Acting Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, said on Sunday that the judge of the Serbian minority on the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, Radomir Llaban, is suspected of being a "collaborator of the Serbian Intelligence and Security Agency, BIA."
Speaking at a press conference in Pristina, Haxhiu said that the suspicions are based on information she has from Kosovo's security institutions.
She said that the Serbian BIA “compromised and organized Llaban’s relocation to Kosovo” after he was sentenced to six years in prison in Serbia in 2011.
"The way he left Serbia is a mystery, but it is known that Serbia still has an active arrest warrant for Llabani," said Haxhiu.
She said that Llabani “has very close relations with the chief terrorist, Milan Radoićić,” the former deputy leader of the Serbian List, who claimed responsibility for the attack by a group of armed Serbs on the Kosovo Police in Banjska, Zvečan, where a police sergeant and three attackers were killed.
"Thanks to these relationships, he has benefited from real estate and employment of family members," she said.
"With the financial means and real estate he receives from Serbia even today, Llaban poses a threat to the security and constitutional order of Kosovo," she said.
Llaban is a wanted person in Serbia, having avoided serving a six-year prison sentence imposed as part of the so-called “customs mafia” – a group consisting of people accused of taking and giving bribes, abusing official position and forging documents.
His name has been on the wanted list in Serbia since 2012 and on Interpol's since 2014.
Llaban gained attention after Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani - because of Llaban - withdrew the request she had sent to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo in July, seeking clarification regarding the next steps in the event that the Kosovo Assembly was not constituted by July 26 - a deadline previously set by this court.
As a reason for withdrawing her request, Osmani cited the appointment of Judge Llaban as the reporting judge in this case, describing such an action as "disturbing and dangerous."
Earlier, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo did not respond to Radio Free Europe's question about whether it had any knowledge of the allegations that Llaban poses a threat to Kosovo's national security, or whether he is a wanted person in Serbia.
Recently, authorities in Kosovo have arrested, charged, and tried Serbs and Albanians on suspicion of spying for Serbia's intelligence services.
In June, a court in Pristina sentenced Aleksandar Vllajic to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of being involved in espionage as a member of the Serbian Intelligence and Security Agency (BIA).
Experts have said that espionage is a serious threat to Kosovo's security, and the recent arrests only highlight the ongoing danger.
According to them, this activity not only destabilizes the country internally, but also damages its international position./ REL