Office for Kosovo and Metohija: Arrests for alleged war crimes a cover for retaliation and harassment of Serbs

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated, in response to the arrest of five Serbs in the village of Suvo Grlo near Srbica, that arrests for alleged war crimes serve as a cover for retaliation and harassment of Serbs by Albin Kurti, and that it is clear this is part of his plan to instill fear in that Serbian enclave. They add that legal assistance will be provided to those detained and that the Office will inform relevant international representatives about what it describes as a new persecution of Serbs and request an urgent reaction.

“In a brutal operation by Kurti’s so-called Kosovo police, five Serbs were detained this morning in the village of Suvo Grlo near Srbica. Using force, Kurti’s phalanxes blocked the village early this morning; around six o’clock they broke down the doors of the family homes of Nebojsa T., Sinisa T., Predrag T., Goran T., and Ratko K., carried out searches and ransacking, and in front of their families, wives and children, detained Serbian householders who have for years lived peacefully in their homes, and then took them to Pristina,” the Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated.

They note that the families of those detained were told that they are suspected of war crimes, although, as emphasized in the statement, it is clear that this is Kurti’s plan to instill fear in this Serbian enclave, where Serbs are building their lives with their families, in order to intimidate residents and force them to flee.

“At a time when the entire world fears conflict, Kurti is carrying out such deliberate and planned actions against Serbs in order to further destabilize the situation in Kosovo and Metohija and provoke new crises and tensions on the ground,” the Office for Kosovo and Metohija indicated.

They stress that arrests for alleged war crimes are, in their view, a cover for retaliation and harassment of Serbs, given that all arrests of Serbs for alleged war crimes are conducted without any credible witnesses or material evidence, but exclusively as a form of pressure and a mechanism to intimidate Serbs into leaving their villages.

The fact that such detentions are being carried out decades after the conflict further supports this, the Office adds in its statement.

They also emphasize that legal assistance will be provided to those detained and that the Office for Kosovo and Metohija will notify all relevant international representatives of what it describes as this new persecution of Serbs, requesting their engagement and urgent response.

“Such anti-Serb moves by Kurti’s authorities do not contribute to peace and stability, but further escalate the situation on the ground and violate the fundamental human rights of Serbs,” the Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated.