Holkeri's intervention to release Ceku is abuse of office

Belgrade, March 2, 2004 - Serbian Minister of Justice Vladan Batic said on Monday that the intervention of UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri with the Hungarian authorities to secure the release of commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps Agim Ceku, arrested on Feb 29, is an act of the abuse of office. Ceku was arrested on an Interpol warrant issued by Belgrade for genocide against Serbs in the province.

In a letter to UNMIK chief, Minister Batic said that Holkeri ignores international conventions, denying Serbia's jurisdiction in Kosovo-Metohija.

Ceku was apprehended in Budapest on an Interpol arrest warrant for crimes against Serbian civilians in Kosovo-Metohija, issued at the request of the Serbian Ministry of Interior in 2002. Ceku is prosecuted for these crimes by the District Court of Pristina, now operating in the south Serbian city of Nis.

Hungarian police arrested Ceku on Feb 29, while he was returning from an exercise in Ostrava, Czech Republic, together with 40 members of the Kosovo Protection Corps.