Arrested since June on suspicion of murder, Serbia releases former Kosovo Special Unit police officer
2025-11-22 12:56:06 / KOSOVAALFA PRESS
Former member of the Kosovo Police Special Unit, Arbnor Spahiu, has been released from detention in Serbia and returned home to Kosovo on Friday before midnight, the lawyer engaged by his family, Arianit Koci, confirmed to Radio Free Europe .
Spahiu has been held in the northern Serbian city of Subotica since June 9, when a court in the city ordered his detention for allegedly committing the criminal offense of “aggravated murder” in the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo.
Koci told REL on Saturday that Serbian authorities released Spahiu because they had no evidence to support their claims.
"Spahiu has been unnecessarily held in detention for so long because, as I said at the beginning, there can be no evidence for such an accusation, because he was not in the Kosovo Police at that time," said Koci.
Spahiu was arrested on June 7 by Serbian authorities at the border crossing between Hungary and Serbia, while he was returning from Austria to Kosovo by bus with his family.
Serbia accused him of allegedly committing the crime in Banjska – the northern part of Kosovo – where a group of armed Serbs attacked the Kosovo police in September 2023, killing Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku.
Kosovo Police have confirmed that Spahiu was not a member of the police at the time.
Koci said that Serbia has never presented any credible evidence or testimony that would weigh down his legal position.
Kosovo has accused Serbia of the attack in Banjska, but the latter has denied any responsibility.
Responsibility for it has been claimed by Milan Radoićić, former vice-president of the Serbian List in Kosovo, who is believed to be in Serbia.
The trial of three of the 45 defendants for terrorism, financing of terrorism and serious criminal offenses in the Banjska case is continuing at the Basic Court in Pristina.
The High Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade is also conducting an investigation into this attack.
