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Serbian opposition politician Sandullovic is released from detention

2024-01-15 20:01:12, Kosova & Bota CNA

Serbian opposition politician Nikola Sandullovic was released from detention in the southern Serbian city of Nis on Monday, his defense lawyer, Cedomir Stojkovic, announced, adding that this decision was made "after increased pressure" from Western countries.

"Nikolla Sandullovic has just been released... to defend himself from accusations that he had placed flowers next to the grave of an Albanian girl," Stojkovic wrote on the X social network.

The former head of Serbia's Security and Information Agency (BIA), Aleksandar Vulin, said on January 6 that Sandullovic was arrested on his orders, because he had placed a wreath of flowers in the village of Prekaz in Skenderaj, where Serbian forces attacked the houses of the Jashari family, killing over 50 members of this family in 1998 during the war in Kosovo.

Earlier, the Prosecutor's Office in Nis had confirmed for Radio Free Europe that Sandullovic had been in custody since January 5, under suspicion of "having committed the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance".

On January 2, Sandullovic released a video on the social network X, where he was seen at the "Adem Jashari" complex in Prekaz, laying a wreath at the monument commemorating the events of March 5, 6, and 7, 1998, when Serbian forces killed over 50 family members of Adem Jashari, one of the founders of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

Stojkovic described the Serbian authorities' decision to arrest him as politically motivated, which was carried out "after he was beaten".

This decision came just hours after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called for his release.

There were reactions in Kosovo about his arrest and the suspicions about his ill-treatment, with the Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti saying that he felt "concerned".

"This is happening after his apology for the crimes committed by Serbia during the genocidal campaign in Kosovo. This unspeakable brutality represents the toll the Serbian Government imposes on its citizens for daring to accept the truth and strive for reconciliation," Kurti wrote in a post on social media on January 5.

Serbian authorities have denied allegations that Sandullovic was beaten and mistreated during his arrest on January 3.

The Basic Prosecution Office in Belgrade said on January 11 that with the evidence collected so far "there is no indication that there is convincing and clear evidence" that Sandullovic was mistreated.

Sandullovic is the president of the Republican Party that was founded in 2015, but has not passed the electoral threshold to enter the Serbian Parliament.

He has a controversial biography, including being injured in a car explosion 13 years ago, and his arrest for "spreading panic" in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.

On January 11, the Guardian reported that Sandullovic's family, who claim he was beaten by Serbian secret police while in custody, said he was partially paralyzed as a result of the attack.

Meanwhile, the institutions of the European Union confirmed on January 9 that they are monitoring the situation and information related to the arrest of Sandullovic./ REL