Milan Radoicici, a 45-year-old politician and businessman, has claimed responsibility for the commando group attack in northern Kosovo, five days ago, resulting in 4 deaths, according to the Serbian newspaper Blic.
“I decided to do this because all resistance methods used so far have not brought any improvement in the lives of the Serbian people in Kosovo,” Radoicici transmitted in a statement read to the press in Belgrade by his lawyer, Goran Petronijevici.
“Together with my compatriots from Kosovo and Metohija, on September 24, we came to the Banjska region, and the reason for our arrival was to encourage our people to resist the terrorism of Kurti’s regime and to lay the foundations for achieving the dream of freedom,” Radoicici’s message stated.
I have made all the preparations for defense against the occupiers, and this act has had no connection to my political involvement. I have not informed anyone about this.
Milan Radoicici:
“Kosovo and Metohija are my country, my home, an integral part of my country, the Republic of Serbia, and they are being forcibly taken away. Our people are persecuted with the ultimate intention of completely eliminating Serbs,” Radoicici’s statement further read.
“The death of the policeman was accidental, after which a fierce clash began in which our three comrades, heroes who gave their lives for the freedom and preservation of Kosovo and Metohija, were killed,” the politician sent another message.
Let it be clear to everyone: we are not terrorists, but fighters for the freedom of our own people.
Milan Radoicici:
At the same time, he announced his resignation from the position of vice president of the Serbian List, the party of Serbs in Kosovo, and he is ready to surrender to the Serbian authorities. His lawyer did not specify his whereabouts but stressed that he is not injured.
Prior to this, a video recording published by the Minister of Interior, Xhelal Svecla, showed the vice president of the Serbian List party among the individuals who carried out the terrorist attack last Sunday.
Radoicici led a group of about 30 armed men responsible for the killing of a police officer in Kosovo before barricading themselves in a monastery and engaging in a shootout with the police.
BREAKING Drone footage shows Milan Radoicic, US-sanctioned Vucic ally, leading the Banjska terrorist attack on Kosovo Police. pic.twitter.com/758zn7vFMG
— Admirim (@admirim) September 26, 2023The Serbian List was the dominant Serbian party in the parliament of Kosovo before Serbs from the north and those loyal to Belgrade boycotted Kosovo’s institutions, aggressive actions that started almost a year ago.
It is allied with the Serbian Progressive Party, led by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.
Radoicici is a businessman and politician with a controversial past. He was accused of illegal gravel mining excavation but was ultimately acquitted in 2019.
He was suspected of being involved in the assassination of Oliver Ivanovic, the leader of the Civic Initiative for Freedom, Democracy, and Justice, in 2018. Serbian President Vucic stated that Radoicici has no connection to this crime, calling him the “guardian of Kosovo and Metohija.”
In 2021, the US Treasury included Radoicici on the list of sanctioned individuals due to alleged ties to organized crime and corruption.
It is estimated that at least 13,000 people have lost their lives in the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas in the late 1990s.
The conflict ended after a NATO air campaign forced Serbian troops to withdraw from the territory, paving the way for independence in 2008.
