Controversial politician Nikola Sandulović, leader of the minor Republican Party, is apparently in custody. It all started after, on January 2, on the X social network, he published a video of his visit to the "Adem Jašari" complex in Kosovo, where he laid a wreath at the monument in connection with the March 1998 conflict, when 50 members of the family of Adem Jašari, one of the founders of the Liberation Movement, were killed of the Kosovo Army (KLA).
In the announcement, Sandulović stated that he was "the only politician from Serbia who came to pay his respects to the innocent Albanian victims, the Jašari family."
So far, only the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Nis has announced about this case from the state institutions, which confirmed that Sandulović was detained, and the chief public prosecutor, Borica Mitić, in an answer to Radio Free Europe, previously stated that Sandulović was detained due to "suspicion that he committed the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance".
Lawyer tweets
The public learned about the whole case through the X social network, where lawyer and activist Čedomir Stojković announced on Saturday that the detention was extended to 30 days, evaluating it as scandalous. He previously announced that Sandulović was kidnapped by the BIA and that she beat him.
The last thing he published was a medical report from the Clinical and Hospital Center of Serbia in Belgrade, in which the injuries were described as the result of the physical force of unknown persons, that is, an attack.
Stojkoć also writes that Sandulović's seventh rib was broken as a result of the beating in the BIA, and that his state of health is such that it is not possible to transport him from Belgrade to Niš, where he was detained even though he was not questioned. For now, Sandulović is reportedly in the Central Prison.
He also reminds that, according to the statement of Nikola Sandulović, which he gave to him as his lawyer, Sandulović was "abducted from his house by members of the BIA, who took him to the headquarters of the agency, where they beat him."
"He was remanded in custody in Niš without his hearing because the Central Prison in Belgrade said that his health condition is such that he cannot be transported to Niš for hearing. The reason for ordering detention is the risk of repeating the crime, which is pointless. He laid flowers on the grave of a seven-year-old child," Stojković told the Nova portal.
Where is Sandulovic?
Sandulović's current whereabouts are unknown. On January 6, his account on the X social network announced that Sandulović was being transported to the Prosecutor's Office in Nis in a prison van, but that tweet can no longer be found.
Last week, videos and photos were published on several accounts on social networks, in which Sandulović can be seen in a bad or distraught state, next to an ambulance.
The Sandulović case was also announced former director of BIA Aleksandara Vulin.
"Sandulović was detained according to my order, which remained in force even after my resignation," Vulin told Večernje Novosti. He went on to say that Sandulović "laying a wreath on the grave of the Serbian murderer Adem Jašari was only detained by my order and detained by the order of the prosecutor".
Vulin resigned at the beginning of November, and Sandulović posted a tweet on January 2 with a video showing him laying flowers on the grave of Blurina Jašari, who was seven years old when she was killed. The date when this recording was made is currently unknown.
Reactions from Pristina, some from the West
Reactions came from Pristina, some from the West as well. Kosovo Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti resented the persecution of Sandulović.
The bizarreness of the whole case is also illustrated by the fact that the Belgrade media hardly devoted any words to this.
Sandulović has a history of obscure appearances, he was also arrested during the pandemic due to the spread of panic and then his family claimed that he was poisoned with a nerve agent, just like some Russian opposition figures. And that by touching a wall on which there was some suspicious powder while in custody.
