Court of Appeals reduces Pantic's sentence, rejects appeals by Milenkovic and Vlajic

The Kosovo Court of Appeals in Pristina has announced that it has reduced the prison sentence of former police officer Dejan Pantic from two years to one year, while dismissing the appeals filed by Milun Milenkovic and Aleksandar Vlajic.

Pantic, Milenkovic and Vlajic were convicted at first instance in connection with the 2022 attack on the premises of the Municipal Election Commission in North Mitrovica.

Pantic was initially sentenced to two years' imprisonment for the criminal offence of "hooliganism", while the Court of Appeals reduced his sentence to one year. Milenkovic and Vlajic were each sentenced to five years' imprisonment for the criminal offence of "terrorism". Their appeals seeking reduced sentences were dismissed by the Court of Appeals.

"The Court of Appeals of Kosovo dismissed as unfounded the appeals filed by the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo, as well as the appeals lodged by counsel for the defendants M.M. and A.V., thereby upholding the judgment of the Basic Court in Pristina – Special Department. At the same time, it partially upheld the appeal filed by counsel for the defendant D.P., amending the judgment solely with regard to the sentence imposed. The defendant D.P. was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, with the time spent in detention and under house arrest to be credited towards the sentence. In all other respects, the defence appeal was dismissed as unfounded," the Court said in a statement.

On July 28, 2025, the Basic Court in Pristina sentenced Milun Milenkovic and Aleksandar Vlajic to five years' imprisonment each for the criminal offence of committing a terrorist act. Dejan Pantic was found guilty of the criminal offence of hooliganism and sentenced to two years' imprisonment, while Miomir Vakic was acquitted of all charges.

According to the indictment, Milenkovic, Pantic, Vakic and Vlajic, acting in co-perpetration with other unidentified individuals, carried out a terrorist attack on the premises of the Municipal Election Commission on December 6, 2022, when two hand grenades and two stun grenades were thrown during protests by local Serbs.

According to the indictment, their actions endangered the lives of others.

On April 28, 2026, before the Court of Appeals in Pristina, defence attorneys Miodrag Brkljac and Milos Delevic, representing Milun Milenkovic and Aleksandar Vlajic, presented arguments in support of their appeals against the first-instance judgment. They maintained that the judgment contained serious violations of criminal procedure and had been rendered without sufficient evidence, relying solely on the assumptions of a single witness, and therefore should either be amended or quashed.