The defendants in the Banjska attack Blagoje Spasojević, Vladimir Tolić, and Dušan Maksimović—have been brought before the Basic Court in Prishtina, where their trial is expected to begin.
The session will proceed as planned, despite changes in the judicial panel. The case was initially led by Judge Arben Hoti, who served as the presiding judge.
However, following his promotion to the position of judge at the Court of Appeals, the case will be reassigned to another judge. The Basic Court has not yet announced to whom the case will be assigned.
Meanwhile, the Basic Court had requested guidance from the Supreme Court regarding the possibility of continuing the trial in absentia, following a proposal by Special Prosecutor Naim Abazi. The Supreme Court clarified that it does not provide legal opinions on procedural dilemmas of first-instance courts, thus refusing to issue guidance on this matter.
As a result, the Basic Court in Prishtina rejected the proposal to continue the trial in absentia for the 42 other defendants—41 individuals and one legal entity.
An international arrest warrant has been issued for these defendants, and their arrest and extradition are awaited for the continuation of criminal proceedings. So far, the trial has been separated only for the three defendants currently in pre-trial detention: Blagoje Spasojević, Vladimir Tolić, and Dušan Maksimović.
The trial session for these three took place on April 17, 2025, where all three pleaded not guilty, the same as during the initial hearing on October 9, 2024. During the April session, opening statements were delivered by the special prosecutor, the defense, and the injured party.
The indictment for this case was filed on September 11, 2024, and relates to the terrorist attack on September 24, 2023, in Banjska, Zvečan.
According to the indictment from the Special Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kosovo, the defendants are suspected of attempting, through the use of violence and heavy armament, to secede the northern part of Kosovo and join it with Serbia. As a result of this attack, police officer Afrim Bunjaku was killed, and the lives of other police officers and civilians were endangered.
The indictment charges a total of 44 individuals and one legal entity, “RAD D.O.O.”, with Milan Radoičić at the head of the list of accused, who had previously claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack.
