Through an article, the Serbian-language portal "vaseljenska.net"claimed that the Kosovo Police beat Serbian children just because they belong to this community."
"SCANDAL in JARINJE! While N1 and Nova S broadcast Kurti's lies that justify violence against Serbs, Albanian police beat Serbian children just because they are Serbs", is the title of the article published on April 11.
What does the article say?
According to the claim, Kosovo Police stopped five minors and one adult, citizens of Serbia, at the border crossing with Serbia, in Jarinje. It is alleged that the incident occurred on the night between Saturday and Sunday, when they were returning from a football match in Serbia. The article states that the Police brutally pulled them out of the car and that, according to their parents, there was mistreatment for hours.
"After Red Star symbols and the image of Stefan Nedeljković, who tragically died in Banjska, were found in the vehicle, the so-called Kosovo Police used this as justification for further terror.", the article says.
Then, a person was quoted as the father of one of the minors, who, without naming him, said that "Four young people, three of whom are minors, were physically abused and beaten by the police."
After this claim, the article continues with "attacks" on official Belgrade from the "political scene in Pristina".
"Yesterday, Albin Kurti told a series of untruths regarding several military bases on Serbian territory. These claims, which the Serbian state authorities reject as completely disinformation and an attempt to criminalize the Serbian army, but also the entire people of Serbia, were reported as breaking news in certain media outlets, mainly N1 and Nova S.", the article states, which continues that these actions by Pristina "they are creating a dangerous atmosphere". It has also been said that fan stickers in the hands of minors are being presented as "terrorist materials".
The truth?
The portal in question has not provided any facts other than the above-mentioned claims. It has not provided any notification from the Kosovo authorities, nor are there any photographs or videos that would prove the claim.
What is known?
Without specifying details, the Kosovo Police's 24-hour report on April 11th stated that a vehicle had been stopped in Jarinje on April 10th and that spray paint and around 900 pamphlets with nationalist content had been found during the search. It stated that the case had been processed in a regular procedure.
On April 10, the news agency "kosovapress.com"reported with sources within the security institutions that "six young Serbs were transporting materials with nationalistic and inflammatory content".
"According to the same sources, the materials contained hate speech and glorified figures linked to the attack in Banjska. From what can be seen on the posters, photos of which were provided by KosovaPress, the symbols of the ultra-nationalist group “Delije Sever” from Zvecan are visible, intertwined with the portrait of Stefan Nedeljkovic, mentioned as one of the people killed during the terrorist attack in Banjska, Zvecan.", it was said in the article (see here).
Other media outlets have also written about the ban on similar claims, such as "rtklive.com"and "telegrafi.com".
If you search for the same title on Google, no similar claims published by more credible media or sources appear (see here).
The same content was also found posted by the Russian propaganda network "albania.news-pravda.com"in Albanian, which cited a Telegram channel in Serbian as its source"BALKANARY".
Also, there has been no announcement from the Kosovo Police Inspectorate that it is investigating the case (see here).
In Banjska, Zvečan, on 24 September 2023, an armed attack was carried out by a Serbian group against the Kosovo Police. The Kosovo authorities describe it as a terrorist attack. Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was previously killed there, while several attackers from the Serbian group also died during the clash. On 11 September 2024, the Kosovo Special Prosecution announced that 45 people had been indicted for this attack (see here).
Analyze:
A Serbian portal claimed without evidence that Kosovo Police beat Serbian children in Jarinje.
The article does not provide facts, photographs, or official reactions.
Meanwhile, "Kosovapress.com" reported that some young people in Jarinje were found to have materials containing incitement to hatred.
Meanwhile, according to the Police, people with nationalist materials have been detained.
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info evaluates this claim as a "Conspiracy Theory".
Reasoning:
"Conspiracy theories" are considered to be informational content that contains a false or unverifiable description of a phenomenon, event or person, presenting it as part or the result of a secret plan ("conspiracy"). The characteristic of these contents is that they present a series of claims, presented as facts, between which cause-effect relationships are established, without providing any reliable evidence.