Three Kosovo Serbs jailed over deadly gun battle and monastery siege

Three Kosovo Serbs jailed over deadly gun battle and monastery siege9 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleGuy DelauneyBalkans correspondentAFP via Getty ImagesDušan Maksimović (centre) is seen handcuffed in a courtroom in Pristina after being sentenced to 30 years in prisonA court in Kosovo has sentenced two Kosovo Serbs to life imprisonment and another to a 30-year jail term for taking part in what it described as a "terrorist" attack in September 2023.The men were found guilty of violating Kosovo's constitutional order and inciting terrorist activities. Prosecutors have charged 45 people in total - but they believe most of them are in Serbia and unlikely to be handed over.The "Banjska incident" is a prosaic label for one of the most dramatic, dangerous and deadly days Kosovo has seen since it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008.A police officer and three members of an armed group of Kosovo Serbs died during several hours of shooting in northern Kosovo.Kosovo and Serbia row over monastery gun battleOn Friday, the court in Kosovo's capital Pristina sentenced Vladimir Tolić and Blagoj Spasojević to life in prison and Dušan Maksimović to 30 years in prison.Kosovo's acting President Albulena Haxhiu welcomed the verdict, describing it as "proof that the attack on the Kosovo police, on the constitutional order and on the security of our country will not remain unpunished".Despite the convictions, many questions remain over what happened in the village of Banjska, which is less than half-an-hour's drive from the crossing point into central Serbia. The authorities in Pristina maintain that Serbia's government in Belgrade was ultimately responsible, though it is still far from clear what the armed group actually hoped to achieve.Kosovo government / handout via ReutersDuring the 2023 attack, one of the armed men was seen approaching a priest inside the Serbian Orthodox monastery in BanjskaThe...