For several days now, residents in the north of Kosovo have been receiving summons for questioning as suspects. Although the summons do not specify a specific criminal offense, it is suspected that they are related to the December barricades. This opinion is also shared by lawyers, as well as the deputy commander of the KP of the region north, who notes that this region only assists the central directorate in Pristina. He confirmed that several people have been questioned so far, but no arrests have been made.
Several residents from the north of Kosovo contacted KoSSev claiming that they recently received a summons from the Kosovo Police, that is, from the Directorate for Investigation of Serious Crimes in Pristina.
The call states that they are summoned to appear as suspects at the Directorate for Serious Crimes in Mitrovica for questioning in connection with case no. 2022-DKR-59.
„This summons is based on the authorization of the prosecutor of the case from the Special Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kosovo with PPN no. 16/23, in connection with criminal offenses from Article 127, 114, 403 and 401,“ the summons adds.
It is also stated that individuals who have been summoned have the right to have a lawyer present during the questioning, or the police would assign them a defense attorney if they do not have one.
The summons also noted that „an arrest warrant may be requested“ should the individual not respond to the summons and fail to to justify his/her absence.
It, however, does not specify the precise reason these persons were summoned for questioning.
What are they charged with?
Article 114 of the Criminal Code refers to the criminal offense of „Attack on the constitutional order of the Republic of Kosovo“.
It states that the use of violence or the threat of violence with the aim of attempting to change the constitutional order or overthrow the highest institutions, that is, preventing the establishment of the constitutional order is punished by imprisonment of at least five years. For the use of violence in order to try to threaten „Kosovo’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity“, a sentence of at least 10 years is given.
Article 127 refers to the criminal offense of „Association for the purpose of unconstitutional activity“ for which a prison sentence of one to five years is prescribed.
Article 401 refers to the criminal offense of „obstructing an official in the performance of official duties“ for which a prison sentence of three months to three years is given. If the threat of using a weapon or other means is included, a sentence of 6 months to 5 years is prescribed.
Article 403 refers to the criminal offense „Incitement to resistance“.
If someone calls others to resistance or disobedience against the law and the decisions of authorities and officials, he will be punished with imprisonment for up to 3 years, and for more serious circumstances, a punishment of 6 months to 5 years is prescribed, as per this article.
„No one voluntarily went to the barricades, now there is no one to support them“
One resident of North Mitrovica, whose identity is known to the editorial office, received a summons. He agreed to talk to KoSSev while wishing to remain anonymous.
Although the document itself does not clearly indicate why he is being called for questioning, as a suspect, he assumes that it is related to his participation in the December barricades.
He also confirmed what several other residents, who received the same summons, told us last week, that some individuals have already been questioned in connection with the December barricades. Our interlocutor, however, is not one of them.
At the time this text was published, KoSSev discovered that some citizens received summons to be questioned today.
He emphasizes that he consulted with a lawyer who told him that „there is a 50% chance that he will be arrested“, citing this is the reason why he refused to respond to the summons for questioning.
Commenting on the December barricades, he claims that he was forced to participate.
„No one went there of their own free will, but now, unfortunately, when they receive a summons, there is no one to support us… There is a general silence on the subject,“ he says.
Zaporožac writes texts, but does not respond to messages
According to the unofficial findings of the KoSSev portal, a meeting was held in the premises of the Provisional Authority of the Municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica on Sunday in connection with the upcoming Serbian elections scheduled for December 17.
At this meeting, however, they allegedly discussed the summons for questioning that multiple citizens have received.
In order to find out what was specifically discussed, and what conclusion they reached, we called the new president of the Provisional Authority of the Municipality, Ivan Zaporožac.
He declined our call and sent us a message to contact him via SMS.
Although we did as he advised, by the time this news was published, no answer had arrived.
In all the official positions he has held for many years, both in the Serbian and in the Kosovo system, from the principal of elementary school, to the councilor in the Kosovo MA, the head of the school administration, to the president of the provisional authority, Zaporožac has never responded to our calls or messages.
Pantović and Vlajić: More people reached out for our services, it’s a good thing that summonses were sent and no arrests were made
A lawyer from North Mitrovica, Nebojša Vlajić, confirmed for KoSSev that „many people“ contacted him to represent them precisely in connection with the summons for questioning, noting that he will represent one of them.
He emphasizes that all summonses are identical.
„Many people reached out. I will be representing one of them. I can’t say anything now because he still hasn’t had his turn for questioning, it’s scheduled for the end of the month. People contacted me whose questioning was scheduled for today, tomorrow, but I cannot represent them, because I took it upon myself to defend someone else,“ Vlajić said.
Although he could not confirm, it is also Vlajić’s belief that the summons are related to the December barricades.
„The police do not specify the reasons for the summons, but when taking a statement, they are obliged to inform us about it. The police will inform everyone who responds why they were summoned,“ he said.
According to him, it is a good thing that the summons were sent out, instead of citizens being immediately arrested.
He added that it is within the competence of the Kosovo Police to send summons to both those who are being questioned as witnesses and those who are being questioned as suspects.
„If someone fails to appear, the police have measures they could take. But the previous practice of arresting people, nobody knowing what they were arrested for, and then being accused or released, was very ugly. This is not the order provided by law. The law provides for a summons, and that was done in this case,“ underlined Vlajić.
His colleague, Ljubomir Pantović, also confirmed for the KoSSev portal that residents contacted him with a request to represent them precisely in connection with these summonses.
Just like Vlajić, he revealed that he agreed to represent one of them, who is scheduled to be questioned in 10 days. He also assumes the calls refer to the December barricades.
Elshani: No one has been arrested so far
The deputy commander of the Kosovo Police for the region north, Veton Elshani, confirmed for KoSSev that this region assists the directorate in Pristina in connection with procedures, that is, sending summons which he also assumes are related to last year’s barricades.
He could not confirm how many people have received such calls and how many of them have already been questioned. However, he confirmed that none of them have been arrested so far.
„We just assist, find people, send the summons. They are then interrogated at the police station of the region north. No one has been arrested so far, we are just taking statements,“ said Elshani.
KoSSev portal reached out to the Special Prosecutor’s Office of Kosovo and the Central Directorate of the Kosovo Police with a query about why residents are being summoned, how many summons were sent out, and how many people have been questioned so far. Our questions remained unanswered by the time this news was published.
On the other hand, the president of the Serbian Democracy party from the North of Kosovo, Aleksandar Arsenijević, claims that the calls refer to the December barricades.
He published a photo of one of the summons, alleging that so far „40 people have been summoned“.
On the other hand, he recalled the guarantees the European Union and the US provided in exchange for the removal of last year’s barricades. „What is this? How much are your guarantees worth?” – Arsenijević asked.
How were the barricades removed?
Almost exactly one year ago, local Serbs erected barricades throughout the north of Kosovo, in at least 14 sites, following the arrest of a former member of the Kosovo Police, Dejan Pantić, as well as two other individuals.
The barricades were installed a month after the Serbs left almost all Kosovo institutions in the north, including the judiciary, the central government and the assembly, although they soon verified their mandates with the new deputies of Srpska Lista.
The demands listed for their removal were the release of arrested Serbs, the withdrawal of „secret lists for the arrest of accused Serbs“ and also the withdrawal of (special) police units from the North.
Despite this, the barricades were dismantled 20 days after they were set up, i.e. the day after one of the demands was only partially fulfilled, i.e. Dejan Pantić was transferred from court custody to home arrest.
Before the removal of the barricades, the Serbian president announced that he had received guarantees from the West that the Serbs who participated in the barricades would not be criminally prosecuted.
The US and the European Union then welcomed „the assurance of the leadership of Kosovo that there are no lists of Serbs from Kosovo who will be arrested or prosecuted for peaceful protests/barricades“.
On the other hand, they said that the rule of law must be respected, and that any form of violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
They also announced that EULEX will continue to „carefully monitor“ all investigations and subsequent procedures.
The Kosovo Prime Minister announced in the meantime that no one had asked him for any guarantees, after which the Serbian President said that he had not even asked Kurti for them, because „no one trusts him“.
Vučić also accused the West on several occasions of failing to respect guarantees that there would be no arrests of Serbs.
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