Fatmir Sheqiri, the president of the assembly said that he had been discharged a week ago.

President of the assembly Kadri Veseli has previously served as head of Kosovo secret services | Photo: BIRN

Police spokesperson Baki Kelani told BIRN that Sheqiri was transferred to another job at a police station in Pristina “around two weeks ago”.

Both MPs and analysts have queried how tear gas was being sneaked into the assembly, despite heightened security measures.

It appears that the removal of Sheqiri as security chief has had no impact, however.

Monday’s chaos prompted the vice-president of the European Parliament, Ulrike Lunacek, to condemn the use of violence and appeal for political dialogue.

However, some experts, like Bodo Weber, a senior associate at the Democratization Policy Council, a US-based global initiative to promote accountability in Western foreign policy, have blamed Western interference for the deadlock in Kosovo.

He has argued that outside Western factors have “discredited themselves as potential honest brokers for a solution” by siding with the ruling majority.

Kosovo riot police charging in the streets of Pristina | Photo: BIRN/Atdhe Mulla

The opposition MPs have been letting off tear gas as part of their campaign against the agreements with Serbia and Montenegro for more than three months.

In particular, they object to the planned formation of an Association of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo, which they say will give the Serbian minority too much power.

Arrested opposition MPs:

1. Albin Kurti – Vetevendosje
2. Glauk Konjufca – Vetevendosje
3. Albulena Haxhiu – Vetevendosje
4. Aida Dërguti – Vetevendosje
5. Besa Baftiu – Vetevendosje
6. Faton Topalli – Vetevendosje
7. Fisnik Ismaili – Vetevendosje
8. Ismajl Kurteshi – Vetevendosje
9. Donika Kadaj-Bujupi – AAK
10. Pal Lekaj – AAK
11. Teuta Haxhiu – AAK
12. Time Kadrijaj – AAK
13. Haxhi Shala – Nisma