Petkovic on the release of Kosovo police officers: A judicial, not a political decision; Serbia continues the fight for the arrested Serbs

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, said today that the decision of the High Court in Kraljevo to confirm the indictment against three Kosovo policemen and to release them pending trial was a judicial decision, not a political one, and pointed out that Serbia would fight for all the Serbs arrested in Kosovo, RTS reports.

Petkovic told Tanjug that this meant that the court process continued, considering that the three "Kurti’s Special Constables" were accused of the criminal offense of illegal carrying and possession of weapons and explosive substances in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia.

"We have a court decision here, regardless of whether we are satisfied with it or not, Serbia is a legal state and here court decisions must be respected, unlike in Pristina where there is no court, no judges, no prosecutor's office, but all decisions are made by Kurti and Svecla, who arrest the Serbs with lists, present non-existent evidence and everything contrary to the approach that prevails in central Serbia," Petkovic said.

He added that Serbia would continue to fight for every Serb arrested in the north of Kosovo and emphasized that there would be no talks with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti until all of them were free.

"The problem is that in Pristina you don't have the rule of law, but the madman Kurti, who arrests, presents evidence, and keeps people in custody. In central Serbia, you have the rule of law where there is an independent judicial branch of government that makes its own decisions. That is a feature of the court, not a political decision, and we will continue to fight for every one of our people, every Serb," Petkovic said.

As he added, at this moment special pressure would be exerted on the representatives of the international community who had to do everything to free the arrested Serbs.

"This is a condition for the continuation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina," Petkovic said.