Financial Times: Sandulovic's difficult situation casts shadow over Vuciki's regime

When Serbian opposition politician Nikola Sandulovic posted a video apologizing for his country's war crimes in Kosovo, the secret police arrested him and beat him, according to lawyers and his family.

Sandulovic claims that on January 3rd, a black van pulled into his house and took him to Security Intelligence Agency headquarters (BIA), where he says he was beaten by about 15 government agents. He returned to a critical situation the next day and was admitted to hospital for shortly before being transferred to prison and removed from the outside world, reports “Financial Times”.

Sandulovic's legal team in Belgrade and London filed a complaint with the UN Committee against Torture early this week, claiming that their client was denied the regular legal process or adequate medical care and that his life could be in danger.

BIA confirmed that Sandulovic is in custody on charges of inciting ethnic hatred, but denied that any violence had been exercised against him.

His situation has cast a shadow over the rule of nationalist President Allexander Vuciq, whose recent re-election has sparked widespread protests against alleged election fraud and a slide towards autocratia. Brussels and London have asked its government for more information about the incident.

Sandulovic, a former security agent, is a lonely figure in Serbia in calling for his country to recognise Kosovo as a sovereign nation. The former Serbian province broke down after a 1999 war, but Belgrade has never recognised its independence.

On 2 January, Sandulovic posted a video on X, placing flowers at the grave of one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which led the fight of resistance against Serbian rule and which Belgrade has labeled as a terrorist organisation.

In his post on social networks, Sandulovic said he was “the only politician from Serbia who came to honour the innocent Albanian victims... I apologized and apologized in the name of Serbs who didn't do this”.

Allnexandander Voulin, who recently resigned as BIA chief after being sanctioned by the US for links to the Russian government, as well as smuggling weapons and drugs, has claimed responsibility for ordering the politician's arrest.

On Wednesday, the service admitted it had questioned Sandulovic, but said he “had not been subjected to any illegal use of physical force or violation of freedom and rights”. BIA has only wanted to render the context of Sandulovic's illegal actions, which the competent prosecutor classified as criminal acts... inciting national, racial and religious intolerance and hatred.

The service said reports of his agents who had beaten him were false and aimed at destabilising the security situation in the country.

In office since 2017, Vucic has been charged with becoming more authoritarian and that he has done little to defuse tensions with Kosovo, which flared up in September when a group of Serb militants entered an armed clash in a monastery, leading to four deaths. Vucinqi condemned the attack, but also sheltered the armed group leader.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said last week the attack was “similar to Putin's to those who refuse to participate in the denial of genocide”, referring to the Russian president's crackdown on instability.

At a parliamentary session earlier this week, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Cameron described Sandulovic's accusations as the extremely disturbing “ ” and said he had asked the Serbian side for more information.

The European Commission has also asked Belgrade to explain what happened.

We expect the rights of all citizens to be respected. Any ban should be based on reasonable doubts... and any credible charge of violence should be effectively prosecuted”, said Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero.