MPJD seeks international assistance in freeing Kosovo arrested in Serbia

Kosovo's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspore (MPJD) has condemned, as it said, the ban, arrest and mistreatment of Kosovo citizens by Serbian authorities and sought the international community's help with their release.

Through a media report, MPJD on the evening of January 5th revealed that authorities in Serbia have arrested two Kosovo citizens, Hasan and Xhavit Daka.

This minister said Xhavit Daka has already been released.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora strongly condemns the ban, arrest and mistreatment of citizens of the Republic of Kosovo, and also calls on the international community to take concrete steps for the immediate release of citizen Hasan Daka and at the same time to seek responsibility from the Serbian state for these arbitrary and destructive actions and who clash with international human rights conventions”, was announced, without specifying what Daka has been arrested.

Authorities in Kosovo said they have announced the European Union office in Serbia in the case, as well as the Embassy of the United States and Great Britain.

MPJD said the Kosovo Liaison Office in Serbia will submit formal application to Serbian authorities that the head of this office, Jetish Jashari, can visit Hasan Daka and be reportedly treated by Serbian organs.

“At the same time we invite all citizens who may face difficulties of different natures during their trip through Serbia to contact us in the phone number: 51”, the report said.

Even in the past, Kosovo citizens have been arrested by Serbian authorities. One of them, Nezir Mehmetaj, was arrested in January 2020 at the Merdare border checkpoint under suspicion that he committed war crimes in 1999 in Rudica, Cline. Since the arrest, he has been in custody in Belgrade. / REL