Pantovic: The Appellate Court rejected the appeal against the detention of Dejan Pantic

The Appellate Court in Pristina rejected the appeal against the detention of Dejan Pantic, a former member of the police who was arrested last Saturday at the Jarinje border crossing, and his defense announces that they will now appeal to the Supreme Court of Kosovo.

Pantic's defense team includes lawyers Ljubomir Pantovic and Nebojsa Vlajic as of yesterday, and Pantovic says for Kosovo Online that he was informed an hour ago by lawyer Srdjan Mitrovic that the Appellate Court in Pristina had rejected his appeal against the detention order for Dejan Pantic.

This decision of the court, as assessed by Pantovic, was wrong, especially because Pantic's human rights had been violated.

"We believe that this decision is contrary to the law because all rights of Dejan Pantic were violated, not only according to the Law on Criminal Procedure of Kosovo, where he has the right to communicate with his defense, lawyers, family, to be contacted, to be visited by them, and to talk with them but also contrary to all international processes, above all with the European Convention on Human Rights", Pantovic explains.

Pantovic says that he will continue the legal fight and that after the decision of the Appellate Court, he will appeal to the Supreme Court of Kosovo.

"Since the decision of the Appellate is final, we have the right to file an extraordinary legal remedy against such a decision, a request for the protection of legality to the Supreme Court of Kosovo, and we will do so on Monday. We will file this because, as I told Dejan, all possible rights that he had as a prisoner had been violated," Pantovic emphasizes.

He expects the Supreme Court to take a closer look at this case.

"They generally do not follow the law, especially when it comes to things like this, but again I expect them to consider the whole case a little more carefully and I hope they will make a fair decision. That decision will not be as quick as the express decision of the Appellate Court, but I expect that someone will take into account the numerous human rights violations committed to Dejan Pantic," Pantovic said.

Pantovic is surprised that numerous international and humanitarian organizations did not get involved in this process considering the obvious violations of Pantic's rights.

"No one should call them to get involved, they deal with those things by vocation, by the nature of things. This is a situation that is known to the general public and I am surprised that no one has yet gotten involved. The EULEX gave an incomprehensible explanation, "we are monitoring the situation", but they do not inform, they do not say what they determined from that monitoring of the situation. They handed over the medicines for Pantic to the Kosovo police, but even after a few days, they did not know whether those medicines were given to Dejan Pantic,” Pantovic explained.

He says that the situation of the arrested Pantic is particularly alarming.

"The man is detained, he is not in a detention center; in an institution where he should be detained, but somewhere where nobody knows where he is. He was not even given the right to contact his family for one minute to say, "I am alive and healthy, don't worry". I demanded from the judge, who had ordered him detention, to issue an order that Dejan Pantic should be allowed to speak with his family members, who for eight days have no information about him, his whereabouts, or his condition, and every detainee has the right to contact his family and his lawyers. That is the most basic thing, but Dejan Pantic does not have that right," Pantovic concluded.