The wounding of two young Serbs with firearms in Shtërpce, just a few days after the removal of the barricades in the north, reignited the controversy between Kosovo and Serbia. The injured aged 11 and 21 from the village of Gotovushë in the Municipality of Shtërpce are out of danger. The incident happened on the night of Orthodox Christmas, where a group of Serbs had gathered to celebrate near the main street. According to the official version of the Prosecution, the suspect, unable to drive towards the Ski Center in Brezovica due to the road blockage, spoke to the Serbs and then took out his revolver, shooting first in the air and then at the crowd. , in which case two young Serbs were wounded.
A few hours after the attack, the Kosovo Police identified and arrested the 32-year-old suspect (A.K), a member of the Kosovo Security Force (FSK), but who was not on official duty at the time of the attack.
The Department of Serious Crimes within the Basic Prosecutor's Office in Ferizaj asked the Basic Court to assign the measure of detention to the defendant within a period of 30 days, due to the suspicion of the criminal offense "Aggravated Attempted Murder".
According to the description of the entire incident by the Prosecutor's Office, there is a well-founded suspicion that A.K., on January 6, 2023, around 2:00 p.m., in the village of Gotovushë, intentionally attempted to deprive the two injured of their lives. After a verbal dispute on the spot, A.K takes out the "Mossberg" brand revolver and shoots twice, hitting the injured. As a result of the blows, they suffered bodily injuries and were first sent to the Health Center in Shtërpcë, and then to Graçanica Hospital.
Therefore, A.K also has a well-founded suspicion that contrary to the applicable law regarding weapons in Kosovo, he used a weapon with a permit, committing the criminal offense "Using a weapon or a dangerous tool". With the use of the weapon, he caused a great danger to people's lives and, as stated in the Prosecutor's Office report, he was unable to enter the road leading to the Ski Center, as there was a crowd of citizens on the road, the same one turns in the direction of Shtërpce and shoots five times in the air with a revolver, thereby committing the criminal offense of "causing general danger".
This case provoked numerous reactions, until local leaders and foreign diplomats demanded clarification of the circumstances which are being investigated by the relevant bodies. The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, said that the wounding of 11 and 21-year-old youths is an intolerable act and that the perpetrator should be brought to justice. According to her, the country's institutions are maximally committed to providing a safe and peaceful environment to citizens regardless of ethnicity.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti also condemned the attack on the two young Serbs, stating that the suspect must and will face justice without any doubt.
Meanwhile, the German ambassador in Pristina, Jörn Rohde, while condemning the attack in Shtërpcë, said that they welcome the immediate response from the Kosovo Police.
The Commissioner of the European Union for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, expressedhis shock at the attack on two children in Shtërpce, saying that he cannot have any justification.
There were also reactions from the head of the European Union Mission for Police and Justice (EULEX), Lars Gunnar Wigemark, who qualified the attack on Serbian youth as senseless.
In addition to local and international officials, the case was also opposed by civil society activists, who said that the wounding of a child and a youth of the Serbian community by a member of the KSF is an unacceptable crime.
Road blocking
It has already become a habit that whenever there are such incidents and all the circumstances are not clarified, Serbian politicians manipulate and draw conclusions regarding the motives and reasons for the attacks.
A few hours after the incident, the Serbs gathered and for several hours blocked both directions of the road leading to Shtërpce with car tires and wood. Then, the mayor of Shtërpce, Dalibor Jevtiq, met the officials of the Regional Directorate of the Kosovo Police in Ferizaj, from whom he received the commitment to increase security measures, considering the possibility of placing cameras in key points. Jevtic also asked to establish checkpoints in the villages of Drajkovc and Jazhinca, to increase the police presence at bus stations when children come and go from school, as well as to increase police patrolling in the main streets of Shtërpce.
The mother of one of the injured also spoke about the case, but she changed her statements. She initially said that the gun was not aimed at her son, but that there were shots on the ground. But then she declared that there was an attempt to premeditated murder of her son, as the Serbian representatives of Kosovo and those in Serbia actually claim.
Serbian List accused Kurti of injuring the youth
The case of the wounding of Serbian youth was misused by Serbian politicians, who returned to the accusations against Prime Minister Kurti that he is planning the deportation and killing of Serbs. In fact, Serbia has politicized each incident, including occasional robberies in localities populated by a Serbian majority. This has also happened in cases where the law enforcement agencies qualified them as theft, which were not related to a certain ethnicity.
The Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Bernabic, published a video on "twitter" with the wounded child, with the inscription that he was shot "only because he is a Serb and that this is the true face of Kosovo".
Meanwhile Serbian List, which organized a protest in Stërpcë, also blamed Kurt saying that all the incidents and problems are coming because of his policies. Although the motives of the injury have not yet been clarified and the case is under investigation, the chairman of the Serbian List, Goran Rakic, stated that the young Serbs were shot at only because of their ethnicity.
This case revealed the clashes between the main entity representing the Kosovo Serbs and other Serbian politicians, who are considered more loyal and cooperative with the Albanian leaders.
Thus, Serbian List accused the Serbian representatives in the government that they did not dare to oppose Kurti to protect the Serbs, whether in the north or south of Kosovo, but Nenad Rasic and Rada Trajkovic are only fighting for positions.
However, Rashic, who was appointed Minister for Return and Communities in December 2023, after the resignation of Goran Rakic, spoke about the injury case. In fact, his statement to a Serbian medium provoked reactions, as he initially described the attack as intentional and ethnically motivated. But the Albanian media were told that his statement was misinterpreted as it only referred to the clarification of the investigative bodies. Lista Serbe also used this contradiction of Rashiqi to attack him for inconsistency in his positions.
The injury in Shtërpcë was caused only a short time after freedom of movement was enabled in the north populated by a Serbian majority. In the direction of the roads leading to the border points in Jarinje and Bërnjak, the Serbs deployed heavy vehicles for 19 days, after the arrest of former Serbian policeman Dejan Pantiq, on suspicion of attacking the officials and offices of the Municipal Electoral Commission in the north. The obstacles were removed and the border crossings returned to normal after the Basic Court changed Pantiq's measure from detention to house arrest.
Prepared by: Fitim Gashi
*This article is published as part of the Western Balkans Regional Initiative against disinformation. “Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Hub: exposing malign influences through watchdog journalism.”
