Affrontements à Novi Pazar – septembre 2010

Serbia police report detentions in tense, Muslim-dominated town after weekend clash

Associated Press

6 09 2010

An unspecified number of people have been arrested in a tense, Muslim-dominated town after protesters clashed with riot police over the weekend, Serbian police said Monday.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that those detained are suspected of violating public order and attacking the police during the protest Saturday in the southern town of Novi Pazar. Dacic did not say Monday how many people had been detained.

About 1,000 people attended the protest against the construction of a preschool facility on land claimed by the local Islamic community. The town authorities — also Muslims — have said the parcel is city-owned.

Serbian media have reported that four policemen were slightly hurt in the brawl.

A local religious leader has called for talks with the government amid simmering tensions and widespread poverty.

On Monday, Moamer Zukorlic’s Bosniak National Council urged that EU observers be sent to the area because of alleged discrimination and repression against Muslims. The council said an EU presence would ease tensions and set the stage for dialogue.

Zukorlic’s claims of Serbian government repression have been rejected by other Muslim leaders from Sandzak, some of whom are part of the ruling coalition. They have accused Zukorlic of fueling tensions to gain power in Sandzak.

Tension over land in Serbia’s Novi Pazar eases

setimes.com

06/09/2010

BELGRADE, Serbia — The situation in the southwest town of Novi Pazar, where Muslims are a majority, has eased after violent incidents at the weekend. Several people were injured on Saturday (September 4th) in clashes with riot police during a protest staged by members of the Islamic Community in Serbia against alleged confiscation of a land parcel in the town. The community, led by Muamer Zukorlic, opposes the decision to build a preschool facility on the disputed plot, supposedly received as an endowment. They argue that its confiscation represents a « culmination of violence, discrimination and disrespect for basic Muslim rights ». After the incident, Zukorlic said he expects to talk with authorities in Belgrade about the problems facing Bosniaks in Serbia. He ruled out the possibility of further talks with Novi Pazar authorities. The mayor of Novi Pazar, Meho Mahmutovic, however, insisted that the issue should be resolved at the local, not state, level.

Islamic Community in Serbia protest in Novi Pazar

emg.rs

06. September 2010. | 07:58 11:07

Source: Beta

Four police officers were injured on Sept. 4 in Novi Pazar as police prevented around 1,000 members of the Islamic Community in Serbia from reaching the site on which a kindergarten is to be built – land which the community claims belongs to them.

Members of the Islamic Community in Serbia, which is led by Mufti Muamer Zukorlic, hurled several stones at the police after which Islamic Community in Serbia representatives appealed for those gathered to refrain from causing a larger incident.

A BETA reporter saw four injured police officers who were treated by an ambulance crew on site. None of the demonstrators complained of injuries.

Zukorlic claims that the city wants to build a kindergarten on land belonging to his community which was seized by the communist government after the Second World War, but the head of the Novi Pazar City Administration, Sulejman Nicevic, earlier said that the municipality had bought the disputed land from the Islamic Community in Serbia in 1982.

After the protest, Zukorlic, in a statement to BETA, called on Belgrade to begin dialogue in order to maintain peace and stability in Sandzak where the situation was « exceptionally tense. »

He said that the problem represented the feeling of citizens that discrimination and disregard of the rights of Bosniaks in Sandzak were increasing and added that the repressive measures used in Sandzak over the last few days were to punish Bosniaks for their decision to support the Bosniak cultural community in the national council elections and withdraw their confidence in ministers (Rasim) Ljajic and (Sulejman) Ugljanin.

Informations

Novi Pazar, en serbe cyrillique Нови Пазар (« le nouveau marché »), est une ville et une municipalité de Serbie. Elles font partie du district de Raška et de la région du Sandjak. En 2002, la ville comptait 54 604 habitants et la municipalité dont elle est le centre 85 996. Novi Pazar est, après Bijelo Polje au Monténégro, le principal centre économique et culturel de la région du Sandžak. La ville, comme la municipalité dont elle est le centre, est habitée par une majorité de Bosniaques.