Special Prosecution of Kosovo: A request submitted to the Basic Court for an arrest warrant to be issued against Goran Rakic

The Kosovo Special Prosecution has filed a request with the Basic Court in Pristina to issue a warrant for former Serb List president Goran Rakic in connection with the 2022 barricades in northern Kosovo.

Special Prosecution spokesperson Arbnora Luta told Koha that hearings had already been conducted with the current Serb List leader, Zlatan Elek, as well as MPs Slavko and Igor Simic, while Rakic failed to appear.

“The Special Prosecution is investigating the case of the barricades erected in four municipalities in the northern part of the Republic of Kosovo. As part of these investigations, the Special Prosecution has undertaken and continues to undertake all necessary investigative actions, including questioning the defendants in this criminal proceeding. The questioning of defendants S.S., I.S., and Z.E. has already been completed. Meanwhile, regarding the questioning of G.R., he was summoned three times but did not appear, initially justifying his absence with health problems, while for the other two summonses he gave no explanation,” Luta said.

She emphasized that for this reason the prosecution requested a warrant for Rakic, recalling that warrants had already been issued for 11 persons in the barricades case.

“Therefore, in order to ensure the presence of G.R., the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo has submitted a request to the Basic Court in Pristina to issue a warrant against him. As you know, within the investigations conducted by the prosecution in the 2022 barricades case, for the criminal offenses of obstruction of an official in the performance of official duties, incitement to resistance, and association for unconstitutional activities, a warrant has been requested for 11 other persons,” Luta added.

The barricades in northern Kosovo were removed in December 2022 after written guarantees from the European Union and the U.S. State Department that there were no arrest or prosecution lists for Kosovo Serb citizens due to their participation in them.

In addition to the warrants, Pristina is also conducting investigations against nearly 50 persons for criminal offenses including “obstruction of an official in the performance of official duties, incitement to resistance, and participation in unconstitutional activities.”