36 Serbs Brought Before Pristina Court After Vidovdan

Kosovo police detained around 36 Serbs at Gazimestan on Sunday, June 28, shortly after a memorial service for the Kosovo heroes marking Vidovdan, and by the following day all of them were brought before the Basic Court in Pristina in the city’s Ajvalija district. The judge ordered that their personal documents be seized, hearings were scheduled in three groups, and part of the group, according to their lawyers, holds no Kosovo documents and now faces possible deportation.

Among those detained was a single minor, who was released after questioning. The group reportedly included Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija as well as people who had traveled in from central Serbia for Vidovdan. Kosovo police searched worshippers at the entrance and exit of the plateau and handed out leaflets setting out rules of conduct, while part of the crowd was, according to the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, funneled into improvised metal pens.

What exactly are the detainees charged with?

According to lawyer Jovana Filipovic, who represents some of those detained, this is a misdemeanor and not a criminal proceeding. The detainees are accused of allegedly disturbing public order, that is, of making provocative calls with elements of incitement to hatred, as Pristina authorities have framed it. Pristina media reported that the suspects were accused of singing nationalist songs during the gathering on the plateau.

The difference between a misdemeanor and a criminal classification is not a legal technicality here. A misdemeanor proceeding carries lighter sanctions and a different procedural route, but in this case it opens a concrete problem for those who hold no local documents in Kosovo. The seizure of personal papers by court order means the process does not end with questioning, leaving part of the group in an administrative limbo until the status of their documents is resolved.

The harshest consequence threatens a group of about 20 people who, according to the defense, do not hold Kosovo documents. They could, it is said, face deportation proceedings, turning a routine presence at a religious gathering into a question of freedom of movement and the right of residence. Throughout the evening, families and friends of the detainees brought the required paperwork, trying to speed up the release of their relatives.

How did Belgrade and Pristina react?

Belgrade described the detentions as pressure on Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and as a disproportionate response to marking a religious and national holiday. The Office for Kosovo and Metohija spoke of degrading treatment of worshippers and of improvised metal pens into which part of the crowd was directed. Belgrade placed the whole episode in the context of systematic pressure on the Serb population both north and south of the Ibar.

Pristina authorities, for their part, present the entire procedure as enforcement of the law and preservation of public order. In their account, the police intervention was a response to what they call provocative messages and songs, and the detentions and court appearances are part of routine procedure. As with most episodes in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, the two sides read this event from diametrically opposed angles.

The legal aftermath of Vidovdan at Gazimestan shows how thin the line is between a religious gathering and a security incident in Kosovo. The question that remains open is this: will misdemeanor cases and the threat of deportation become the new routine for Serbs who want to mark the holiday on the Kosovo Field?