Hearing in Banjska Case Postponed, Kosovo Supreme Court’s Opinion Sought

Banjska, September 25 2023 (BETAPHOTO/SASA DJORDJEVIC)

The first hearing of the three accused for a terrorist attack in Banjska in northern Kosovo one year ago was postponed on Sept. 25 at the Basic Court in Pristina, until Oct. 9.

The court postponed the hearing after the defense of the accused Dusan Maksimovic, Vladimir Tolic and Blagoje Spasojevic, called for more time for reading the documents in the case and the prosecution’s evidence. At the start of the trial, judge Arben Hoti concluded that conditions had been met for the start of the initial hearing of the accused who are in custody, while an opinion of the Supreme Court of Kosovo would be sought about the trial in absentia of the remaining 42 accused who have not been apprehended.

Prosecutor Naim Abazi stated earlier that, despite not all the accused being in custody, the trial could start and be held in absentia. Ljubomir Pantovic, the defense attorney of the arrested Spasojevic, has opposed this proposal.

The three accused, who have been held in custody since the arrest, are part of a group of 45 people, identified by the Kosovo prosecution as those responsible for an attempt at annexing the north of Kosovo in September last year. Kosovo’s special prosecution raised an indictment on Sept. 11 against the former vice-president of the Serb List, Milan Radoicic, and 44 other persons, accusing them of having attempted to secede the northern part of Kosovo and join it with Serbia, by violent means and with heavy weaponry.