At the end of September, a heavily armed Serbian commando group attacked Kosovar police officers. The leader could now be caught. What’s next?
The initiator of the latest attack by Serbian paramilitaries on Kosovo police officers, Milan Radoicic, has been temporarily arrested for 48 hours. This was announced by the Serbian Interior Ministry in Belgrade.
The Kosovo-Serbian businessman and politician Radoicic had publicly admitted days earlier that he was the perpetrator of the acts of violence. Now a court will decide whether Radoicic should be remanded in custody for 30 days. It was not initially announced what crimes he was accused of.
The crimes
The public prosecutor suspects him of criminal acts related to the illegal production of explosive substances and the possession, carrying and sale of firearms. He was also charged with serious violations of general security, the Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.
During questioning, the suspect denied having committed these crimes, the public prosecutor’s office said. Days earlier, however, Radoicic had publicly acknowledged himself as the ringleader of the operation in Banjska.
Serbian commando increased tensions
The US had previously strongly demanded that those responsible for the violence be held accountable. On September 24, a 30-man, heavily armed Serbian commando group attacked Kosovar police officers in the town of Banjska near Mitrovica in northern Kosovo. Three Serbian attackers and a Kosovar police officer were killed.
This increased tensions between Kosovo and Serbia. The Kosovo leadership accused Belgrade of being behind Radoicic’s actions. He claimed that he had acted on his own initiative. Kosovo and the USA accused Serbia of increasing the military presence on the border with Kosovo. Belgrade denied this.
On Monday, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti also said that the Serbian paramilitaries had trained on Serbian territory before their attack in Banjska. He also posted drone footage on the short message service Platform X (formerly Twitter) that is supposed to show these exercises. The Serbian aggressors took the drone footage themselves and Kosovo’s police seized them along with weapons.
Serbia’s former province of Kosovo declared independence in 2008 after a bloody war. Serbia does not recognize this.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
