Predrag Pantic: My father has been in custody for eight months without charges; he is in poor health

The son of the arrested former police officer of the Kosovo Police, Dejan Pantic, whose house arrest was extended for another two months yesterday, Predrag Pantic told Kosovo Online that his family's life had turned into "hell that continues to this day" and that, despite great expectations, that his father would be released pending trial, the agony continued because he had been "closed within four walls" for eight months and was in poor health.

Predrag Pantic says that he "replayed the movie" many times in his head and wondered how there could be a man in prison who had never been in conflict with the law and had never even committed a traffic violation.

"My family's life turned into hell on December 10, and that hell is still going on. We are an ordinary working family that has never had any problems with the law. Dejan is an old man, who has three children and three grandchildren, and instead of the time he spends playing and walking with his grandchildren, he is imprisoned in four walls unjustly. I repeat that he has never had a single traffic violation, let alone any other misdeeds, but that did not prevent them from detaining him without any evidence," Pantic says.

He emphasizes that every day when his father's sentence is about to expire is a new hope, which is always extinguished, like the previous one, by a uniform announcement about the extension of detention.

"The last decision on the extension of detention hit us hard, we had high expectations that this was the end of house arrest that he would finally be released pending trial, but that did not happen once again. All lawyers and people who know the law say that house arrest is a measure that lasts a month, two, or three at the most... But here he is being extended for the fourth time for another two months. In total, he will be under house arrest for eight months with this last decision," he states.

Pantic explains that his father's case was complicated from the very beginning and he is surprised that it did not attract the attention of numerous non-governmental organizations that fight for human rights.

"No one from the NGO has ever contacted us. Let me remind you that he was kidnapped for 17 days, without any information about his whereabouts or his condition. We did not know if he was alive at all, all laws and all human rights were violated. It is a precedent in the 21st century in the middle of Europe. And no one, but no one spoke up, condemned or tried to help us from the NGO side," he points out.

Pantic explains that despite his strong alibi, his father still ended up in prison, and to this day no investigation has been initiated, nor has an indictment been filed.

"As far as the investigation is concerned, Dejan had a firm alibi, the man was not at all near the event for which he is being blamed and that was clear to everyone later. But that does not prevent them from keeping him in custody without any evidence presented. They even rejected our proposal that he be released pending trial on bail. We are totally powerless, even though there is no evidence, even though nothing is happening in terms of any investigative process, no charges have been filed, everything is the same as it was seven or eight months, and a person and an entire family perish," Pantic says.

According to his son, Dejan Pantic was hospitalized due to health problems and the extension of house arrest endangers his health, and for every visit to the doctor, he has to submit new applications for the approval of a medical examination.

"Dejan is in a very bad state of health, in addition to the cardiac problems he has, he also developed urological problems, for which he was hospitalized for 10 days in the Clinical Hospital Center Kosovska Mitrovica. Our lawyer, therefore, asked the judge to release him pending trial, because he needs serious care, health treatment, walking... Even that wasn't enough for them to release him pending trial. Now every time we have to officially ask the police for permission to take him to the doctor, it's very painful. The torture against him continues, and we are very worried about his physical and mental condition, he is very unstable. We do not know who to turn to and what to hope for. It is clear to us that my father has been chosen as an example, where one completely innocent man is accused of such misdeeds. It is an example to frighten an entire people and to be persecuted both politically and institutionally and expelled from these areas. And we can see that they are still doing it all these months," Pantic concluded.

Dejan Pantic was a member of the Kosovo Police, which he left at the beginning of November when the Serbs withdrew from Pristina institutions. He was arrested on December 10 at the Jarinje crossing when he and his wife were returning from Raska, and Pristina accuses him of having organized a "terrorist attack" on the premises of the CEC in the north of Kosovo.

His lawyer and family pointed out that Pantic had been without the necessary therapy for days, that he had a heart condition, and that they had not even managed to get in touch with him.