A court in Pristina sentenced a Serbian community member to eight months in prison and fined him €10,000 on Wednesday for his involvement in violent attacks against NATO peacekeepers in late May last year.
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The Basic Court of Pristina stated that the defendant, Lazar Dejanović, reached a plea agreement with the prosecution, admitting guilt to charges of assault on an official person, participation in a group committing a criminal act, and hooliganism.
According to the charges, made public a day earlier, Dejanović, on May 29, 2023, near the municipal building in Zvečan, coordinated with other ethnic Serb defendants from Kosovo and Serbia to violently attack and seriously threaten KFOR peacekeeping troops, as well as members of the Kosovo Police.
The attacks left over 90 KFOR personnel injured on May 29, during protests by Serbian demonstrators opposing the installment of newly elected Albanian mayors in the northern municipalities of Zvečan, Zubin Potok, Leposavić, and North Mitrovica. These elections, held on April 23, 2023, had been boycotted by Serb political parties.
So far, ten people have been arrested in connection with the violent unrest on May 29, though some are defending their cases while remaining free.
In June, another court in Pristina sentenced a Serbian community member to 15 months in prison and fined him €12,000 for his involvement in the same incident.
Western diplomats and peacekeeping forces have condemned the attacks on KFOR personnel, calling them unacceptable and urging that the perpetrators be brought to justice.