The Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia published a reaction on its official website today (August 27) regarding the beating of a woman in northern Mitrovica.
This institution interprets the case of the beating of this woman of Serbian nationality as the result of violence, as it is said, the violence that Pristina has created in recent weeks.
However, in fact, this announcement by this Serbian institution fails to substantiate the claim that this incident has an interethnic background.
Link to the response published by the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia:
https://www.kim.gov.rs/v4848.php
Parts of the response published by the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, translated:
The elderly Serbian woman Božana R. (84), who was brutally beaten in her home in northern Mitrovica on the night of Thursday and Friday, is a victim of the worst bandits and criminals, but also of the atmosphere of violence that Pristina has created in recent weeks.
In the past, in Kosovo and Metohija, it has often happened that the escalation of Pristina's inflammatory and aggressive rhetoric is followed by incursions by extremists into Serbian communities, who perceive the hate speech of their Albanian political leaders as a license and invitation to attack Serbian families.
The news about the beating of the woman from the north of Mitrovica, named Božana R. (84), was published today (August 27) by the Serbian-language information portal “Kosovo-online.com”, where it is stated that she was brutally beaten by two masked attackers who attempted to rob her. (see here) According to the victim, the masked attackers spoke Albanian among themselves.
Link to the article published on "Kosovo-online.com":
Parts of the article published on "Kosovo-online.com" translated:
Božana R. (84) from North Mitrovica is recovering in the intensive care unit of the hospital in North Mitrovica, after being brutally beaten by two masked assailants who attempted to rob her.
Božana says that the thieves communicated with her in Serbian, but that they spoke to each other in Albanian.
In an interview with Kosova Online, our interlocutor says that masked attackers entered her house at around 22:15 PM, forcing the door open.
The connection between the case of the beating of a woman from northern Mitrovica and the inflammatory rhetoric of Pristina is a tendentious claim by the office. This is because they do not present any argument to support this claim. In fact, the facts seem to contradict their claim.
It is the victim herself, who does not speak of the existence of any additional motive other than the robbery motive alleged by the Serbian institution.
Another fact that contradicts the claim of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia is the report of the Kosovo Police, Mitrovica - North Regional Directorate, the case in question was assessed as a robbery, which states that, "The Kosovar female victim reported that while she was staying in her house, two masked suspects entered and, threatening and physically attacking the victim, demanded money from her. As a result of the physical attack, the victim suffered bodily injuries for which she was sent for medical treatment. No arrests have been reported, the case is under investigation."
The Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, in its published reaction to the beating of a woman from northern Mitrovica, tendentiously interpreted it as a case of evil criminals and an atmosphere of violence created by official Pristina.
The incident that occurred, as reported by the Kosovo Police, occurred for predatory purposes and not influenced by the violent rhetoric of official Pristina, as the Office for Kosovo claims.
Likewise, the claim that some cases of attacks on Serbs have occurred as a result of official Pristina's violent rhetoric, which has served as approval for these actions, is unfounded and constitutes a tendentious interpretation.
Hibrid.info, based on its work methodology, assesses the office's interpretations for Kosovo as "manipulation of facts".
Reasoning:
The evaluation as "Manipulation of facts" is given to those media reports that use facts known to be correct, but interpret them in a distorted way. These reports typically use inaccurate information to draw inaccurate conclusions or claims, thereby misdirecting consumers' conclusions of media content in relation to the actual meaning of the facts presented.