The two detained Serbs from Mitrovica, suspected of being connected with the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, ended a two-week hunger strike.

According to Belgrade based daily Politika, Nedeljko Spasojević (42) and Marko Rosic (25) decided to stop the strike due to their exhaustion and were receiving intravenous infusion.

Father of Marko Rosic told Politika that his son is under constant torture, first in prison in Podujevo, and in the past two months in Gnjilane, adding that he hoped that the judge would positively respond to the request for his transfer to Mitrovica North.

He stated that his son and Spasojevic entered the hunger strike precisely because they did not receive a response to their request to be transferred to Mitrovica prison.

Spasojevic’s lawyer Negovan Saranovic confirmed to the Belgrade daily that his client ended the hunger strike but added that he has not yet received an answer from the Court of Appeals regarding the appeal of the extension of the detention on remand for two more months, although, he added, the answer should have been made in an urgent procedure.

The Serbian List issued a press release on Saturday, requesting the release of two Serbian detainees which were on hunger strike:

“The institutional violence which the judiciary of Kosovo is carrying out against the unjustly arrested Serbs represents a shame and a stain on the face of these institutions, but also of the international community that is silent about the violation of the fundamental human rights of our fellow citizens Marko Rosic and Nedeljko Spasojevic, who are on a hunger strike for 14 days” the Serbian List said, reported Kontakt plus radio.

“Without an intention to influence the investigation or having anyone interpret this appeal as an interference in the work of the prosecution, it is our duty to stand up in the defence of rights and justice that are obviously violated in this case”.

“To detain anyone for five months, without any evidence, and for the sake of some political games, while disrespecting the presumption of innocence, is a sufficient reason to stand up against the injustice and tyranny that is being carried out. Hunger strike of Marko Rosic and Nedeljko Spasojevic, unfortunately, is the only means to appeal to the consciousness of those who are hiding behind some kind of a proceeding and are trying to exhaust with hunger and mentally break innocent people”.

“The Serbian List calls on relevant institutions for the protection of human rights, Ombudsperson, OSCE, as well as the embassies in Pristina to get involved in this process as soon as possible and urge the competent prosecutor’s office to allow Rosic and Spasojevic to be released pending trial (defend themselves while being free) or provide evidence of their detention. The continuation of this behaviour will further deepen the mistrust of Serbs in Kosovo institutions as well as in international representatives whose mouths are full of words about the rights and justice, except in those cases in which the rights and justice of Serbs are violated,” the Serbian List concluded.