Office for Kosovo and Metohija
Government of the Republic of Serbia

Đurić: Time to come together in solidarity with Ivanović

Director of the Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko ĐuriĆ said today that it is time for the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija to come together in solidarity with Oliver Ivanovic who went on a hunger strike, in order to combat practices that deviate from the rule of law.

Đurić expects that the EULEX officials take steps to call off the legal violence before Ivanović's health is impaired, indicating that EULEX would otherwise become complicit in the crime against Ivanović.

“Today Oliver Ivanović decided to go on a hunger strike, a move which is the last resort available to the political prisoners as a means of fight against the institutional violence. It is time for solidarity with Ivanović and time for our people in Kosovo and Metohija to come together in opposing such an unjust and deeply misguided practice which serves to alienate the north of Kosovo and Metohija from the rule of law”, Đurić told the Tanjug.

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated that Ivanović has been compelled to this desperate act by the judges who dispense injustice instead of justice, thereby stomping on their degrees, the oaths they swore and the legal standards applicable in the EU.

“If this act is merely a ramification of a decision made by a few irresponsible judges, I expect that the EULEX officials who were deployed in Kosovo and Metohija to uphold the rule of law, take steps to put an end to legal violence before Ivanović's health is compromised. Should EULEX fail to react in this situation, EULEX may become an accessory in a crime against Ivanović," Đurić said.

Đurić expressed fear that lack of reaction on the part of EULEX could signal a message to Serbs about what they can expect if by some chance they are brought before the "Kafkaesque judiciary system in Kosovo and Metohija."

EULEX would thus be manifested as a generator of a new political crisis in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, instead of being the institution dedicated to the rule of law and stability, Đurić added.

"I am certain that Serbs in our southern province will not remain silent when it comes to the fate of Oliver Ivanović," Đurić concluded.

Today Ivanović began a hunger strike in his prison in Kosovska Mitrovica, demanding to be released pending trial. Ivanović was prompted to such a move after the panel of EULEX judges in the Kosovska Mitrovica Basic Court ruled to extend his detention for another two months, i.e. until October 6.

Ivanović was arrested on 27 January 2014 and this is the second time he has opted for such a step.

Previously he went on a hunger strike demanding that he be moved from the Priština prison to the Mitrovica prison, which he was allowed in the end.