Markovic regrets, but REL publishes conversations where he says he was fired for voting Hodzic

Radio Free Europe on Thursday, March 11th, has published the text titled “Markovic: I lost my job because I didn't vote for Adrijana Hodjiqin“.

Bojan Markovic has been a worker at the physical insurance company „Scorpion“, which has offered its services to the Ranillug Community Assembly, this Serb-run municipality, 60km from Pristina. Topping this municipality is Vadica Aritonovic from the Serbian List.

In a conversation with Radio Free Europe, Markovic has said that after the February 14th elections in Kosovo, he has lost his job because he had refused to vote on political subject to the United Community Civic Initiative.

Adrijana Hodzic's political opponents accuse him of winning a seat in the Kosovo Assembly, thanks to votes from the Serb community, on which the Serbian List exerted influence, to put some of Kosovo's non-communal communities under control. The Serbian list won the 10 seats guaranteed for the Serb community in the assembly.

Bojan Markovic says the mayor of the Ranillug municipality, Vadica Aritonovic, has asked him to vote for Adrijana Hodzic.

The author of the text, Sandra Cvetkoviq, has talked to Bojan Markovic, on March 10th in the village of Ropotovo, the municipality of Ranillug, and then on March 11th, via telephone.

Radio Free Europe has published the text after receiving statements from all parties involved in the confession by Ranillug Mayor Vdica Aritonovic, who dismissed Markovic's claims by Adrijana Hodzic, who points out that this is the case for police investigation by company owner “Scorpion”, the name of God, who has praised Bojan Markovic as a worker, but who had stressed that the work contract was terminated at the municipality's request because of the reduction of workers.

But shortly after the text was published, phone calls began to Radio Free Europe staff.

Company owner “Scorpion”, the name of God, asked him to undermine his statement.

Later, the author of the text has even called Bojan Markovic himself and has sent orders with a request that he too demanate his statement.

Bojan Markovic's message sent Radio Free Europe journalist Sandra Tsvetkoviq after publishing the writing on 11 March. Translation: Sandra, please expose everything.

Bojan Markovic's message sent Radio Free Europe journalist Sandra Tsvetkoviq after publishing the writing on 11 March. Translation: Sandra, please expose everything.

Then followed the dermat, in which Markovic said that “severely charges” made in conversation with Radio Free Europe and that his words “were drawn from context and misused for political purposes”.

He has said that with Radio Free Europe's reporter on the street he talked about “the problem that happened to him and his family, and then he added the “things that were mentioned in the interview are not known to me, nor have I witnessed them, and I stress that they were extracted from the “context.

Markovic points out that, as a physical security company employee “Scorpion” -- no “appointment either official or informal with the mayor of the municipality” -- and that “balloting, which he showed to the journalist, has found on the street” and used the “to make fun of friends and friends who are sympathetic to Adrijakiq”.

The complete ballot on which Adrijana Hodzic's political option was surrounded and for which he claims it was given by the mayor of the municipality, showing him how to vote, Markovic sent it to Radio Free Europe journalist via Viber.

He added that “as a security worker, I was at the workplace when Mrs. Hodzic, as minister, visited the Ranillug municipality and carried out projects in our municipality. Because of this and because of disappointment with the mayor's work, I can see that she has achieved voter sympathy in our municipality”.

Free Europe Radio owns the tone records of talks with Markovitch.

Translation:

What's the mayor's name?

Bojan Markovic: Vdalica Aritonovic.

REL: How did it come to demand that Vadica Aritonovic make you vote for a political subject?

Bojan Markovic: He called me into the office and gave me a ballot. I still have that paper, I can photograph it and take it to Viber. I round the option for me and the number on the right, and he said: “This request will be respected. Vote for Adrijana Hodjiq and I'll cut four votes from you”. I said, okay, no problem, see. He thought he was sure he'd get these four votes.

On February 16, they called me for an office discussion. The Speaker of the Assembly (communal) called me personally, told me “e at the mayor of the municipality”. And then they asked me where the votes are? I told him I couldn't vote it, nor did my parents want to vote. They receive pensions from Serbia and want to vote for the Serbian List, like everyone else.

The next day, my company owner came to me and said: Bojan, what happened? They ordered me to fire you. I said: If you're ordered to do it, then do it freely, you're not guilty of it. Really, he's not guilty of anything, I have very good relations with the boss, an extremely good man. He told me they ordered him to fire me, as stated in the decision to leave. I didn't leave the company, I left the municipality.

Acting to cut off Bojan Markovic's work relationship.

Acting to cut off Bojan Markovic's work relationship.

How did he know you didn't vote his option?

Bojan Markovic: He knew because he had distributed those little sheets himself. He gave someone a political subject and number six, as in my case, that gave me number six. To someone else, he gave a political subject and number seven, and there he wrote Bojani or other workers he gave them, carrying a copy. When he saw that there was no political subject and the number six did not have four votes, it means I did not respect him. He gave different numbers to each, for an MP candidate.

REL: Now that you have confessed this whole story, the public will know what really happened. Do you fear that you will face consequences?

Bojan Markovic: I have no one to fear. I've got my hands up, I just don't have anyone to fear. I fear God, no one else.

You told me your wife doesn't work either, that you have two minor children?

Bojan Markovic: My wife doesn't work anywhere. I don't work, I have two boys, one is 17, the other is 15 now, on March 8, her birthday. I live with my parents. I'm moved from Gjilan to Ropotovo. Now nobody works anywhere.

And what will you live with now?

Bojan Markovic: I don't know, I don't know, I really don't know.

Radio Free Europe has again tried to negotiate with Markovicin on March 12th about what happened already, but he has not responded to phone calls, nor has he responded to orders sent over the mobile phone.

Company owner for physical security “Scorpion”, the name of God, where Markoviqi worked, in his proposal for Radio Free Europe, on March 11th, on the day the text was published, has declared Markovic to be a very good “employee, obedient, well behaved and respected”, but the contract has been cut off because of the municipality's demand to reduce the number of workers.

After the text was published, the name Allah sought to change the declaration.

The name God, however, has confirmed the information that with Bojan Markoviqi has met shortly before the text was published on March 11th, while that the issue has been questioned because Markovic mentioned this meeting as pressure exerted by the mayor to be fired from work and the name of God.

The name, on March 12th, in a conversation with the head of the REL Bureau in Pristina, Amra Zeneli-Loja, has confirmed that she met Markovic the day before.

Supreme Court Rejects Adrijana Hodjiqi's complaint

Adrijana Hodzic competed in the election with the United Community-Adrijana Hodzic Civic Initiative. Its subject won 6,422 votes or a seat in the Kosovo Assembly.

However, the Electoral Panel for Anxiety and Parashtre (PZAP), acting on the basis of the complaint of other Bosniak parties, annulled Hodzic's subject 4.205 ballot after announcing final results. The decision was taken with the argument that the number of votes for Bosniak parties increased by 49 per cent, compared to the outcome of the 2019 elections, implies that “never before, thousands of Serb community voters in Kosovo voted for Bosnian representatives”.

Hodzic appealed PZAP's decision to the Supreme Court. The latter has rejected Hodjich's complaint.

It is not yet clear at present whether Hodzic will succeed in winning seats in the assembly, after the vote is annulled.

The Kosovo Institute for Justice, which represented Hodzic's political opponents at PZAP, said about 10,000 votes have been manipulated, which are orchestrated by the Serbian List.

All of this, with the aim of controlling non-Serb deputies from the ranks of non-US communities in the Kosovo Assembly. Hodzic has consistently denied these claims.

In Ranilug, it received 255 votes, or 9.6 per cent of the general vote in this municipality. And according to the last census in 2011, only one Bosniak lives in Ranilug.

Serbian List Chairman Goran Rakic had declared, on January 15th that the Serbian “List will not fight for the interests of the Serbian people alone, the Serbian List will fight for the interests of Goran, Bosniaks, Roma and all other people with good intentions “.

Duda Balje of the Social Democrat Union (SDU), which has been MP in several mandates, has earlier declared “that the Serbian List Plan -- which through its election body -- is intended to exercise influence and control over some of the non-communal communities in Kosovo” -- is expected to be realised.

Free Europe Radio sent questions to the Kosovo Police and Prosecutor, if any investigations into the Bojan Markovic case were launched, but by the time this text was published, there was no response.