The High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Subotica, Serbia, has suspended the investigation against former member of the Kosovo Police Special Unit, Arbnor Spahiu, who was suspected of committing a “serious murder” in the village of Banjskë, in the northern part of Kosovo near Zvecan.
The Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to Radio Free Europe that the order to suspend the investigation was issued on November 21, due to a lack of evidence.
Spahiu was arrested by Serbian authorities on June 7 at the Hungary-Serbia border while returning with his family by bus from Austria to Kosovo. He spent over five months in detention in Serbia.
His lawyer, Arianit Koci, confirmed that Spahiu was released on November 21 and has returned to Kosovo.
“Spahiu was held unnecessarily for so long because, as I said from the beginning, there is no evidence for such an accusation, as he was not part of the Kosovo Police at that time,” said his lawyer.
Serbia had accused Spahiu of committing the crime in Banjskë when an armed group of Serbs attacked the Kosovo Police in September 2023, killing Kosovo officer Afrim Bunjaku.
The police confirmed that Spahiu was not a member of the Kosovo Police at that time.
Millan Radoiçiq, former deputy of the Serbian List, has claimed responsibility for organizing and executing the attack on the Kosovo Police in Banjskë. He was questioned in Belgrade in October 2023 and released with a travel ban, while the Chief Prosecutor announced plans to indict him by the end of 2024.
Almost a year later, the Serbian Prosecutor’s Office has not responded to questions from Radio Free Europe regarding what delayed the process.
Meanwhile, trials for three of the 45 accused in the Banjskë case are ongoing in Kosovo, where authorities continuously request Radoiçiq’s extradition to prosecute him for the attack, which Kosovo has classified as a terrorist act.
