Lazic: Detainees released from custody, misdemeanor proceedings initiated

Serbs who were detained by the Kosovo Police today following the memorial service at Gazimestan have been released from custody, while misdemeanor proceedings have been initiated against them, attorney Bogdan Lazić confirmed to Kosovo Online.

According to Lazic, one of the detainees was a minor, whose case is being handled in separate proceedings. He added that 35 individuals had been released from custody, although their identification documents had been confiscated.

Lazić emphasized that the individuals are facing misdemeanor, rather than criminal, proceedings, and that a court hearing has been scheduled for 1:00 p.m. tomorrow.

He stated that those detained include residents of Kosovo, as well as individuals from various parts of central Serbia and the wider region.

Earlier, the Kosovo Police announced that the detained individuals had, according to its statement, provoked those gathered by shouting provocative slogans containing elements of incitement to hatred, thereby violating applicable legal provisions.

The detentions prompted a response from the Serb List, which described the incident as an attempt at intimidation and evidence of what it called the repressive policies of the authorities in Pristina, adding that it had informed international representatives of the developments.

The Vice President of the Serb List, Dalibor Jevtic, also sent a letter to the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, urging U.S. officials to pay urgent attention to what he described as escalating repression and the systematic violation of the human rights of the Serbian community in Kosovo.

The Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija likewise issued a statement announcing that it would inform international representatives of the detentions, describing them as a shameful and unacceptable act of repression by the administration of Albin Kurti.