Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
"The beating of Mladen Gjosić is a new wave of intimidation of Serbs in Kosovo and the consequences of Albin Kurti's anti-Serb policy," is the title of the press release issued today (July 6) by the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia.
In this statement, this office reacted to the report of the beating of a Serbian citizen last night (July 5) in Bërnica near Pristina, claiming without any facts that the incident occurred for ethnic reasons.
What is wrong with this claim?
After conducting research, hibrid.info has found the statement of the citizen who was allegedly beaten last night, given to the Serbian language media outlet “Kosovo-online.com”. In this statement, the person in question provided details about the case. He stated that they had previously had problems with the suspect, as mentioned in the “Kosovo-online.com” article, regarding the work they do – “selling vegetables”.
He never mentioned that the incident occurred for ethnic reasons, as claimed in the aforementioned office's statement.
Link to the article published on the website of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia:
https://kim.gov.rs/lat/v5621.php
Part of the press release from this office, translated into Albanian:
Last night's beating of Mladen Gjoshiq from Bërnica is a new wave of intimidation and pressure against the Serbian people in Kosovo and a consequence of Albin Kurti's anti-Serbian policy, whose every statement generates new ethnically motivated incidents.
What does the Kosovo-Online.com article say?
In the village of Bërnica, near Pristina, 38-year-old Mlladen Gjoshiq was beaten last night. He was beaten in the market, in the presence of his son, by an Albanian from the same village and his nose was broken. Instead of the attacker, Kosovo police initially detained Gjoshiq and his father. Gjoshiq tells Kosovo-Online that his father has recently had problems with the attacker regarding the sale of vegetables. (see here)
What did the Kosovo Police say in the 24-hour report regarding this event?
SERIOUS BODILY INJURY
· Village of Bërnicë, Prishtina 05.07.2024 – 21:10. The Kosovar male suspect was arrested after he physically attacked the Kosovar male victim after a dispute. The victim received medical treatment. By decision of the prosecutor, the suspect was taken into custody.
The statement issued by the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia was also published by Serbian-language media as, "Kurir.rs","Tanjug.rs","Telegraf.rs","Kosovo-Online.com","Radiokim.net","Rtv.rs"and "Novosti.rs".
Analyze:
The beating of a Serbian citizen in Bërnica near Pristina was interpreted as an event "with ethnic motives as a result of Kurti's anti-Serbian policy."
The statement with this claim was issued by the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, and was later published in many Serbian-language media outlets.
However, the Serbian citizen himself, in an interview given to Kosovo-Online, had provided details about the case, explaining that they had previously had problems with the suspect due to the work they do - "selling vegetables".
Also, the 24-hour report of the Kosovo Police regarding this case does not specify that it occurred for ethnic reasons.
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info assesses the claim of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia 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.