A Serbian man was sentenced to five months in prison and deportation from Kosovo for insulting the KLA

The Basic Court in Pristina sentenced the defendant, Sasa Zlatkovic, to five months in prison after he pleaded guilty to posting a video on social media in which the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) logo and Albanian mothers were insulted, reports Koha.

The verdict against Zlatkovic was announced on Thursday by Judge Kushtrim Shiti. According to the ruling, the time Zlatkovic has spent in detention since July 22 will be credited toward his prison sentence, and the detention measure will continue from today until this verdict becomes final, but not beyond the length of the imposed sentence.

Additionally, the court imposed a supplementary sentence on Zlatkovic: "expulsion of a foreigner from the territory of Kosovo for five years." However, the time spent in prison does not count toward this expulsion period.

Furthermore, the defendant is required to pay the costs of the proceedings, including a court fee of 100 euros and a contribution to the victims' compensation fund in the amount of 100 euros.

There were no property claims in this criminal case, and the parties dissatisfied with this decision have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeals.

After the judge announced the verdict, the defendant's lawyer, Shiqiri Sija, asked the judge if the prison sentence could be converted to a fine, but the judge did not allow it.

Sasa Zlatkovic pleaded guilty today to the charge of posting a video on social media in which he insulted the KLA logo and Albanian mothers.

"I feel guilty and immediately accepted my guilt. It wasn't intentional; it shouldn't have happened this way, but it did, and in the end, I regret what happened," Zlatkovic said.

The Kosovo Special Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against Sasa Zlatkovic on August 16, 2024, accusing him of intentionally provoking and publicly spreading hatred, division, and intolerance among national groups.

According to the indictment, he committed these acts on July 26 in Decani while driving his car, from which he recorded a video of the car in front of him that had a KLA emblem on the back. He then commented in Serbian, "Look at how the KLA terrorists drive through Decani, the man has a KLA emblem, like he's holding the emblem of Zvezda or Partizan, this week, an Albanian mother and wife, someone hit her from behind."

The indictment states that he posted this video on his "Tik-Tok" account. Through these actions, Zlatkovic was charged with the criminal offense of "Inciting Discord and Intolerance," which carries a penalty of a fine or imprisonment for up to five years.