PRISTINA, April 24 (Reuters) - A court in Pristina on Friday convicted three men on terrorism charges over a 2023 attack in northernKosovo when Serb gunmen stormed a village and battled police in a shootout that killed four people, including a police officer.
The court sentenced Blagoje Spasojevic and Vladimir Tolic to life in prison and Dusan Maksimovic to 30 years in jail.
"Through this well‑organized plan, and through the use of violence with heavy weaponry, they attempted to cut the northern part of Kosovo, namely the municipalities inhabited predominantly by Serbs, and to attach this part of the territory to Serbia," said Judge Ngadhnjim Arrni.
Three gunmen and a Kosovar police officer were killed in the shootout, while the rest of the assailants fled to Serbia on foot through hills, leaving behind cars loaded with weapons, ammunition and explosives.
More than 40 others are also part of the indictment, but remain at large, with Kosovo authorities saying they are hiding in Serbia.
The armed incident was the worst since the Balkan country declared independencefrom Serbia in 2008. Kosovo has accused Serbia of being behind the attack, claims that Belgrade denies.
"Now it remains for Serbia to be held accountable for its political, financial, and logistical role in this aggression," Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said after the verdict.
The leader of the group, Milan Radoicic, a former top Kosovo Serb politician, is among the accused. He lives in Serbia and has publicly admitted to taking part in the gun battle.
Serbia, which lost control over Kosovo after NATO bombing in 1999, does not recognise Pristina institutions and refuses to hand over its citizens to authorities there.
Some 50,000 Serbs who live in northern Kosovo also do not recognise Pristina's institutions and see Belgrade as their capital. They have often clashed with Kosovo police and international peacekeepers.
(Reporting by Fatos BytyciEditing by Rod Nickel)
