Serbia - January 2024

Opposition politician Nikola Sandulović was taken by the Serbian Security Information Agency (BIA) on 3 January and was arrested on 4 January on suspicion of “inciting racial, national and religious hatred” after publishing a video in which he apologized for war crimes committed by Serbs in Kosovo. Sandulović claims that while in BIA custody, he was beaten and tortured by a group of men, including Milan Radoičić and three others who had been involved in the EU-labeled terrorist attack in Banjska, Kosovo in September. Radoičić has been taking refuge in Serbia despite an Interpol arrest warrant. Sandulović reportedly suffered severe injuries and was paralysed on one side of his body. Aleksandar Vulin, the US-sanctioned former intelligence chief of Serbia, confirmed that he ordered the detention but said that no violence was used. On 15 January, Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s (PACE) rapporteur on political prisoners, called on Serbian authorities to carry out an independent investigation of the allegations. Shortly after, Sandulović was released.

Sources: PACE, Euractiv (1), Euractiv (2), The Guardian, bne IntelliNews, Radio Television of Serbia, Politika, Balkan Insight