A court in Kosovo has sentenced two Kosovo Serbs to life imprisonment and another to a 30-year jail term for taking part in what it described as a terrorist attack in September 2023. The men were found guilty of violating Kosovo's constitutional order and inciting terrorist activities. Prosecutors have charged 45 people in total - but they believe most of them are in Serbia and unlikely to be handed over.
The Banjska incident is a prosaic label for one of the most dramatic, dangerous and deadly days Kosovo has seen since it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. A police officer and three members of an armed group of Kosovo Serbs died during several hours of shooting in northern Kosovo. On Friday, the court in Kosovo's capital Pristina sentenced Vladimir Tolić and Blagoj Spasojević to life in prison and Dušan Maksimović to 30 years in prison. Kosovo's acting President Albulena Haxhiu welcomed the verdict, describing it as proof that the attack on the Kosovo police, on the constitutional order and on the security of our country will not remain unpunished.
Despite the convictions, many questions remain about what happened in the village of Banjska. The authorities in Pristina maintain that Serbia's government was ultimately responsible. Police responded to a blockade set up on a bridge when the violence started, involving about 30 armed men who attacked officers with guns and grenades. The shooting resulted in the deaths of Sgt Afrim Bunjaku and three members of the armed group, but by the time the police secured the monastery later that day, the remaining attackers had escaped.
Kosovo’s authorities have pointed to the connections of the group's leader, Milan Radoičić, to Serbia's government to allege official complicity in the attack. Relations between Belgrade and Pristina have worsened since the incident, with multiple attempts at reviving EU-mediated talks failing. Kosovo's Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla has stated that Serbia needs to be held accountable for its alleged role in the aggression.
The Banjska incident is a prosaic label for one of the most dramatic, dangerous and deadly days Kosovo has seen since it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. A police officer and three members of an armed group of Kosovo Serbs died during several hours of shooting in northern Kosovo. On Friday, the court in Kosovo's capital Pristina sentenced Vladimir Tolić and Blagoj Spasojević to life in prison and Dušan Maksimović to 30 years in prison. Kosovo's acting President Albulena Haxhiu welcomed the verdict, describing it as proof that the attack on the Kosovo police, on the constitutional order and on the security of our country will not remain unpunished.
Despite the convictions, many questions remain about what happened in the village of Banjska. The authorities in Pristina maintain that Serbia's government was ultimately responsible. Police responded to a blockade set up on a bridge when the violence started, involving about 30 armed men who attacked officers with guns and grenades. The shooting resulted in the deaths of Sgt Afrim Bunjaku and three members of the armed group, but by the time the police secured the monastery later that day, the remaining attackers had escaped.
Kosovo’s authorities have pointed to the connections of the group's leader, Milan Radoičić, to Serbia's government to allege official complicity in the attack. Relations between Belgrade and Pristina have worsened since the incident, with multiple attempts at reviving EU-mediated talks failing. Kosovo's Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla has stated that Serbia needs to be held accountable for its alleged role in the aggression.
