Thirty-day house arrest for Serb youths arrested in northern K Mitrovica

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - Pristina's basic court in northern Kosovska Mitrovica has placed four young Serb men arrested on Tuesday for an alleged attack on an officer on duty in 30-day house arrest, attorney Nebojsa Vlajic told Tanjug on Wednesday evening.

Vlajic said the accused could be only partly satisfied with the court's decision.

"We are satisfied because we have proved that a remand in custody would be an overreaction to an essentially insignificant incident where, unfortunately, objections can be made to both sides, but it would not be alright if just one of the sides faced consequences," Vlajic said.

He said the court had rejected the prosecutor's proposal to place the accused in court custody, and that they would soon be going home.

"We will see what happens after that. This is a small victory for justice because those people have the right to live a normal life and return to their families and their commitments. It is small because they have been placed in house arrest - we believed that was unnecessary, too," he said.