Pantovic: I hope that L.D. will be released to defend himself while free; it is strange that he is being arrested after a year and a half

Lawyer Ljubomir Pantovic told Kosovo Online that the Serbian man L.D., who was arrested yesterday, is charged with four criminal offenses, but he expects that L.D. will be released to defend himself while free and finds it "quite strange" that he is "suddenly being arrested" after moving freely for a year and a half.

"Currently, the Special Prosecutor's Office of Kosovo is charging him with four criminal offenses, which almost all participants in the unrest in front of the Zvecan municipality on May 29 last year were charged with. However, these charges were dropped for people who were previously prosecuted, and they were reduced to a single charge, namely, the criminal offense of participating in a group that commits a criminal offense and hooliganism. So, this is the charge that will most likely follow the young man who was arrested yesterday at the Bistricki Bridge around 7 PM," Pantovic emphasized.

He is currently under police detention, held for a duration of 48 hours.

"We are awaiting the decision of the Special Prosecutor of Kosovo on whether he will be released to defend himself in a regular criminal procedure or if the Prosecutor's Office will propose some measure of detention or something else. I hope he will be released, because from what I have seen in the case file and from the entire incident, the actions he is accused of are not severe, so there are some chances. Unlike other people, some of whom are still in detention to this day, he might be free today or possibly tomorrow when the 48 hours expire," Pantovic said.

Pantovic finds it "quite strange and unusual" that L.D., who works in customs and travels daily to and from Jarinje to Zvecan, suddenly faces such charges despite traveling freely for over a year and a half. He emphasizes that L.D. is well-known to the people at the border crossing.

"It is very strange that for over a year, he has been moving freely every day and nothing has been done against him, and now suddenly he is arrested and brought before the court. I actually hope this might not happen," the lawyer concludes.