Serbian List officials under investigation for endangering the constitutional order and other offenses

Igor Simić, deputy leader of the Serbian List and a member of the Kosovo Assembly, announced that he and several other officials of the party had been summoned by the Terrorism Investigation Department of the Special Prosecution Office as suspects.

In an Instagram post, Simić said they were suspected of four criminal offenses: joining together with the aim of attacking Kosovo’s constitutional order, attacking an official, endangering a person under international protection, participating in a crowd committing a criminal offense and hooliganism.

“As always, I will respond to the summons, because I have nothing to hide, aware, just like those who wrote this, that I have not committed any criminal offense and that, as a political representative, it is my duty to stand with my people and speak publicly about their suffering,” he declared.

Radio Free Europe asked Kosovo’s Special Prosecution Office for clarification about the nature of the suspicions against Serbian List officials, the events to which they relate and the number of people involved. So far, the institution has not responded.

According to Simić, the summonses for questioning constitute political pressure. He claimed that Serbian List officials are summoned by Kosovo’s prosecution whenever they raise concerns about violations of the individual and collective rights of Serbs.

The Serbian List is considered the largest political force representing Serbs in Kosovo and is supported by Belgrade.

In the past, representatives of the party have also been summoned by the Special Prosecution Office for questioning over suspicions of “attacking Kosovo’s constitutional order.”

In previous years, Serbs in northern Kosovo erected barricades and held protests against the implementation of decisions by the Kosovo Government. The Serbian List has consistently supported these actions.

In June this year, Kosovo’s Prosecution Office indicted six people suspected of erecting barricades in December 2022.

The barricades were erected at a time when local elections were being organized in the Serb-majority municipalities in the north. This happened after the mayors resigned as part of the collective withdrawal of Serbs from Kosovo’s institutions, an initiative of the Serbian List.

Following these developments, tensions escalated, and violence broke out in Zvečan at the end of May 2023. Serb protesters opposed the entry into the municipal building of the ethnic Albanian mayor, who had won the local elections after the area’s Serbs boycotted them.

During the clashes, in which more than 90 KFOR personnel were injured, Serbian List officials were also seen at the scene. Kosovo’s justice authorities have initiated proceedings against around 10 people over the unrest. Most of them were allowed to defend themselves while remaining at liberty under conditions, while several Serbian citizens were expelled from Kosovo.

The developments culminated in an armed attack by a group of Serbs in Banjska, near Zvečan. The operation was led by Milan Radoičić, who at the time was deputy leader of the Serbian List. Kosovo police officer Afrim Bunjaku was killed during the attack, while three Serbian attackers subsequently also lost their lives.

Kosovo has held Serbia responsible for the attack, an accusation officially denied by Belgrade.