“Serbia stands alongside Oliver, Ilija, Dragoljub, Nebojsa and Aleksandar and we are confident that they would prove innocent, in whichever fair procedure,” said Director of the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric, to the reporters in Kosovska Mitrovica.

At the same time, he added, Serbia is demanding their release pending completion of the court procedure, and that they will be allowed adequate time for the preparation of defence.

After attending the first hearing of the five Serbs, Djuric said that the Prosecution had 15 years to prepare "something what does not look like serious evidence," estimating as incredible that the accused persons were given only 30 days to present evidence.

"At the same time we reject the criminalization of things which Serbian population had to do in order to defend themselves, trying to survive in northern Kosovo. We are also rejecting the attempts to artificially establish a balance between proceedings for some criminals (ethnic Albanians) with this proceeding”, said Djuric.

Pointing out that a political equilibrium cannot be established by detaining innocent people, he recalled that Serbia has offered political and legal guarantees for release of Oliver Ivanović pending trial.

Commenting on the cooperation of Serbs from northern Kosovo with the EU mission in Kosovo (EULEX), Djuric said that Kosovo Serbs sent a message of concern about certain EULEX procedures, adding that it is true that there is no enough trust between the part of the citizens of Kosovo and Metohija and EULEX. “I think that EULEX representatives also bear responsibility. The EULEX act in a way which creates additional uncertainty, instead of ensuring that political process of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina flows normally,” said Duric.