As expected, Igor Popović, Assistant Director of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija, was found guilty by the Basic Court in Pristina for inciting discord and intolerance.
Popović was sentenced to six months in prison. However, the sentence was converted into a €3,000 fine, along with deportation from Kosovo and a two-year ban on entering the territory.
He is required to pay the fine within 15 days from the date the verdict becomes final. In addition, the court ordered him to pay €100 for court expenses and another €100 as a victims’ compensation fee.
The judgment was based on a plea agreement reached with the prosecution. As such, the defense waived its right to appeal. Popović did not attend the sentencing hearing.
He was arrested on July 18 at the Brnjak crossing, following a speech in Velika Hoca during which he referred to the KLA as „terrorists.“ He was subsequently placed in one-month pre-trial detention.
The plea deal with Kosovo’s Special Prosecution was concluded two days ago, on August 5.
Despite previously conditioning dialogue on his release and announcing a “strong response,” Serbian officials have remained silent since the deal was reached. Neither the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nor President Aleksandar Vučić have commented publicly.
The agreement has sparked a wave of reactions in Serbia.
In addition to former judge Božo Prelević, Forum for Ethnic Relations director Dušan Janjić and North Kosovo-based lawyer Nebojša Vlajić shared their view of the agreement with KoSSev earlier this week.
Slobodan Cvejić, professor and deputy head of the opposition Serbia Centre (SRCE) movement, said the case “clearly proves Vučić’s policy is falling apart at the seams.”
The Kreni-Promeni movement called it “a fiasco of state policy.”
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
