The son of the arrested Ilija Elezovic: He is seriously ill being held in custody; it can be fatal

Nikola Elezovic, the son of one of the three Serbs arrested a few days ago, pointed out that the continuation of his stay in the detention cell for the life of his father Ilija could be fatal. He points out that he is an oncology patient and that even the Albanian doctor stated in the report that such a patient had to be in the hospital, but the Court and the Prosecution in Pristina had ignored that.

In an interview for Kosovo Online, Nikola Elezovic reiterated that the accusations of war crimes against his father were completely meaningless and appealed to everyone who had the opportunity to help enable treatment for his father.

"He is in a very bad condition. My father had two serious operations, he is an oncology patient, currently, there are metastases and he cannot live without adequate treatment, protection, food, and everything that is necessary for such a patient. I appeal to everyone to enable him at least hospital treatment. In Pristina, unfortunately, they ignored the report of the Albanian doctor who said that such a patient had to be in hospital. I only hope that they will quickly enable him at least hospital treatment," he said.

Stating that the lawyer conveyed to them that the arrested Ilija Elezovic said that the members of the police were very fair to him, that they did not mistreat him, and that the conditions for his stay in custody are good, Nikola points out that he does not have adequate medical care.

"He has a stoma, he can change the bags by himself, but he can't change the discs. Today is the day to change the disc, I hope the prison doctor assisted him because he can't change it himself," he said.

He emphasizes that from the moment of the arrest until today, no one has contacted the family of the arrested person from Pristina.

"Neither the police, nor the Prosecution, we do not know his health condition, the only contact with him is lawyer Ljubomir Pantovic, and his words are worrisome. He told us that if he continued to be in custody, it could be disastrous for him," he says.

Nikola said that his father, Ilija Elezovic, was a respected citizen of Kosovska Mitrovica and that they had escaped from the village near Vucitrn in 1999 during the war.

At the time he is accused of committing a war crime, Ilija Elezovic was the Director of a public utility company, and after that, when they escaped to Kosovska Mitrovica, he started working as a teacher at a school where he taught geography.

"Very well-respected and appreciated in the city, as evidenced by the number of friends who call and cannot believe what is happening. It is very difficult for us, we deeply believe that the indictment against him and those two crimes, he could not have committed, what more during the war, he helped the Albanians and all people who needed help. We have contacts with many people, even with Albanians who do not believe that this is happening because they know that he is a good man and that he helped," he adds.

As he adds, after the war, they did not try to return to the village from which they fled, because even before the war, there was a majority Albanian population.

"The conditions for return have not been met because there are no Serbs in the village," he adds.

Nikola Elezovic thanked everyone who provided help, lawyer Pantovic who was provided by the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, friends, and the Serbian Hunting Association, and offered support to the families of two more arrested Serbs under indictments for war crimes.

"I hope that everyone will be released as soon as possible because we believe that our fathers are innocent," Nikola Elezovic concludes.