Information Service of TWO SERBIAN HOUSES IN THE OLD PART OF PRIZREN SET ON FIRE On Saturday, July 19, 2003, around 19:00 fire broke out in two Serbian houses in Sveta Nedelja Street, the Serbian quarter of Potkaljaja in Prizren. The fire first engulfed the house of Dragan Levic, who fled Prizren in 1999, and then spread to the neighboring house owned by Todorka Jovanovic, who is also a displaced person and who visited her home a few days ago. Dragan Levic’s house burned down completely, while Todorka Jovanovic’s house has been heavily damaged. Firefighters who arrived in the meantime were unable to extinguish fire at once. KFOR units blocked off the entire quarter. According to official information, no one was hurt; however, the material damage is enormous. The remaining Serbs in Prizren have been visibly disturbed because after the end of the war (June, 1999) Albanian extremists set dozens of Serbian houses in Potkaljaja on fire. Serbian houses have not been set on fire for some time; consequently, setting these temporarily uninhabited houses again on fire has caused new fears that the past events would repeat. There are currently 60 Serbs living in the town of Prizren, most of them elderly ones. The old quarter of Potkaljaja, inhabited primarily by Serbs before the war, is today mostly empty. In the immediate vicinity of this quarter is the seat of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren and the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral dedicated to Saint George, still protected by German KFOR troops. The Serbs in Prizren think that fire was planted intentionally, in order to prevent the expelled Serbs from Prizren from returning to their homes. The Diocese of Raska-Prizren has asked for several times since 1999 that UNMIK and KFOR should provide better security and protection of Potkaljaja from systematic destruction. Unfortunately, this quarter, once the jewel of the city of Prizren, has mostly been transformed into ashes and waste area. The Diocese has been insisting that the return of the Serbs into their homes is the best way to revive the old part of Prizren. On the other hand, it is still obvious that the Albanian side opposes to this idea and continues to force the Serbs to sell their property. Under such pressures and before threats of houses set on fire, certain Serbs have already sold their houses to the Albanians. Among the Albanians who were the first ones to buy Serbian houses on sale is Adem Demaci, former KLA spokesperson, and now champion of human rights, who bought one of the oldest and most beautiful houses in Potkaljaja. |
