The defense of the defendants in the "Banjska" case has begun its closing arguments at the Basic Court in Pristina.
Under high security measures, the defendants, Blagoje Spasojevic, Vladimir Tolic and Dusan Maksimovic, who are accused of the terrorist attack in Banjska in September 2023, were brought to the courtroom today.
Blagoje Spasojevic's defense attorney, Ljubomir Pantovic, has completed his closing statements, according to whom the indictment has no connection to his client.
After the lawyer's speech, the accused Blagoje Spasojevic said that he had considered pleading guilty, but on the other hand, he said that "I cannot say that I am a terrorist."
"I have thought many times about pleading guilty, and if this indictment of the Special Prosecution were real, I would do this. I am guilty of it because I was in the village of Banjska. And this is my biggest mistake in life. I am guilty of this, but honorable judge, I cannot say for myself that I am a terrorist because I have not killed anyone, I have not injured anyone, I have not fired a single bullet at the police officers or anyone else. If my rifle has been examined, it can be proven that two bullets were fired from that rifle. Both at the spotlight, which was near the Monastery, which illuminated the area where I was at that moment," he said.
Lawyer Ljubomir Pantović, while trying to exonerate the accused, said that the presumption of innocence was not taken into account during this trial.
"What have we been able to hear in this courtroom regarding this judicial case – 'give the defendants all the rights they are entitled to under the law, but sentence them to life imprisonment'. This was stated by one of the colleagues, the authorized representative of the injured parties in this courtroom from the beginning of the trial. So, even though no evidence was administered in this hearing, there was talk of a verdict for punishment, which in the final analysis should be exclusively the most severe possible sentence under the law and no other. How is it possible to call on the court to respect all the legal rights of the defendants, while at the same time talking about the verdict and the most severe possible sentence," he stated.
Blagoje Spasojevic's defense attorney, Ljubomir Pantovic, said that “the indictment is wrongly drafted.” In his closing argument, he claimed that all the evidence from the Special Prosecution Office is “useless.”
"This indictment was filed after a year of investigations and contains 156 pages of text and a number of photographs, graphics, sketches, and is accompanied by dozens of hours of recordings, which I would say are mostly useless for this event. And at first glance, from the outside this indictment creates the impression that it is good, that everything is in order with it. But, honorable judges, this is not so. I will first present only two simple examples from which it can be seen that this indictment has no system, no concept. From a formal point of view it is incorrectly compiled," he added.
During his courtroom submissions, the Serbian lawyer also objected to the listing of his client's name in the indictment.
Although last week prosecutor Naim Abazi requested life imprisonment for the defendants, the Serbian lawyer sees the 121-page indictment as insufficient for this sentence.
"My client is accused of the most serious crimes possible. He is the second defendant in this indictment, immediately after Milan Radojicic. I emphasize this, because it is indeed unclear on the basis of which criteria the Prosecution has determined this ranking of defendants. Meanwhile, the second is that the indictment has 121 pages and is only mentioned three times, and superficially and in passing. Many more defendants are mentioned than he is, who are not here. And many more witnesses are mentioned in this indictment," he stated.
Before the trial panel, the prosecutor of the Special Prosecution Office, Naim Abazi, requested life imprisonment for the accused. He said that it has been proven that the same had knowledge and role in carrying out this attack with the aim of annexing northern Kosovo.
"It is clear that the Special Prosecution is hiding behind the entire group of 43 people and wants to be judged individually through the group, while even today we do not know what that person/individual has done specifically, without a concretization of his actions and without an accurate description of his actions. It is difficult, even impossible to talk about concrete and individual criminal responsibility," he said.
Blagoje Spasojevic's lawyer, Ljubomir Pantovic, said that his client was arrested in his sleep.
"Instead of escaping, he fell asleep, and while he was sleeping, he was arrested. It sounds unbelievable, but it's true," he said.
In Banjska, Zveçan, on September 24, 2023, the Kosovo Police faced a terrorist attack.
In the terrorist attack of September 2023, 50-year-old sergeant from Vushtrri, Afrim Bunjaku, was killed, while police officer Alban Rashiti was injured, and Çlirim Shaqiri, Mirsad Kryeziu and Sedat Dushi were injured.
Almost a year after the attack, the Special Prosecution Office filed an indictment on September 11, with Milan Radoićić, the group's leader, among the main defendants.
According to the indictment, they have committed the criminal offense of “committing a terrorist act” and the criminal offense of “serious crimes against the constitutional order and security of the Republic of Kosovo.” Some of them are also accused of financing the group and money laundering.
Vladimir Tolic, Blagoje Spasojevic and Dusan Maksimovic are on trial in this case. All three defendants have denied the charges in court.
Last week, Stefan Radulović, a suspect in the terrorist attack in Banjska, Zvečan, was arrested.
Serbia has still not handed over the Banjska criminals, despite repeated requests from local authorities and several international allies. /kp
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