The Basic Court in Pristina sentenced Aleksandar Vllajic to five years in prison, after he pleaded guilty in a hearing on June 5 to charges that he was involved in espionage as a member of the Serbian Intelligence and Security Agency (BIA).
Vllajic also pleaded guilty to illegal possession of weapons. For this offense, he was sentenced to 6 months in prison, but this was replaced by a fine of 1,000 euros.
According to the indictment, which was filed on May 22, Vllajic acted as a collaborator of the BIA, collecting information that threatened the constitutional order and national security of Kosovo.
Among other things, the indictment alleges that he secretly recorded the movements of Kosovo Police vehicles and the presence of the international community in the north, and that he collected data on members of the Serbian community suspected of being collaborators with the security institutions in Kosovo. Vllajic, who was arrested on June 26, 2024, was a member of the Kosovo Police.
Radio Free Europe has contacted BIA for comment on Vllajic's statement and is awaiting a response.
In March of this year, a woman from the Serbian community in northern Kosovo, with the initials J.GJ, was arrested for "espionage."
She was employed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Kosovo, while the media reported that she was a "spy" for the BIA.
The Serbian Information and Security Agency has not commented on the matter.
Serbian institutions have not reacted to the arrest of the woman with the initials J.GJ, although it has been the practice so far that after every arrest of Serbs in Kosovo, including those for "terrorism" or "undermining the constitutional order", the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government has made an announcement. The Serbian List, the largest Serb party in Kosovo, which has the support of official Belgrade, has also not commented on this development.
Earlier in the year, on February 20, the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office also filed an indictment against two individuals with the initials B.SH and MQ on suspicion of committing the crime of espionage, and media at the time stated that they were Kosovo Albanians linked to Serbian authorities, namely the Serbian Security and Information Agency.
However, the BIA denied any connection to these people arrested in Kosovo, adding that this was an "attempt to spread fake news" from Pristina.
In Kosovo, espionage is defined as the secret activities of collecting, transmitting, or distributing sensitive information to another state, organization, or group.
According to the Criminal Code of Kosovo, espionage is considered a serious crime and is punishable by at least five years in prison, if a suspect is found guilty./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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