The Serbian government’s office for Kosovo described Friday’s Prishtina court verdict convicting three Serbs of terrorism offences for involvement in an armed attack that left a policeman dead in September 2023 as “politically motivated”.

Defendants Blagoje Spasojevic and Vladimir Tolic were sentenced to life imprisonment while a third, Dusan Maksimovic was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The court found three men guilty of “serious acts against the constitutional order and security of Kosovo” by participating in an attack by a Serbian-backed group of armed men.

The Serbian government’s office for Kosovo called the first-instance sentences “draconian”.

“The verdict… [convicting] three Serbs for the tragic events in Banjska was handed down under direct political pressure from [Kosovo Prime Minister] Albin Kurti and the anti-Serb regime in Prishtina, which has been carrying out media, political and every other form of stigmatisation and criminalisation of the arrested Serbs since the very beginning of the process,” it said in a statement.

“The Serbs who are being sentenced today are people who have spent their entire lives in northern Kosovo and Metohija, raising their families and building their future in this area, and are not some kind of terrorists, as Kurti’s propaganda and political machinery from Pristina wants to portray them as,” it added.

In parliament in Prishtina, however, as soon as the news of the court verdict emerged, Kosovo MPs erupted in applause – which caused lawmakers from the Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista party to leave the chamber.

In a statement issued later, Srpska Lista condemned the verdict, saying that “it was passed without presenting valid evidence, without determining individual responsibility and without a clear explanation of the specific actions taken by the defendants”.

Kosovo Finds Three Serbs Guilty of 2023 Armed Attack in Banjska

Kosovo’s parliament speaker Albulena Haxhiu hailed the verdict, however.

“This is a verdict for the defence of the constitutional order, which our hero Afrim Bunjaku fought for,” said Haxhiu, referring to the Kosovo Police sergeant who was killed in the attack in Banjska.

Haxhiu said that justice will only be properly done when “head terrorist Milan Radoicic and other terrorists are extradited to Kosovo” – referring to the alleged ringleader, local Serb powerbroker, businessman and politician Milan Radoicic.

Radoicic, former deputy leader of the Srpska Lista party, is in Serbia. In October 2023, he was questioned by the Belgrade Higher Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion that, together with several unknown persons, he committed the criminal acts of association for the purpose of committing criminal acts, the unauthorised production, possession, carrying and trafficking of firearms and explosive substances, and aggravated crimes against general security.

Although he previously admitted leading the armed group in Banjska, he denied his guilt at the interrogation.

The Higher Court in Belgrade rejected a proposal for a custody remand, but ordered him not to leave Serbia and confiscated his passport.

The investigation is Belgrade has not been closed. In August 2024, Belgrade Higher Prosecutor’s Office told BIRN that it asked the Kosovo authorities, via EULEX, for “complete documentation regarding the critical event of September 24, 2023 in the town of Banjska”.

“To date, the documentation has not been submitted, nor has there been any response from EULEX,” the Higher Prosecutor’s Office said.

It has yet to answer BIRN’s questions about the status of the case.

In October 2023, BIRN reported that mortar rounds and anti-tank rocket launchers used in the attack had passed through state maintenance centres in central Serbia in 2018 and 2021 respectively; the ammunition included 7.62x39mm assault rifle rounds that match those made in 2022 by the Belom factory, a Serbian state arms producer.