Serbia continues detaining citizens from Kosovo, appeal to diaspora members not to pass through the country

According to security experts in the country, diaspora members traveling in transit through Serbia to reach their homes may face targeting by the Serbian state. Following the arrest of Osman Selmani, calls have been repeated for this route to be avoided.

Over the past eight years, 15 Kosovars have been detained on almost similar charges.

On July 1, Osman Selmani was arrested at the Mutivodë border crossing.

Although the institutions there stated that he had not been a KLA soldier, he was placed in 30 days of pre-trial detention.

On Friday, the War Veterans’ Organization announced that Selmani is not listed as having been part of the KLA, while at the same time calling on citizens to avoid passing through Serbia.

“…these arrests that are continuing, these arrests that never stopped from the end of our war, therefore we call on all our compatriots not to take this route because now is the holiday period when they will be coming,” said Gazmend Syla, deputy chairman of the OVL-KLA.

According to Syla, Serbia’s approach toward the citizens of Kosovo has not changed over the years.

On the other hand, security expert Drizan Shala assesses that diaspora members, whose numbers increase significantly during the months of July and August, may become targets of the Serbian state.

“The state of Serbia, now in the current phase when many of our citizens are traveling to come to Kosovo and are using the territory of Serbia, will be targets of Serbia’s security structures, which have collected data on persons who previously passed through the territory of Serbia and have now created their files,” said Drizan Shala, a security expert.

Meanwhile, the television station also tried to get a position from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora regarding this issue, but no response was returned by this institution.