Interior minister weighs in on north

Interior Minster Ivica Dacic said on Thursday that Serbia supports the fight against crime, but pointed out that it should be depoliticized. Commenting on an arrest in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica on Wednesday, Dacic said that EULEX should maintain balance in the situation and therefore conduct arrests of criminals in the entire Kosovo and Metohija territory, lest somebody thought that their actions are directed against Serbs alone. Interior minister weighs in on north The interior minister supported his point by giving an example of a person who has been pursued by the FBI and Serbia over terrorism charges, but who was nevertheless caught and released on two occasions. “We support the fight against crime, and some of the persons arrested were also pursued by the Serbian police,” Dacic told reporters in Belgrade today. Noting that Serbia's police had nothing to do with the arrests in Kosovo and that he had no information about these, the minister explained that EULEX has a practice of informing the Serbian Interior Ministry about such actions only after they have been completed. Answering the question whether the arrest operation could lead to a destabilization of the situation in Kosovo, Dacic said that there should be no such problem if the action was part of fighting crime in its proper sense. Meanwhile, a court in Kosovska Mitrovica has remanded Srdjan Vulovic in custody for 15 days. Vulovic turned himself in on Wednesday, EULEX announced. He is the brother of Dejan Vulovic who was arrested earlier, Albanian language daily Koha Ditore reports. Vulovic is suspected of making threats against an official, unauthorized possession of weapons and obstruction of justice. “The prosecution has presented a document which says that my client is wanted in Serbia for serious criminal acts and that Interpol arrest warrant for him has been issued,“ Srdjan Vulovic's lawyer Mahmut Halimi said. His brother Dejan was released by a pre-trial judge after his documents had been seized and he was ordered to report to law enforcement and judicial authorities two times a week. Ivica Dacic (Tanjug, file)

Interior minister weighs in on north

The interior minister supported his point by giving an example of a person who has been pursued by the FBI and Serbia over terrorism charges, but who was nevertheless caught and released on two occasions.

“We support the fight against crime, and some of the persons arrested were also pursued by the Serbian police,” Dačić told reporters in Belgrade today.

Noting that Serbia's police had nothing to do with the arrests in Kosovo and that he had no information about these, the minister explained that EULEX has a practice of informing the Serbian Interior Ministry about such actions only after they have been completed.

Answering the question whether the arrest operation could lead to a destabilization of the situation in Kosovo, Dačić said that there should be no such problem if the action was part of fighting crime in its proper sense.

Meanwhile, a court in Kosovska Mitrovica has remanded Srđan Vulović in custody for 15 days. Vulović turned himself in on Wednesday, EULEX announced.

He is the brother of Dejan Vulović who was arrested earlier, Albanian language daily Koha Ditore reports.

Vulović is suspected of making threats against an official, unauthorized possession of weapons and obstruction of justice.

“The prosecution has presented a document which says that my client is wanted in Serbia for serious criminal acts and that Interpol arrest warrant for him has been issued,“ Srđan Vulović's lawyer Mahmut Halimi said.

His brother Dejan was released by a pre-trial judge after his documents had been seized and he was ordered to report to law enforcement and judicial authorities two times a week.