Belgrade Court Orders Release Of Politician Accused Of Organizing Monastery Attack

A Belgrade court on October 4 ordered the release of Milan Radoicic, the top official of the main ethnic Serb political party in Kosovo, who had been detained in Serbia a day earlier for his involvement in a deadly confrontation with Kosovar police late last month.

Radoicic was detained for 48 hours on October 3 after he admitted to organizing and participating in the events that sparked the shoot-out at an Orthodox monastery in Kosovo that left four people dead.

The prosecution, which accused Radoicic of crimes against public security in connection with illegally manufacturing and trafficking weapons, had asked the court to hold him in custody, saying that there was a risk he would escape.

The court rejected the proposal on October 4 but banned Radoicic from leaving the country, confiscating his passport. The prosecution can appeal the court’s decision within three days.

In a statement read by his lawyer on September 29, Radoicic admitted that he “personally made all the logistical preparations” for the events, describing his actions as a way to “encourage Serbs” from the region to resist what he called “the terror of [Kosovo Prime Minister Albin] Kurti's regime.”

Radoicic also said that the Serbian government had no knowledge of his planning the confrontation.

Kosovo has rejected Radoicic's denial, saying Serbia was involved in the clashes, which Belgrade denies.

Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla has told RFE/RL in an interview that Radoicic didn't act alone and said he had been “continuously supported by [Serb President Aleksandar] Vucic” and the government of Serbia.

Svecla sadi that Vucic and what he called his “extremist ideas related to the whole region” were the real culprits behind the attack on the monastery.

Radoicic is a construction tycoon as well as a top official in the main ethnic Serb political party in Kosovo, Serbian List, funded mainly by Belgrade. He was hit with sanctions by the United States and Britain in 2021 for allegedly being part of an organized crime group.

The monastery attack further raised tensions in the region at a time when European Union and U.S. officials have been pushing for a deal that would normalize ties between Serbia and Kosovo.