Office for Kosovo and Metohija: Arrest of Radenko T. an attempt to exert additional pressure on Serbs

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija said that the arrest of Radenko T. from Suvo Grlo, in the municipality of Srbica, was carried out with the aim of exerting additional pressure on the Serbian population in Kosovo and creating a “false political narrative portraying Serbs as criminals” in the wake of the Hague judgment against the KLA leaders. The statement emphasized that Radenko T. had been provided with a lawyer.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija noted that the arrest had taken place amid the political crisis in Pristina and assessed that it was a politically motivated action.

“Whenever Kurti faces a political crisis in Pristina, he attempts to conceal it through attacks on the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, unlawful and politically motivated arrests, the demolition of Serbian property and other unilateral actions,” the statement said.

The Office added that Radenko T. had been arrested on suspicion of an alleged war crime and stressed that, according to its information, “he was never even a member of the police forces.”

“Radenko T. has been provided with a lawyer, while our representatives on the ground are in contact with his family in order to ensure that he receives legal protection and that his family is provided with the necessary support,” the Office said.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija added that it would inform all relevant international missions about his case and request that they treat it with the utmost seriousness and respond to what it described as a politically motivated arrest.

“This is necessary to ensure that Radenko, as well as other unjustly arrested Serbs, are guaranteed the presumption of innocence and all the human and procedural rights to which they are entitled, rights that are being jeopardized for Serbs in Kurti’s detention facilities,” the statement said.