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Terrorist attack in Banjska/ 3 of the accused Serbs appear before a court in Kosovo today

Politiko 2025-06-09 09:45:18

Terrorist attack in Banjska/ 3 of the accused Serbs appear before a court in

The trial of three of the 45 defendants for terrorism and serious criminal offenses in the “Banjska” case, where a Kosovo Police sergeant was killed in September 2023, will continue today with the second session at the Basic Court of Pristina. In the first session held in April for the attack on this village in northern Kosovo, the three defendants, Vladimir Tolic, Blagoje Spasojevic and Dusan Maksimovic, pleaded not guilty to charges of terrorism, financing of terrorism and serious criminal offenses.

During that hearing, the lawyer for the family of murdered sergeant Afrim Bunjaku, Arianit Koci, requested life imprisonment for the defendants. The three defendants were arrested after the attack in Banjska, Zvecan, in September 2023, when an armed group of Serbs attacked the Kosovo Police and killed Bunjaku.

In the ensuing shootout, three more attackers were killed. Milan Radoićić, former vice-president of the Serbian List – the largest Serb party in Kosovo and supported by official Belgrade – claimed responsibility for the armed attack. Prosecutors had requested a trial in absentia for Radoićić and the 41 other defendants in the case, who are at large, but the Basic Court rejected their request as “unfounded”.

The forty-two suspects are charged with terrorism, serious crimes against the constitutional order and security of Kosovo, while Radoićić is also charged with facilitating and financing the commission of terrorism, as well as money laundering. The court stated in April that their trial should continue after their arrest and extradition to Kosovo.

At the first hearing in April, after the three defendants pleaded guilty, special prosecutor Naim Abazi said that the videos would prove that the attack was pre-planned and that the group was "well-organized." During the screening of videos taken by drones on the day of the attack, Abazi said that the homes of citizens in the area were also damaged by the attack.

The three defendants denied the charges and claimed that they did not intend to kill anyone, let alone unite northern Kosovo with Serbia, as the indictment states. The Kosovo Special Prosecution, among other things, charges the defendants in the Banjska case with terrorist acts and acts against the constitutional order and security of Kosovo.

The prosecutor in the case, Naim Abazi, previously stated that the defendants had various roles within the criminal group, "from organizing and directing terrorist activities, to financing and laundering money."

The indictment states that this group, through the use of violence with heavy weapons, attempted to " separate the northern part of the territory of the Republic of Kosovo, namely the municipalities inhabited by a Serb majority, and to annex this part of the territory to the Republic of Serbia."

The leader of this group has been identified as Milan Radoićić, who is said to have played a significant role in coordinating the attack and criminal activities. Radoićić is blacklisted by the United States and the United Kingdom for links to international organized crime and corruption.

In Kosovo, he is also linked to the murder of a Serbian opposition politician, as well as the intimidation of witnesses in a trial for several illegal constructions. In the indictment, the Prosecution cites 34 files of evidence, among which there are video recordings, analyses of electronic devices, various responses from Luxembourg, Bosnia and Herzegovina, banks and various institutions, witness statements, etc.

Kosovo authorities describe the attack in Banjska as a terrorist act and accuse Serbia of being behind it. On the other hand, Serbia has denied any involvement in the attack in Banjska, while Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has stressed that for Belgrade this attack is not terrorist, but that it is being investigated. The international community has strongly condemned the attack in Banjska and has demanded that those responsible be brought to justice./ REL