Several Serbian-language media outlets published an article yesterday (March 28) about the arrest of a Serbian citizen (former police officer) at the Jarinje border crossing, claiming to be an ethnically motivated act.
The attempt to present the arrest as an ethnically motivated incident was made by the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia (OKOS) through a statement issued on the same date.
The announcement of this institution accuses official Pristina of, as it is said, "continuing the pressure and persecution of the Serbian people in Kosovo", where the nature of this arrest, according to the announcement, is alleged to be "staged and political".
While the Kosovo Police, through their official reaction to the event, provide information that is not related to the claim made by the Serbian institution, consequently also in some Serbian-language media that broadcast this information.
Links to articles published in several Serbian-language media outlets:
Link to the Office for Kosovo statement:
Excerpts from articles published in several Serbian-language media outlets:
The Office for Kosovo and Metohija has announced that today's arrest of former Serbian police officer Miljan J. in Jarinje is a continuation of the pressure and persecution of the Serbian people in Kosovo, especially against the police officers who took off their Kosovo Police uniforms in November last year.
Parts of the Office for Kosovo's response:
The arrest of a Serbian policeman in Jarinje, the continuation of pressure and persecution of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija.
This speaks volumes about the staged and political nature of this arrest and represents Pristina's intentions to deal with Serbs who it cannot force to return to the Kosovo Police.
The Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia does not provide concrete facts to support the claims made above.
Although the Serbian-language media claimed to present the case as an ethnically motivated arrest, on the other hand, the Kosovo Police provides data that describes a different course of events. Through a statement published on Facebook, the Kosovo Police announced that the suspect was wanted on suspicion of involvement in criminal offenses such as; organized crime, bribery and abuse of authority.
"Today, in the evening hours at the Jarinje border crossing point, a Kosovar male (MJ) was detained, based on an active arrest warrant issued by the Basic Court. The suspect was wanted on suspicion of involvement in criminal offenses such as; organized crime, bribery and abuse of authority.. "(here)
Analyze:
The Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia claims to present the arrest of a citizen of Serbian nationality (former police officer) at the Jarinje border crossing as ethnically motivated.
This claim was denied by the Kosovo Police, who announced in a statement published on Facebook that the suspect was wanted on suspicion of involvement in criminal offenses such as; organized crime, bribery and abuse of authority.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this claim as "manipulation of facts".
Rating:
The evaluation as "Manipulation of facts" is given to those media reports that use facts known to be correct, but interpret them in a distorted way. These reports typically use inaccurate information to draw inaccurate conclusions or claims, thereby misdirecting consumers' conclusions of media content in relation to the actual meaning of the facts presented.