Jelena Djukanovic, an employee of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, pleaded not guilty to spying for Serbia on Tuesday after being brought in handcuffs to a Prishtina courtroom to hear the charges.

Djukanovic, who was arrested on February 28, is accused of sharing sensitive information with Serbia’s intelligence agency, the BIA. Bekim Kodraliu, the prosecutor, told the court that she had used her position within the OSCE Mission to provide the BIA with information.

“From an unspecified date until her arrest, in her capacity as the OSCE Mission’s National Programme Office at Mitrovica Regional Office, the defendant consciously and intentionally committed repeated actions, which consisted of information actions to a foreign intelligence service, namely Serbia’s Intelligence and Security Agency, BIA,” Kodraliu said.

According to the prosecution, Djukanovic supplied the BIA with documents related to Kosovo’s constitutional order, institutional safety and its institutions’ internal activities. It alleges that “in some cases” the suspect held meetings at BIA offices in Belgrade.

“[She] offered data, documents and sensitive information obtained while performing her duty as part of activities within the OSCE Mission. The help was realised through communications with Aleksandar Vlajic, a BIA resident agent who is already convicted of espionage,” Kodraliu added.

A Pristina court on June 5 sentenced Vlajic to five years’ imprisonment for espionage as an agent and collaborator with the BIA. Vlajic was also given a 1,000-euro fine for illegal possession of weapons.

According to the indictment, Vlajic transmitted this information by phone and in physical meetings to a senior BIA official, and secretly filmed and recorded movements of the Kosovo Police and the international community in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo.

The indictment also said Vlajic collected information about Kosovo Serbs who allegedly collaborate with Kosovo security structures and disclosed the identity of a Kosovo Intelligence Agency, KIA, official who he had learned was an active member of the Kosovo Police.

A few days after Djukanovic’s arrest, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo said it was in contact with the suspect’s lawyers and was “closely monitoring their wellbeing in line with our duty of care.

“While the Mission cannot comment further on this case due to the ongoing investigation, it remains committed to co-operating with the relevant authorities,” the mission said.