Minister, Church "concerned about Ivanović's health"

Minister, Church "concerned about Ivanović's health"

He pointed out that Ivanović is hunger striking with the sole requirement that he be transferred from one prison to another and that it is a shame that we even have to talk about it.

"This is an excellent opportunity for representatives of the international community to show that they are truly neutral and that they do care about every individual," he said.

“Who will be responsible if this man's hunger strike, which he started to point to his right to a legitimate opinion and position, permanently compromises his health or causes even something worse? The Government of the Republic of Serbia will do whatever it can to prevent that from happening,” Vulin stated.

Recalling that the Serbian government had given guarantees that Oliver Ivanović, Dragoljub Delibašić, Laza Lazić and Žarko Veselinović will be available to competent judicial authorities in Kosovo in exchange for their release pending trial and that the guarantees have only been accepted in the case of Veselinović, Vulin said he cannot understand why the guarantees have not been accepted for others as well.

Vulin said that the situation is upsetting people, not only the Serbs in the north of Kosovo but all the Serbs wherever they may live, something that makes the situation even more difficult.

Diocese expresses concern

The Serbian Orthodox Church's Diocese of Raška-Prizren and Kosovo and Metohija on Sunday expressed deep concern and protest over what they said was the inhumane treatment to which Oliver Ivanović, leader of the Citizens’ Initiative SDP was subjected to in a Priština prison.

Ivanović was placed in detention on remand after the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) launched investigative proceedings against him in January, for crimes allegedly committed against Albanian civilians 15 years ago.

“In a civilized world, every man is innocent until proven guilty. That is the way it is supposed to be with Oliver Ivanović. However, for the umpteenth time in Kosovo, we see that the prison authorities and the Albanian prisoners treat Serbs who allegedly committed crimes as the worst of criminals,” reads the statement from the Diocese.

EULEX and Kosovo's local institutions have turned a deaf ear to Ivanović’s request that he be released pending trial or at least transferred to the prison unit in Kosovska Mitrovica where he would certainly receive a more humane treatment.

"Oliver Ivanović’s health is getting worse by the day. What is more, the prison authorities are threatening to put him in solitary confinement and isolation if he continues to refuse food, and Albanian prisoners attacked him physically again a few days ago,” the Diocese of Raška and Prizren said.

The Diocese stresses that although as a Christian institution it cannot give its support to a hunger strike and has been constantly urging Oliver to preserve his health and strength, they do understand that his further stay in the detention unit in Priština under the current conditions will put his life in even greater danger and that it is aimed at crushing and humiliating him as a personality.

The Diocese of Raška and Prizren said that it will once again urge international institutions and foreign diplomatic offices to consider Ivanović’s request, as he has cooperated with these institutions for years, and has been pointing to the need for a peaceful co-existence of Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo.

Bishop of Raška and Prizren Teodosije visited Oliver Ivanović in custody two times and conveyed to him "the support of the priests, monks and people of the Diocese who wish that, trusting God and His justice, he be able to prove his innocence."