Basic Court in Pristina orders up to 30 days’ detention for nine Serbs from Zubin Potok

The Special Department of the Basic Court in Pristina has ordered up to 30 days’ detention for nine arrested Serbs from Zubin Potok who are suspected of the criminal offense of a “war crime against the civilian population.”

“Following the hearing, the pre-trial judge granted the request of the Special Prosecution Office of the Republic of Kosovo to order detention for the nine suspects, imposing a one-month detention measure on each of them,” the Basic Court in Pristina said in a statement.

The Court added that it had found detention to be an appropriate measure in this criminal case because “there is a real risk that, if released, the suspects could obstruct the proper conduct of the criminal proceedings, evade criminal prosecution and become unavailable to the judicial authorities.”

“This assessment is based on the fact that the suspects hold citizenship and reside in the Republic of Serbia and possess passports of the Republic of Serbia, which creates a concrete risk that, in order to evade criminal prosecution, the suspects could leave Kosovo and flee from justice,” the statement said.

The Court further found that there was a risk that, if released, the suspects could interfere with evidence and witnesses, “thereby obstructing the proper and complete presentation of evidence, as well as the full establishment of the facts.”

The parties have the right to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals.

A detention hearing for the nine Serbs—D. D., M. R., M. R., R. R., S. D., S. D., V. L., R. R. and D. D.—was held yesterday, when their initial detention was extended by another 48 hours.

Lawyer Jelena Krivokapic, who represents Miroslav Radojevic, told reporters yesterday that the Prosecution’s allegations were generalized, as they had been in previous cases.

“There is no individualization; everything is generalized, as has always been the case so far: ‘they did this, they did that.’ All defense counsel therefore raised these objections. We all opposed the request for detention and asked that they be allowed to defend themselves while at liberty or, if the Court does not accept that, that it impose a more lenient measure, such as house arrest. Some requested bail, while others did not, because these people simply do not have the money,” Krivokapic explained.

Budimir Mijacic, who represents Radisav Raskovic from Dren, said that the Prosecution’s request for detention was scant and unsupported, adding that the Defense had unanimously requested that it be dismissed as unfounded because, he said, no evidence had been presented.

Kosovo Police arrested nine Serbs from Zubin Potok on Sunday in connection with the case known as the “group of intellectuals.”

Following the arrests, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said yesterday that mass arrests had become Pristina’s new method of retaliation against Serbs and that recent discoveries in Zubin Potok were being used as a pretext to stigmatize and target all remaining Serbs.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the arrests represented the most insidious method of ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Kosovo.