The Basic Court in Peć has ordered a one-month detention for three young men from Nikšić, Montenegro, who were arrested in Kosovo on Sunday for having a ‘Kosovo is Serbia’ sticker on their car license plates. The arrest, which occurred after a religious celebration at the Visoki Dečani Monastery, has sparked controversy, with one of their lawyers, Jovana Filipović, indicating plans to appeal the court’s decision once the official ruling is delivered in Serbian.
Filipović expressed no surprise over the detention, stating that such measures are reportedly typically applied to individuals from non-Albanian communities, particularly those who identify as Serbs. She criticized the legal process, pointing to what she sees as a regular pattern in these cases, where members of non-Albanian groups are often subjected to detention. She also highlighted potential violations of human rights, as the men were detained at 1 PM, but the court ruling was not issued until 2:13 PM, leading their legal team to file a complaint with the Ombudsman.
Of the three detained, one is being held at the high-security prison in Podujevo, while the other two are in the detention center in North Mitrovica. Two of the arrested individuals are active members of the Montenegrin army.
The arrests followed reports from Pristina media about the incident, where the trio was detained for a sticker reading „Kosovo is Serbia“ on their vehicle, which was registered in Nikšić. Their lawyer confirmed the arrests already on Sunday and said the young men had been held for an initial 48 hours, with the formal charges being „inciting hatred and intolerance.“ However, Filipović disagreed with the police’s interpretation of the act, arguing that the sticker itself did not constitute an incitement to hate.
She expressed concern that such charges appear to be disproportionately applied to members of the Serbian community or other non-majority groups, suggesting that similar actions by members of the Albanian community are not pursued in the same way. Filipović also noted that the sticker in question had been covered with another strip of tape, making the original message unreadable. It remains unclear who removed the tape, and the lawyer stated that it is now the responsibility of the authorities to investigate the matter.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
