A court in Kosovo has convicted three ethnic Serbs on terrorism charges for their role in a deadly secession attempt near the country's northern border in 2023. The Basic Court in Pristina sentenced Blagoje Spasojevic and Vladimir Tolic to life in prison and Dusan Maksimovic to 30 years on Friday for the attack in the village of Banjska, which left one police officer and three gunmen dead.

Judge Ngadhnjim Arrni stated that the attack was part of a well-organized plan to cut off the northern part of Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Serbs, and attach it to Serbia. During the trial, Spasojevic denied being a terrorist, calling the incident his biggest mistake but insisting he did not kill anyone.

Kosovo Serb businessman and politician Milan Radoicic, who lives in Serbia and has ties to President Aleksandar Vucic's ruling party, publicly admitted to leading and organizing the attack after being identified in drone footage. He is among 45 people initially charged, but only three who were in custody have been tried so far.

Kosovo accuses Serbia of orchestrating the attack, while Serbia, which lost control over Kosovo after NATO's 1999 bombing and does not recognize Pristina's institutions, denies involvement, claiming the men acted independently. Some 50,000 Serbs in northern Kosovo also reject Pristina's authority and view Belgrade as their capital, leading to frequent clashes with police and international peacekeepers.

The incident marks the worst escalation since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. The 1998-1999 war in Kosovo, which began when ethnic Albanian separatists rebelled against Serbian rule, claimed over 10,000 lives.

Source: www.aljazeera.com