The Supreme Court in Prokuplje, Serbia, has ordered a one-month pre-trial detention for Sasha Djordjevic from Štrpce – a municipality in Kosovo – on suspicion of committing the criminal offense of espionage.
This was confirmed to Radio Free Europe by the High Public Prosecutor's Office in Prokuplje, a town in southern Serbia located about 50 kilometers from the border crossing with Kosovo, Merdare.
Several media outlets in Serbia reported on July 28, citing anonymous sources, that Djordjevic had been arrested at the Merdare border crossing, on suspicion of being a collaborator of the Albanian State Intelligence Service (SHISH), through the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (AKI). The same day, he was ordered to be detained for 30 days, the Prosecutor's Office confirmed to REL. The institution did not provide details regarding the specific charges against Djordjevic.
"In this case, it is not about a broad investigation, but about an individual case," the Serbian judicial authorities said in a response.
Meanwhile, Serbian media have reported that the arrest was carried out in cooperation with members of the Serbian Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA) and the Prokuplje Police.
A video of the arrest has also been released, and it is alleged that Djordjevic is accused of acting against the interests of the Serbian community in Kosovo and of handing over confidential information in exchange for payment.
According to these reports, he was in contact with a member of the KIA in Ferizaj, who served as a liaison with the Albanian intelligence service. Djordjevic is suspected of collecting data on “influential representatives of the Serbian community in Kosovo, on the activities of Serbian politicians and prominent Serbian figures in that area, as well as on members of the Serbian security structures – the BIA, the Ministry of Interior and the Serbian Army.”
Authorities in Serbia and Kosovo have not officially commented on this case.
After pleading guilty, Vllajic is sentenced to five years in prison for espionage in Kosovo
On the other hand, on July 18, the Basic Court in Pristina ordered a month of detention for Bojan Jevtic, who had been arrested the day before as part of a joint action by security institutions in Kosovo, on suspicion of espionage for the benefit of Serbian security structures.
Jevtic was a lieutenant in the Kosovo Border Police at the border point in Dheu i Bardhë, but after his arrest, the Police Inspectorate recommended his suspension from duty.
In addition to Jevtic, authorities in Kosovo have also arrested several Serbs and Albanians suspected of spying for Serbian intelligence.
In early June, Aleksandar Vllajic was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that, as a member of the BIA, he engaged in espionage in Kosovo.
Also, since mid-June, Kosovo has expelled at least ten members of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, who live in Kosovo, on the grounds that they have endangered national security. /REL (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
