PRISTINA – The Basic Court in Pristina today delivered a first-instance verdict in the trial of three Serbs accused of involvement in the “Banjska case” – Blagoje Spasojević, Vladimir Tolić and Dušan Maksimović. Spasojević and Tolić were sentenced to life in prison, while Maksimović was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The Trial Chamber decided that Spasojević, Tolić and Maksimović were guilty of the events that took place in Banjska, along with other participants of the group who are on the run, Radio KiM reports.
“In order to destabilize the constitutional order, they tried with heavy weapons to secede northern Kosovo and annex it to the Republic of Serbia, and as a result, police officer Afrim Bunjak was killed”, it was stated by the court.
According to the verdict, Spasojević, Tolić and Maksimović were part of a heavily armed group of Serbs who initially blocked the bridge in the village, then attacked the policemen who went to the scene to remove the truck from the road.
During the attack of the armed Serbs, Bunjaku was killed and two other policemen were wounded. The Serbian group, according to the judiciary, was led by former Vice President of the Serb List Milan Radoičić, who is on the run along with most of the other indictees.
KoSSEV reminds that five days after the attack, Radoičić claimed responsibility, saying that he organized the attack without the knowledge of the Serbian authorities or the Serb List.
He was arrested in Germany in early October 2023, but quickly released, which drew sharp criticism from the Kosovo authorities and the international community.
“Radoičić lives freely in Serbia today, and does not appear in public. The higher public prosecutor’s office in Belgrade is conducting an investigation for serious offense against general security’and illegal weapons, but the indictment has not yet been filed”, the web portal notes.
In 2023, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that Radoičić is “available to the judiciary, but extradition to Kosovo is not on the table”.
