Drecun: Timing of Pristina's indictment shows Kurti will use it for political campaigning

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian parliamentary committee on defence and interior affairs Milovan Drecun said on Thursday the timing of Pristina's indictment against 45 people in connection with the September 24, 2023 armed clashes in Banjska, Kosovo-Metohija, showed that Pristina's PM Albin Kurti intended to use it for pre-election political campaigning.

In a statement to Tanjug, Drecun said it also showed Kurti would try to exploit all allegations in the indictment as much as possible.

The indictment, in which the group is charged with terrorism, also includes the name of Milan Radoicic, a former deputy leader of Srpska lista, a political organisation of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs.

"We have not seen the contents of the indictment, and many people are indicted. If we recall Kurti's statement in which he accused our entire state and military leadership of involvement in the Banjska incident, the question arises of whether some of those people have perhaps also been indicted," Drecun said.

By misusing the incident, Kurti is trying to undermine the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, given that he has said the dialogue would not be continued unless Radoicic was extradited to the so-called Kosovo, which is a pointless condition to set because Radoicic is a Serbian citizen and if he is to be prosecuted, it will be done by the Serbian judiciary, Drecun said.