Graffiti around Mitrovica show the hate of the Serbian structure against the international and local security institutions.
Masked people who throw bombs against EULEX, KFOR and the Kosovo Police, are the images drawn in the Serbian campaign against the state of Kosovo.
Citizens are not able to move freely around the area, and the barricade on the Iber River has been staying there for two years. Few would think that this is an area where there is no law, and the internationals are trying to establish justice.
Far from the public eyes, EULEX is conducting some trials in the Mitrovica court. Although the presence of Prosecutors and Judges is indispensable, they don’t approach. Since the declaration of independence, the locals are working separated in a building at the Vushtria town.
This situation continues even today, although prosecutors and judges have asked to be present in trials. Defense lawyers are not in better conditions. In every session they are obliged to go to the court with protection from the Kosovo Police.
Same goes for journalists. When EULEX offers a press conference in the north, they also offer police transportation.
This is even more difficult for the families of the defendants, who are obliged to find other ways to follow their relative’s trial.
The norther cannot offer transparent trials in this situation, according to the Kosovo analyst, Naim Rashiti. However, the positive thing about this is that EULEX has preserved the jurisdiction of the court almost by force.
The implementation of the Apil 19th agreement will also be a challenge. Its 10th point talks about courts. Rashiti reminds that Serbs want the northern jurisdiction to be separated from the southern one.
Kosovo judges and prosecutors could not go in this court after the events of February and March 2008. Even today, the Mitrovica court is administered by EULEX personnel.
The governments of Kosovo and Serbia have calmed down the Serbs by allowing the Court of Appeal in Prishtina to create a panel of Serbian majority for all cases coming from the Serbian majority communes.
According to the agreement, a division of the Court of Appeal will be established permanently in Mitrovica.
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