BELGRADE - The Serbian government’s Office for Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) has said that it is unpleasantly surprised by the fact that the memorial plaque to Serbian journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic, who disappeared in the province 16 years ago, has been removed for the third time.

“We again urge the international community and competent institutions in the province to find and justly punish those who committed this atrocity, and above all, to reveal the truth about the kidnapping of Radio Pristina journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic,” the Office for KiM said.

It would be a sign of hope that kidnappings and murders will no longer take place in KiM and that memorials will no longer be destroyed and desecrated but will rather be sanctities worthy of respect, like elsewhere in the civilized world, the release said.

The Office for KiM said that it had several times warned about unpunished crimes being repeated, stressing that it was one of the reasons why the perpetrators of the act of vandalism should be found and punished.

Shedding light on these crimes would help restore Serb people’s trust in the international community in the province and their faith that the law and justice will prevail in KiM, according to the release.

Representatives of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) and and the Association of Journalists of KiM set up the memorial plaque to missing journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Pereni near the town of Orahovac in Metohija on August 21, but it was taken away and destroyed.

The memorial plaque was plucked out, together with its pedestal made of concrete, for the third year in a row, probably by a construction machine or a tractor, and was dragged to the local road, where its metal part was broken off and taken away.

The information was confirmed by President of the Association of Journalists of KiM Budimir Nicic. “This is the third time that they are removing the plaque. Last year, it managed to ‘survive’ a month and a half, and this year, it was here for 20 days. The Kosovo police has been ignoring our requests and charges for years and behaves as if nothing has happened,” said Nicic.