Starovic: Attacker who shot Stefan still at large – that is all you need to know about the rule of law in Kosovo

Serbian Minister for European Integration Nemanja Starovic recalled today the case of Serbian boy Stefan Stojanovic, who was wounded on Christmas Eve 2023, saying that the case illustrated the state of the rule of law and human rights in Kosovo.

"This is Serbian boy Stefan Stojanovic, who was 11 years old at the time. Three years ago, on Christmas Eve, Stefan was shot by Azem Kurtaj, an active member of the so-called Kosovo Security Force," Starovic wrote in a post on the social media platform X.

He recalled that, after wounding Stefan and Milos Stojanovic, Kurtaj spent two months in detention before being released.
Kosovo Online previously reported that Kurtaj had been charged with the use of a firearm and causing general danger, while the lawyer representing the wounded young men described that legal classification as scandalous.

"That is all you need to know about the rule of law and human rights in Kosovo under Albin Kurti and his group of Albanian extremists," Starovic wrote.

Stefan Stojanovic and his then 21-year-old relative Milos were wounded on January 6, 2023, in Gotovusa near Strpce while carrying a Christmas Eve oak branch. Stefan was shot in the arm and Milos in the shoulder. Kurtaj was subsequently arrested.

Starovic had previously drawn attention to Stojanovic's case as well. In January 2024, he wrote that Stefan was celebrating Christmas with his family, while "the guy who shot him" was still at large, assessing that there was "no rule of law in Kosovo when Serbs are the targets."