Five officials from the Serb List party – Igor Simić, Ivan Zaporožac, Ivan Todosijević, Zoran Todić, and Vasilije Tomasević – have been summoned by the Basic Prosecution Office in North Mitrovica to provide statements on August 13 as defendants.
The news was announced by the Serb List, which claims that the procedure is related to developments following the intervention of Kosovo Police in institutions operating under Serbia’s system in northern Kosovo, an action the party described as an “occupation.”
According to the Serb List, its officials are suspected of document forgery, but the party claims they are being prosecuted because of the positions they held in institutions that are not recognized by Pristina.
“This is part of a broader plan aimed at persecuting the Serbian people and continuing institutional pressure against all those who stand with their people and defend their right to survival,” the Serb List said in a statement.
The case is linked to developments after November 2022, when Serb representatives, led by the Serb List, collectively withdrew from Kosovo’s institutions, including the police, judiciary, municipalities, government, and parliament, in protest over the license plate dispute and while demanding the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities.
In the following period, Kosovo authorities took over or closed a number of institutions operating under Serbia’s system in the north, including municipal bodies, administrative services, social welfare centers, the Serbian Post Office, branches of the Pension Fund, and other institutions.
Following last year’s local elections, the Serb List returned to Kosovo’s local self-government institutions and took control of four Serb-majority municipalities in the north. Meanwhile, most institutions that operated under Serbia’s system have not resumed their work in northern Kosovo but continue operating beyond the administrative boundary.
This is not the first case in which Kosovo justice authorities have launched proceedings against former officials of institutions that operated under Serbia’s system, as several investigations related to their activities have been opened in recent years.
