9 hours agoKosovo police officers arrested by Serbia
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)Former Kosovo Police Special Unit member Arbnor Spahiu is one of several policemen or former policemen who have found themselves behind bars in Serbia. Spahiu was detained on June 7th at the border checkpoint from Hungary to Serbia. Justice authorities there pronounced the detention measure for a month, under suspicion of having [...]
Former Kosovo Police Special Unit member Arbnor Spahiu is one of several policemen or former policemen who have found themselves behind bars in Serbia.
Spahiu was detained on June 7th at the border checkpoint from Hungary to Serbia.
Justice authorities there pronounced the detention measure for a month, under suspicion that it committed “serious murder”.
Allegations are related to the incident in Banjska ʹ the northern part of Kosovo where a group of armed Serbs attacked Kosovo police in September 2023, killing Sergeant Africa Bulnjak.
Three Serb attackers have been killed in subsequent gunfights, writes REL, broadcast Periscope.
But, according to a confirmation by Kosovo Police for Radio Free Europe, Spahiu was not a member of the police at the time, he “resigned voluntarily in 2022”.
Before him, several former Kosovo police officers or policemen with Albanian and Serbian ethnicities were arrested in Serbia.
Kosovo Police Deputy Director Banned in Jarinje
In April 2024, Serbian authorities arrested Kosovo Deputy Police Director Dejan Jankoviq.
It was stopped at the Jarinje border checkpoint, which connects Kosovo with Serbia due to, as it was said, violating Serbia's constitutional order.
Kosovo authorities said at the time that Jankovic was among the ten members of the Serbian and Albanian ethnicity, who were detained by Serbian authorities on April 17th.
Jankovic was released the following day after the US State Department called on Serbia to do so.
Other policemen were also released.
On April 17th that year, according to data by Kosovo authorities, Serbia banned over 1,400 Kosovo citizens for more than 20 hours at border crossings with Croatia and Hungary.
The Kosovo government described these actions as Serbia's revenge for the support the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe gave to Kosovo's membership in this organisation.
Serbia denied these charges, claiming the delays were caused by additional security measures at the border.
Authorities there said the movement of Kosovo citizens “is not limited”.
Three days before Jankoviki's arrest, Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq warned that anyone who violates the constitutional order of his state would be arrested and prosecuted”.
Following Jankoviki's arrest, Serbian Parliament Speaker Anna Brnabiq, questioned by Radio Europe Free for the case, said she assumed that <x0 human beings, have finally responded to calls” to protect Serbia's constitutional order, referring to police and the prosecutor's office.
Three Kosovo police officers arrested on duty
Three members of the Kosovo Police were arrested on June 14, 1923.
According to authorities in Belgrade, they were caught more than a mile deep on Serbian territory, while officials in Pristina said they were kidnapped in Kosovo during a border patrol.
The Serbian prosecution said they were suspected of production, possession, illegal possession and trafficking of weapons and explosives, works that in Serbia are sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.
At the court's ruling, they left custody on June 26th to defend themselves in freedom.
The immediate release of Kosovo police officers then demanded the United States and Great Britain.
Washington said it was “clearly that police officers were not meant to be in Serbia” and asked to be released.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also called on Vuciqi to free Kosovo police officers during a joint media conference they held in Plach, Serbia.
Former Serbian Police Officer Arrested
Former Kosovo Police member Dragan Nikollic was arrested in April 2023 in Belgrade.
As his lawyer, Ivan Nniq, said at the time, Serbia suspected that he was a member of a criminal group from northern Kosovo, calling for violent change of constitutional order in Serbia.
He was released on May 25th because of, as the lawyer said, lack of evidence.
Nikollic, who was arrested at the Jarinje border checkpoint, denied the charges.
He had resigned in November 2022, under the collective withdrawal of Serbs from Kosovo institutions.
Two Kosovo police officers arrested in Merdare region
In March 2012, two Kosovo police officers -- Shukri Binaku and Sami Beqiri -- were arrested in the Merdare border area, between Kosovo and Serbia.
The Kosovo presidency said at the time that the arrest of Kosovo Police members in office is an attack on Kosovo's institutional and territorial integrity.
The police were released after 48 hours.
Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said at the time that, after hearing in court, criminal charges would be filed.
They were arrested because they wore weapons and wore uniforms on the territory of central Serbia. I won't go into detail whether it was intentional or wrong. I repeat that Gendarmerie has only accomplished its task”, Dachic said.
He claimed that Kosovo police officers had two automatic rifles, two pistols and special longitude equipment.
“Taking into account that arrested Serbs have been released, we have nothing against the court doing its job even in this case”, Daciq said.
Earlier, the Supreme Court of Kosovo had decided to free five Serbs arrested in the Gjilan region, under suspicion of threatening Kosovo's judicial order.
Among those arrested were four employees of Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs and a retired official.
Arrest warrant for Kosovo police “pa prefix1>
In May of this year, Serbian police issued an arrest warrant for a Kosovo police officer, following an incident in northern Mitrovica -- the predominantly Serb municipality -- which took place during a holiday for a group of high school graduates from the Serbian community.
Serbian authorities said Dulot Brahimi would be arrested when it was available to the Serbian police, “pa forecasting dealt with whenever possible”.
The crackdown on the Serbian senior's neck by Kosovo police prompted numerous reactions and allegations of overuse.
In Kosovo, some say the police reacted selectively and used excessive force, while others say police took necessary measures to avoid further escalation of the situation. /Periscope/
