Kosovo Accuses ‘Serbian Spies’ of Taking Municipal Documents

The Kosovo Prosecution told BIRN on Tuesday that the files found on the two Serbian citizens who were arrested last week for alleged espionage contained work-related documents about the head of the municipality of Kllokot/Klokot, including diplomas and contracts.

Liridona Xheladini from the prosecutor's office in Gjilan/Gnjilane said that the two Serbs have been released after they were questioned "because the documentation that they possessed needed to be verified [to find out] if it is classified by law, or if it is a state secret, which would have serious consequences for Kosovo's security".

The prosecutor's office in Gjilan/Gnjilane said last week that the two Serbs, which it identified by the initials T.T. and D.D., were detained at a border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia for allegedly trying to smuggle files out of the country.

The Serbian government's office for Kosovo condemned the arrests, describing them as a "flagrant example of legal violence".

It said that the two people arrested were a primary school principal from Vitina and a technical school principal from Vrbovac.

It claimed this was proof that "a campaign of intimidation of Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija by arresting Serbs and holders of important public positions continues".