Over 60 court summons served to Kosovo-Metohija Serbs over barricades in north - lawyer

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - On orders from Pristina's special prosecution office, a directorate of the so-called Kosovo Police has served more than 60 court summons to Serbs from the north of Kosovo-Metohija over barricades put up near Zvecan in December last year, lawyer Ljubomir Pantovic said on Tuesday.

Kosovo-Metohija Serbs put up the barricades at the village of Rudare in protest against the arrest of fellow Serb Dejan Pantic - a former officer of the so-called Kosovo Police - at the Jarinje administrative crossing on charges of organising a "terrorist attack" on the offices of Pristina's central electoral commission in the north of Kosovo-Metohija.

The barricades were removed in the final days of 2022 after international guarantees were given that Serbs who were arrested would be released and that none of the protesters would be tried.

"As I have managed to find out, this is about criminal offences against constitutional order and, mainly, those people have been summoned to appear in court as suspects," said Pantovic.

Speaking about the cases of Serbs charged by Pristina with alleged war crimes and ethnically-motivated crimes, Pantovic said they had all been convicted beforehand and that all they could do was "pray to God to receive lesser sentences."