House arrest for four Serbian youths arrested in North Mitrovica

The Basic Court in North Mitrovica has imposed a 30-day house arrest on four Serbian youths arrested on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday in that city, confirmed lawyer Nebojša Vlajic.

Vlajic stated that this is a small victory for justice, considering that the prosecutor had requested they be placed in custody.

"This is a small victory for justice. Small, because the measure of house arrest was imposed. We believe that it shouldn't have come to that at all. That's why we call it a small victory, because the prosecutor had asked for detention. We felt that even house arrest was unnecessary and excessive, but it's something we can live with. We will continue to fight against it," said Vlajic.

Therefore, he says, they can be partially satisfied with the decision of house arrest.

"We are satisfied that we proved that placing them in detention would have been an overreaction to an insignificant and innocent event, where unfortunately both sides could be blamed, but for only one side to face the consequences would not have been fair," Vlajic stated.

He also conveyed that, since the court rejected the prosecutor's proposal for detention, the accused will be released from police custody today and placed under house arrest.

He added that they will see what happens next.

Srdjan Jovic, the father of one of the arrested youths, told reporters that he was happy with the decision for house arrest.

"We won in the sense that the children are under house arrest. This could have been avoided altogether, but fortunately, they did not end up in detention," Jovic said.

He thanked everyone who participated in the protest today and who, as he said, helped them, through a shared struggle, to secure some rights.

"I think we have achieved a lot, and we must continue to fight to fully clear them of any charges because they are innocent," Jovic said.

The judge made the decision for house arrest after hours of questioning three of the four youths, which began around 2 p.m.

The youths are charged with assaulting a public official and were arrested while returning from a celebration.

Earlier today, a large number of citizens gathered in front of the police station in North Mitrovica to protest the arrests.