Office for Kosovo and Metohija: Draconian sentence against Serbs under pressure from Kurti

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated in a press release that the first-instance judgment of the court in Pristina against three Serbs over the events in Banjska was rendered under direct political pressure from Albin Kurti and, as they put it, the “anti-Serb regime” in Pristina, which, according to the statement, has engaged in media, political, and other forms of stigmatization and criminalization of the arrested Serbs from the very beginning of the proceedings.

From the moment of their arrest, the Office added, even before the trial had begun, the three Serbs — Dusan Maksimovic, Vladimir Tolic and Blagoje Spasojevic — had already been publicly declared guilty by what it described as “Kurti-aligned media” and political structures in Pristina, thereby violating not only their human rights but all other rights as well.
“The tragic events in Banjska were the consequence of years-long repression by the regime of Albin Kurti against the Serbian population in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, aimed at occupying that part of the province and expelling the Serbian population from their ancestral homes. The militarization of the north, daily harassment of Serbs — including women and children — arbitrary arrests, restrictions on freedom of movement, overt institutional and physical violence against Serbs, the disregard of all agreements, and the systematic erasure of everything Serbian in northern Kosovo and Metohija preceded this tragic event and must never be forgotten,” the statement reads.
According to the Serb List, the Serbs who were sentenced are individuals who have spent their entire lives in northern Kosovo, raising their families and building their future there.
“They are not terrorists, as the propaganda machinery of Kurti’s political structures in Pristina seeks to portray them. Although Pristina is attempting to present the Kosovo police officer who died as the sole victim of these tragic events, the truth is quite different, as three Serbs were deliberately and brutally killed. In that regard, we continue to ask why no one in Pristina has been held accountable for the direct execution of Stefan Nedeljkovic, Bojan Mijailovic and Igor Milenkovic, and why, two and a half years later, neither the families nor the lawyers of the slain Serbs have received autopsy reports, which would clearly show that their loved ones were killed at close range,” the statement adds.
The Office also recalled that Pristina has never explained why investigators from EULEX were not allowed to participate in the on-site investigation in Banjska, nor why the full drone footage has never been released, which, as stated, raises serious concerns that much is being concealed.
“This first-instance judgment clearly demonstrates how the so-called rule of law functions in Pristina, where Serbs are tried and convicted in advance and consistently given draconian sentences, while entirely different standards are applied in cases involving individuals of Albanian nationality, such as Azem Kurtaj, who is today a free man despite having directly fired at Serbian children in Gotovusa,” the statement concludes.