The Basic Court in Pristina has handed down a 7-month prison sentence to the defendant M.B for his involvement in the crowd in Zubin Potok on March 30, finding him guilty of the criminal offense of hooliganism.

According to the court’s findings, on March 30, M.B participated in a group comprising more than eight individuals who committed a series of criminal acts, including arson and causing a general danger. The court stated that this group set fire to two vehicles with license plates reading RKS – Republic of Kosovo – which were the property of V.K and D.S.

The time spent in pre-trial detention from April 1 to October 26 will be considered part of the accused’s sentence.

At the time of M.B’s arrest, Kosovo’s Minister of Internal Affairs Xhelal Sveçla alleged that M.B had been an active member of the criminal structure known as “Civil Defense”, claiming that he had previously assaulted Kosovo’s Police.

Authorities in Kosovo at that time accused Belgrade of being behind the vehicle burnings with RKS license plates, asserting that these incidents were intended to intimidate citizens. Similar occurrences in north Kosovo, where the majority of the population is Serbian, were also reported towards the end of 2022.

The matter of transitioning from illegal Serbian license plates – which featured acronyms in the Serbian language for Kosovo cities – to RKS plates heightened tensions in north Kosovo.

Following the mounting tensions in the north, Kosovo and Serbia reached an agreement regarding license plates, with the mediation of the European Union.

According to the agreement, Kosovo discontinued punitive measures in cases where citizens did not re-register their vehicles in Kosovo. Meanwhile, Serbia committed not to issue new license plates for vehicles operating in Kosovo.