Filipovic: Excessive punishment for three young men, decisions made automatically when non-Albanians are involved

After three young men were arrested near the Visoki Decani Monastery on Sunday for having the slogan "Kosovo is Serbia" on their license plates and subsequently given a one-month detention by the court, the attorney for one of them, Jovana Filipovic, stated that the decision was overly harsh. She emphasized that anyone identifying as a non-Albanian in Kosovo is automatically subjected to detention. She announced that the defense team would appeal the decision.

Filipovic, who represents Dragutin Lalatovic, pointed out that the young men were accused of the criminal offense of inciting discord and intolerance due to the "Kosovo is Serbia" inscription on their license plates.

She reiterated that the young men had covered the inscription with a sticker, but someone removed it.

"Unfortunately, today we witnessed yet another case against Serbs for the criminal offense of inciting discord and intolerance. This is just one in a series of cases where detention measures are imposed excessively and broadly, effectively ensuring that any non-Albanian individual is automatically detained," Filipovic told reporters after the hearing and the announcement of the detention decision.

She reminded that even EULEX had reported on such cases but noted that no concrete steps have been taken beyond that.

"Today, we had a situation where these three young men were detained because of a political statement—'Kosovo is Serbia'—on a license plate that they had, in fact, covered, making it invisible. Someone removed the sticker. So far, we have obtained some evidence, which we will present to the court and the prosecution, indicating that the young men had no intent to commit this offense. Who removed the sticker remains to be determined during the proceedings, as we cannot rely on the investigation conducted by the police and prosecution under such circumstances," Filipovic noted.

She added that in this case, a political statement was interpreted far too harshly. The defense pointed to similar statements made by political officials in Pristina that could be treated in the same way, yet no complaints or proceedings have been initiated against them.

She concluded that only those who do not identify as Albanian in Kosovo are held accountable for such offenses.

Filipovic stressed that the defense would file an appeal as soon as possible.

"This decision was delivered to us beyond the legal deadline. The young men were deprived of liberty at 1:00 PM, and the decision was delivered at 2:30 PM, which is yet another way the rights of these three young men were violated. We will submit the appeal to the court as soon as we receive the translation into Serbian," Filipovic stated.

The three young men arrested on Sunday near the Visoki Decani Monastery for the slogan "Kosovo is Serbia" on their license plates were ordered by the Basic Court in Pec, Decani branch, to remain in custody for one month. The three men from Niksic—Rajko Krivokapic (34), Marinko Jovanovic (24), and Dragutin Lalatovic (24)—were arrested following the celebration of the monastery's patron saint day.