The Basic Court in Pec/Peja issued an indictment against 14 Serbs from Klina, charging them with war crimes in Kosovo, in 1999. The Serbian Government Office for Kosovo issued a statement on the decision, stressing that this is another attempt at obstructing the return of expelled Serbs, who are actually the main victims of the Kosovo conflict. “The provisional institutions that are meant to implement justice, with this decision, are becoming accomplices to the brutal ethnic cleansing committed in the recent past against Serbs in Kosovo on several occasions,” the statement said.
“Instead of prosecuting innocent people, the judicial institutions in Metohija should finally start to deal with finding those responsible for the murder of Serbian children in Gorazdevac and other heinous crimes of which the perpetrators not only enjoy freedom, but continue to carry out a campaign of violence and intimidation against Serbs. With the indictment of Oliver Ivanovic, EULEX, which holds the highest responsibility for establishing a functional legal system in Kosovo, has unfortunately triggered an avalanche that could result in the prosecution of any Serb who happened to be in Kosovo and Metohija during the 1999 conflict. The Office for Kosovo considers this and other similar actions to be a calculated attempt at destabilizing the situation in the region,” said the statement.
