Krivokapic: Young man M.R. has been ordered one month of detention due to alleged threats to Kurti

Lawyer Jelena Krivokapic confirmed that her client, M.R., was ordered a one-month detention today by the Basic Court in Mitrovica due to alleged threats to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and a founded suspicion of the threat's repetition and implementation.

Krivokapic asserts that this measure is unfounded and that she will file an appeal with the Appellate Court tomorrow.

"He was ordered a 30-day detention in Mitrovica. We have the right to appeal, I have written it, and I will submit it tomorrow. He is charged with threatening a high-ranking official, for which the penalty ranges from six months to five years in prison," Krivokapic told Kosovo online.

She notes that M.R. stated to the police that he was inebriated on the day the controversial photo was posted on his Instagram profile as he had been celebrating Christmas Eve all day.

According to her, the young man was not aware of what exactly happened.

"He stated that they had drunk a lot and that he was not aware at all because his phone is always unlocked. His Instagram profile is always unlocked, so he says 'it might have been me, it might have been someone else in that crowd, but I know I am responsible since I saw it in the morning and realized it was wrong and deleted the account.' He even smashed his phone out of frustration when he saw what he had done. So, he was in that tipsy state, however, the law does not accept this as a mitigating circumstance," Krivokapic explains.

She added that at today's hearing she presented that her client meant no harm.

However, according to her, the prosecutor did not consider any of this but was stringent, asserting that the young man could carry out the threats.

According to the lawyer, an aggravating circumstance is that the prosecutor presented information that the young man owns a hunting rifle, and his father admitted ownership to save his son.

Krivokapic explains that the air rifle belongs to the young man’s father and had a permit until 2010, when the young man was only six years old.

"The prosecutor stated in the request for detention that the father took responsibility to save his son, which is not true. From the permit, it is clear that it was valid until 2010 and in the father's name, and he was then only six years old, so he could not possibly be the owner. Then the prosecutor stated that the rifle was accessible to the young man so that he could execute his threat or continue to intimidate," Krivokapic stated.

Despite all the defense's efforts to clarify that M.R. harbors no ill intentions, the court upheld the prosecution's stance.

As an aggravating circumstance in the case against M.R., the prosecutor also mentioned that the young man had a misdemeanor penalty for writing the "Delije Sever" inscription in Zvecan.

This penalty of 300 euros, the lawyer emphasizes, was paid a few months ago.

"He was correcting a graffiti in Zvecan. Namely, he is a fan of Red Star, and they are crazy about Red Star in Zvecan. There was some Delije graffiti, which someone had crossed out, and he felt bad and as a fan, he took white paint and wrote 'Delije sever'. They now claim it is a nationalist graffiti of nationalist content. I specifically addressed this in the appeal and explained that 'Delije sever' means these are Red Star fans who sit in the north stands at the stadium and there is nothing nationalist about it," said Krivokapic.

She points out that the prosecution added two aggravating circumstances to ensure the decision on detention would not be "overturned" by the Appellate Court tomorrow.

"I was vigorous in the appeal, where I referred to the unequal position of parties in the proceeding, because the prosecutor is a party just like us. But in practice, it's not like that. They are favored, and their explanation is always automatically acceptable without any analysis, while my explanation as a defender is not considered at all. I explained everything about why house arrest is a suitable measure for him. From the way they behave, I can't expect anything," concluded Krivokapic.