The Serbian Ministry of Justice announced tonight that Kosovo authorities are systematically persecuting Serbs by issuing arrest warrants for "alleged war crimes" and appealed to the international community to prevent this.
The Basic Court in Pristina has issued an arrest warrant for former vice-president of the Serbian List, Milan Radoičić, and 19 other Serbs, suspected of war crimes against the civilian population during the 1998 and 1999 conflict in Kosovo.
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The Serbian Ministry of Justice stated that it "strongly condemns the latest activities of illegal and unrecognized judicial institutions" which, as it stated, "aim to continue the campaign of intimidation of Serbs and further prevent their return."
"Following information about the issuance of arrest warrants for 20 Serbs for alleged war crimes in Gjakova, even though most of these people have never been to Gjakova, it is obvious that this is an organized persecution of Serbs and an undisguised threat to their security," the statement reads.
The Serbian Ministry of Justice has appealed to the international community and its institutions in Kosovo to condemn and prevent further irresponsible behavior by Pristina.
The statement says that this "violates the basic human rights of the Serbian population, threatens freedom of movement, and carries out shameful persecution and intimidation of the Serbian people."
The Kosovo Special Prosecution Office confirmed to Radio Free Europe (RSE) that it has filed a request with the Basic Court in Pristina for an arrest warrant.
The Prosecutor's Office issued a decision to initiate an investigation against the accused on suspicion that they committed a war crime in Gjakova from May 7 to May 10, 1999.
"They began entering house after house, where they took out all the people present by force and threats, separating men from women and children, and then killed a total of 106 civilians of Albanian nationality, whose bodies were found in a mass grave in Batajnica, Serbia, after the war," the arrest warrant states.
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