Kosovo MP Arrested Over Tear Gas Incident

Kosovo police arrested Donika Kadaj-Bujupi, an MP from the opposition Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, for letting off tear gas in parliament.

"She was arrested after she left her home," Muharrem Nitaj, an AAK spokesperson, told BIRN.

Kadaj-Bujupi was arrested on Wednesday morning for setting off tear gas inside the chamber and sent to Pristina's District Court.

Police also searched the homes of Albin Kurti and Albulena Krasniqi, both MPs from the opposition Vetevendosje [Self-determination] movement, on Wednesday.

They also issued an arrest warrant for another Vetevendosje MP, Faton Topalli, related to the violent scenes in parliament.

The three opposition parties, Vetevendosje, the AAK, and the Initiative for Kosovo, Nisma, called the arrest of Donika Kadaj-Bujupi politically motivated.

"The police are responding to the orders of [Prime Minister] Isa Mustafa and [Foreign Minister] Hashim Thaci who are ready to transform Kosovo into a police state so as not to give up power and the agreements they have made with Serbia," a joint declaration reads.

The three opposition parties have blocked the work of parliament since early October, demanding that the Kosovo government scrap its recent agreement with Serbia, which among other things opens a way for the establishment of an Association of Serbian Municipalities with wide-ranging powers.

On October 13, Vetevendosje activists attacked a police station in Pristina after their vice-president, Kurti, was arrested for setting off tear gas in parliament. Kurti was released after three hours.