At the meeting in the Serbian War Crimes Prosecution Office, Association of Đakovica/Gjakove citizens requested that court cases related to the Serbs from Đakovica/Gjakove will be processed by the Special Court in Belgrade. In those cases the Municipal Prosecution in Kosovo launched lawsuits and through UNMIK and EULEX issued Interpol arrest warrants.
Đokica Stanojevic, president of the Association of Đakovica citizens, says that no one wants to avoid proving innocence, but the fact that the court in Đakovica, only after 16 years, launched the indictment is symptomatic. “How one can expect that a Serb appears before a court in the city which is forbidden for us; in the city where we were attacked and stoned every time we came, and where human and moral rights for Serbs don’t exist. The indictments are without concrete evidence, mono-ethnic and directed only against the Serbs. At the same time, there are no charges for the kidnapping and killing of 72 Serbs from Đakovica. In such circumstances, how one can go to testify? Who will guarantee his safety,” asked Stanojevic.
Đakovica/Gjakove citizens say that the Serbian Prosecution has shown good will in the meeting and promised that they will initiate a procedure that would, as explained, entail the signing of protocol on cooperation with EULEX. Members of the Association of Đakovica/Gjakove citizens also hope they will have the meeting with representatives of the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo where they will repeat the same request.
However, officials of the Ministry of Justice said that such cooperation is not possible. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo, so that extradition of Serbian citizens to the Republic of Serbia is not possible. “The subject of such protocol (agreement) cannot be extradition of Serbian citizens to the Republic of Serbia, and therefore there is no legal basis for the conclusion of such types of agreements. Please note that the Republic of Serbia does not recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed state of Kosovo,” was said to the newspaper.
