Hasan Abazi (born c. 1947) is a

Kosovo Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

trade unionist and the president of the Kosovo Metalworkers Union. He was arrested in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

on 28 March 2012 for "crimes against heconstitution and security of Republic of Serbia". According to Serbian Interior Minister

Ivica Dačić Ivica Dačić ( sr-cyr, Ивица Дачић, ; born 1 January 1966) is a Serbian politician serving as first deputy prime minister of Serbia and minister of foreign affairs since 2022, roles which he previously served under governments of Mirk ...

, the arrest was made in "retaliation" for the arrests of four

Kosovo Serbs Kosovo Serbs are one of the ethnic groups of Kosovo. There are around 100,000 Kosovo Serbs as of 2014 and about half of them live in North Kosovo. Other Serb communities live in southern Kosovo. After Albanians, they form the largest ethnic com ...

the previous day.

Background

In the 1990s, Abazi was active in pre-independence Kosovo politics, twice serving in the parliament formed by

Ibrahim Rugova Ibrahim Rugova (; 2 December 1944 – 21 January 2006) was a prominent Kosovo Albanian political leader, scholar, and writer, who served as the President of the partially recognised Republic of Kosova, serving from 1992 to 2000 and as President ...

as a "parallel" to the

Serbian Parliament The National Assembly ( sr-cyr, Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, ) is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are proportionally elected to four-year terms by secret ballot. The as ...

. Abazi is a trade unionist and currently serves as the president of the Kosovo Metalworkers Union.

March 2012 arrest

On 27 March 2012, four Kosovo Serbs, including the mayor of

Vitina Viti ( sq-definite, Vitia) or Vitina ( sr-Cyrl, Витина), is a town and municipality located in the District of Gjilan in Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Viti has 4,924 inhabitants, while the municipality has 46,987 inhabita ...

, were arrested while attempting to cross the Kosovo-Serbia border at Bela Zemlja with campaign materials for an upcoming election. They were subsequently charged with "incitement to hatred and intolerance among ethnic groups". The following day, trade Abazi was arrested with fellow unionist Izet Mustafa who was released immediately by Serbian border police at a crossing near Gnjilane, Kosovo. Abazi was charged with espionage and Dačić stated of the arrests that "Serbian police did not wish to take this approach, but the situation obviously could no longer go on without retaliation... If someone wants to compete in arrests, we have the answer". According to his lawyer, Abazi was then held in solitary confinement. Amnesty International responded to the charges by calling for Abazi's release, stating that "people’s individual liberty cannot be put at risk as a bargaining chip in a political dispute between Serbia and Kosovo".

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

described it as an "arbitrary" arrest and also called for Abazi and Urseli's release.

Members of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

Eduard Kukan and

Jelko Kacin Jelko Kacin (born 26 November 1955) is a Slovenian politician. During the Slovenian Independence War, he was the Secretary of Information of Slovenia. He founded the Slovenian Press Agency on 3 June 1991 and the war (also called the Ten-Day War ...

sent a joint letter to Serbian Prime Minister

Mirko Cvetković Mirko Cvetković ( sr-Cyr, Мирко Цветковић, ; born 16 August 1950) is a Serbian economist and former politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2008 to 2012 and as finance minister from 2007 to 2008, and again from ...

protesting Abazi's detention and stating "great concern about the independence of state institutions and rule of law in Serbia". On 30 March, the Serbian High Court in

Vranje Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. The municipality of Vranje has a population of 83,524 and its urban area has 60,485 inhabitants. Vranje is the economical, poli ...

ordered Abazi to be detained for thirty days on espionage charges dating to a 1999 incident in which Abazi allegedly gave information to NATO.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abazi, Hasan Living people Prisoners and detainees of Serbia Trade unionists 1940s births Kosovan prisoners and detainees