Kosovo police arrest four Serbs

Kosovo police arrested four Serbs in the village of Bela Zemlja near the Konculj checkpoint around 19:00 CET on Tuesday, Serbian police (MUP) have confirmed. “Vitina Mayor Srecko Spasic and municipal employees Ivica Najkic and Aleksandar Stojiljkovic were arrested. The fourth arrested person is Svetozar Naskovic, a police officer from the Urosevac Police Administration,” Serbian police Deputy Director Branislav Mitrovic told Tanjug. Kosovo police arrest four Serbs He explained that the police officer was a passenger in a car that was headed to Gnjilane. “The four Serbs arrested by the Kosovo police at the Bela Zemlja administrative crossing on Tuesday will be held in 48-hour custody,” Kosovo police Spokesman Baki Kelani told Tanjug. Kelani said that the arrested Serbs were in possession of election material i.e. the voters list and the Vitina municipality stamp. “The prosecutor remanded them to 48-hour custody in the Gnjilane detention unit,” the spokesperson added. Serbia’s Ministry for Kosovo has requested that they be released. “An excuse for the arrest and detention of the four Serbs is that a voters list was allegedly found on them and that they work for Serbian institutions,” the ministry stressed in a release. The Ministry for Kosovo has requested from EULEX to react, release the arrested Serbs as soon as possible, provide the freedom of movement to the Kosovo Serbs and to stop “senseless arrests and mistreatment of Serbs by the Kosovo police which have become frequent in the last month”. “It is completely clear that Pristina is making the agreement on freedom of movement meaningless with these actions and that it wants to intimidate the Kosovo Serbs by detaining the Serbs who work in the institutions of the state of Serbia,” the ministry pointed out. The ministry also added that Pristina’s actions and attitude toward the Kosovo Serbs “only create tensions and make every further attempt to establish an atmosphere of trust and dialogue in solving of disputable issues between the two communities in the province pointless”. Kosovo Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi has refused to comment on the arrests. “I am not ready to make a comment,” he told Tanjug. EULEX Spokeswoman Irina Gudeljevic told Tanjug that their officers were not constantly present at the Bela Zemlja administrative crossing on the Bujanovac-Gnjilane road and that the issue was Kosovo police’s responsibility. Beta Tanjug

Kosovo police arrest four Serbs

He explained that the police officer was a passenger in a car that was headed to Gnjilane.

“The four Serbs arrested by the Kosovo police at the Bela Zemlja administrative crossing on Tuesday will be held in 48-hour custody,” Kosovo police Spokesman Baki Kelani told Tanjug.

Kelani said that the arrested Serbs were in possession of election material i.e. the voters list and the Vitina municipality stamp.

“The prosecutor remanded them to 48-hour custody in the Gnjilane detention unit,” the spokesperson added.

Serbia’s Ministry for Kosovo has requested that they be released.

“An excuse for the arrest and detention of the four Serbs is that a voters list was allegedly found on them and that they work for Serbian institutions,” the ministry stressed in a release.

The Ministry for Kosovo has requested from EULEX to react, release the arrested Serbs as soon as possible, provide the freedom of movement to the Kosovo Serbs and to stop “senseless arrests and mistreatment of Serbs by the Kosovo police which have become frequent in the last month”.

“It is completely clear that Priština is making the agreement on freedom of movement meaningless with these actions and that it wants to intimidate the Kosovo Serbs by detaining the Serbs who work in the institutions of the state of Serbia,” the ministry pointed out.

The ministry also added that Priština’s actions and attitude toward the Kosovo Serbs “only create tensions and make every further attempt to establish an atmosphere of trust and dialogue in solving of disputable issues between the two communities in the province pointless”.

Kosovo Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi has refused to comment on the arrests.

“I am not ready to make a comment,” he told Tanjug.

EULEX Spokeswoman Irina Gudeljević told Tanjug that their officers were not constantly present at the Bela Zemlja administrative crossing on the Bujanovac-Gnjilane road and that the issue was Kosovo police’s responsibility.