UN envoy in Kosovo condemns attack on convoy escorting 2 Serbs

A senior United Nations official in Kosovo today strongly condemned an attack on two Serbian members of a defence team accredited to the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY).

“I am outraged and disappointed,” said Søren Jessen-Petersen, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative. “It is important for the people of Kosovo to understand that their quest for justice can only be achieved through the court of justice, not by extra-judicial means.”

UN Police in the region said Thursday morning a group of villagers near the city of Prizren blocked a road in front of a convoy of UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), which was escorting the two members of the defence team.

The UNMIK police tried to clear the road peacefully, but the village residents responded by throwing rocks at the convoy, officials said, adding that three police officers and a translator were wounded in the attack. Some villagers were also wounded as a result of police action.

The UNMIK police are now investigating the incident.