Celic: Arrests for social media posts are part of a "range" of repression against Serbs, it is apartheid

Dusko Celic, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of North Mitrovica, says that the punishment of Serbs for social media posts is "part of a range in the system of repression" and that the rights of the Serbian community are being threatened in all aspects to such an extent that it can be described as apartheid.

"The news of a Serb being punished with a draconian sentence for verbal offense is unfortunately not a surprise to me. I fear we can expect similar things, perhaps even worse, in the period leading up to the elections. This is just one of the elements in this system of repression," Celic said to Kosovo Online.

He added that almost all rights of Serbs in Kosovo are endangered.

"Human rights of Serbs, generally in Kosovo and Metohija, are endangered in almost all aspects. We are now talking about the right to justice, the right to a fair trial, the right to freedom of speech, but also the rights to property, the rights of detainees, cultural rights, linguistic rights, and the right to express national identity. Unfortunately, in this segment, we can speak of a form of apartheid being carried out against Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija," Celic emphasized.

He says that he expects a reaction from the international community, especially from the institutions engaged in Kosovo.

"I expect a reaction from the international community, from those missions that are still active in Kosovo and Metohija. First of all, I mean Eulex, UNMIK, the Council of Europe, and the OSCE. Simply put, their mandate includes monitoring human rights in Kosovo and Metohija, and I expect their urgent reaction. This cannot continue, so to speak figuratively, with the lights off. This darkness must be illuminated. It must be shown that there is a territory in the heart of Europe where almost nothing of the minimum rule of law exists," Celic concluded.