Belgrade [Russia], August 7 (ANI/Sputnik): Correspondent of Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper Daria Aslamova, previously detained in the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, is safe and located in central Serbia, the Russian embassy to Serbia said on Sunday, stressing that her detention was groundless.
Earlier in the day, the interior minister of the republic, Xhelal Svecla, said that Aslamova was arrested at the Kosovo border while attempting to cross into the republic, and accused her of espionage without proof.
“At the moment, Aslamova is safe, is located in the territory of central Serbia,” the embassy said.
“Under false pretexts, the Kosovars did not let Aslamova enter the territory of the province, and ludicrously accused her of ‘working for the Russian secret services,’ they detained her for several hours, prohibited using her cell phone and took all her personal belongings for a search,” the embassy added.
The embassy has immediately reported the incident to the international missions in the region, in particular, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), as well as the UN Secretariat.
The Russian embassy also regarded “the groundless detention of Daria Aslamova another provocation by Kosovo’s interim self-governing bodies” and an example of Pristina’s complete disregard for basic democratic principles, including media freedom.
“We call on the UN Secretariat, UNMIK, the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] Mission in Kosovo, the EU Rule of Law Mission and the relevant international organizations to provide an immediate and appropriate public assessment of the incident,” the Russian diplomatic mission added. (ANI/Sputnik)