Arbnor Spahiu, a former member of the Special Operations Unit of the Kosovo Police, was detained on June 7 by Serbian authorities at the Horgosh border crossing and subsequently taken to a detention center in Kanjiza, according to his lawyer, Arianit Koci.
According to Koci, although Spahiu has not been part of the Kosovo Police for the past three years and currently resides in Germany, he was detained and questioned over possible links to the “Banjska” case — the armed attack against the Kosovo Police in September 2023 in the village of Banjska, which Kosovo considers a terrorist act organized by Serbia.
“This case is serious and not isolated,” said Koci.
He raised suspicions about the motive behind the detention, linking it to recent developments in the case of Aleksandar Vlajic, who was sentenced a few days ago to five years in prison in Kosovo after admitting he was a member of Serbia’s Intelligence and Security Agency (BIA) and had conducted espionage activities on Kosovo’s territory. According to Koci, Vlajic’s confession exposed the BIA’s active role within Kosovo’s security structures, and Spahiu’s detention is seen as a direct retaliation.
Kosovo authorities have not yet issued an official response to Spahiu’s detention, although Radio Free Europe confirmed that it has contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for additional information.
This is not the first time Kosovo citizens have been detained by Serbian authorities. Kosovo has repeatedly condemned such detentions, calling them arbitrary and politically motivated.
Despite the fact that Kosovo and Serbia signed a Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement in 2013, practical cooperation in sensitive cases such as war crimes or security matters has been virtually nonexistent.