Petkovic: The verdict against Todosijevic is an outrageous move by Pristina

The latest verdict against Ivan Todosijevic, due to his spoken words, is a direct indicator of the autocratic, undemocratic, and anti-Serb face of the current government in Pristina, the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, said in a statement.

Petkovic pointed out that Todosijevic had been sentenced because he was a Serbian host, of Serbian origin, name, and surname, who, despite the torture he and his family were going through, did not want to leave his hearth.

"And this verdict of the Court of Appeal, in the repeated trial, was made in contradiction to the Brussels Agreement, which stipulates that the composition of the panel of judges for cases coming from Serbian communities must be majority Serbian. The fact that neither Todosijevic, nor his defense attorney have been officially informed of the verdict yet, but the media in Pristina are, shows that the whole farce process is calculated to put the Serbs on trial without rights and justice to stigmatize them in the public," the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija states.

Petkovic says that "the lawyer hired by the Office for Kosovo and Metohija will continue the fight for justice for Ivan Todosijevic and use the possibility of an extraordinary legal remedy and the protection of legality".

"Also, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija officially informed Brussels and Miroslav Lajcak about this outrageous move by Pristina, demanding full compliance with item 10 of the Brussels Agreement, which refers to the manner of trial in cases coming from Serbian communities, as well as in the case of Todosijevic to protect freedom of speech and opinion, which are leading civilizational and European achievements everywhere in the world, but not only in Kosovo and Metohija," the announcement reads.