The Belgrade Prosecutor’s Office has announced it has requested information from Serbia’s Criminal Police Directorate and Security Information Agency (BIA) to “identify individuals” who arrested Igor Popović, assistant director of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo, in Kosovo on July 18.
Allegations of Kidnapping and Incitement Charges
“The requests have been made to ascertain whether elements of the criminal offense of kidnapping exist,” stated the notification from the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, reports RFE.
Popović was detained on July 18 in Kosovo after, according to Kosovo authorities, he referred to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) as a “terrorist organization” during a speech in Hoça e Madhe, comparing its actions to severe international events. Following this speech in Rahovec, he was apprehended at the Bërnjak border crossing and taken into police custody. The Basic Court in Pristina subsequently ordered him to one month of pre-trial detention. In Kosovo, he is suspected of the criminal offense of “inciting discord and intolerance.”
Reactions from Kosovo and Serbia
His lawyer, Lubomir Pantović, stated that the defense would appeal the Basic Court’s decision. “The prosecution’s request, which alleges that Igor Popović incited discord and hatred in his speech two days ago, has been accepted,” Pantović said.
Following Popović’s detention on July 18, Kosovo’s acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, declared that “Kosovo, as a democratic and sovereign state, will not tolerate insults and desecration of the history, let alone the war led by the KLA.” He added that “this part of history enjoys the respect of the entire progressive world.”
After the one-month pre-trial detention was ordered, Serbian officials in Belgrade and the Serb List reacted strongly. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated that official Belgrade had informed all international partners about Popović’s detention, adding that “this could have unpredictable consequences.”
“The latest arrest of Igor Popović shows that Albin Kurti has lost his mind and that he wants to cause incidents and conflicts in the Western Balkans,” Vučić said during an interview on Pink television in Belgrade. He emphasized that he would try to maintain peace and stability but warned that he would react “harshly and strongly, because this terror must stop at some point.”
The KLA was a political-military force that fought for the liberation of Kosovo from Serbian rule between 1990 and 1999. War veterans’ categories, including the KLA Veterans’ Organization (OVL-KLA), the War Invalids Association, and the Association of Families of Martyrs, have reacted sharply to the presence of Petar Petković’s assistant in Kosovo. They also stated that “any attempt to provoke, to tarnish the KLA, and to use Kosovo’s territory for anti-national propaganda is unacceptable and must be decisively stopped.”
During the war in Kosovo in 1998-99, more than 13,000 civilians were killed, and thousands more went missing. Around 1,600 people, mostly Albanians, are still unaccounted for. Over the years, justice authorities in Kosovo have accused or convicted several individuals for war crimes.
