Law enforcement authorities in Kosovo on Friday arrested a man they suspect was involved in the deadly attack on Kosovo Police in the Serb-majority north in 2023.
In a media release, the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office said the suspect, whom it identified only by the initials SR, was arrested by police officers at the border crossing with Serbia, Merdare, and has been taken into custody for 48 hours.
She did not provide further details about the suspect.
But, later, Kosovo's Interior Minister, Xhelal Sveçla, said that the arrested person is Stefan Radulović, describing him as "another suspected terrorist, wanted, in connection with the case of the terrorist attack in Banjska, Zvečan, with the aim of annexing the north."
"The time of tolerance is over. They will catch you wherever they come across. We continue without stopping for constitutionality and legality", he wrote on Facebook.
The prosecution said he was arrested on suspicion of involvement in criminal offenses "of a serious nature, including offenses related to national security and constitutional order."
He is suspected of two offenses, one terrorist and one against the constitutional order and security of Kosovo.
His arrest comes two days after prosecutors on Wednesday requested life imprisonment for the three defendants in the Banjska case, during the closing arguments in their trial at the Basic Court in Pristina.
Kosovo police were attacked by a group of armed Serbs on September 24, 2023 in Banjska, Zvečan. As a result, a police sergeant was killed, while three Serb attackers were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire.
Currently, Vladimir Tolic, Blagoje Spasojevic, and Dusan Maksimovic are on trial at the Basic Court in Pristina, and could face life imprisonment if found guilty.
They are just three of the 45 people included in the indictment for the attack in Banjska, which Kosovo describes as terrorist and blames Serbia for.
The three defendants have denied the charges and claimed that they did not intend to kill anyone, much less unite northern Kosovo with Serbia, as the indictment states.
Responsibility for the armed attack in Banjska has been claimed by Milan Radoićić, former vice-president of the Serbian List – the largest Serb party in Kosovo – which enjoys the support of official Belgrade.
Belgrade, meanwhile, has denied being behind the attack.
For Radoicic and the 41 other defendants in this case, who are at large, prosecutors had requested a trial in absentia, but the Basic Court rejected their request as "unfounded."
The forty-two suspects are accused of terrorism, serious offenses against the constitutional order and security of Kosovo, while Radoićić is also accused of facilitating and financing the commission of terrorism, as well as money laundering.REL
