The Basic Court of Pristina announced on Tuesday that it has sentenced a man to three and a half years in prison for planning terrorist attacks.

The defendant B.V. had planned attacks in the square of Pristina against members of the LGBT community, and at the border point that connects Kosovo with Serbia, Merdare, with dangerous and deadly materials, the court said.

The court said that he had received instructions from a foreign national “Al Muhaxheri” through a messaging application, Threema, “to create homemade bombs or explosive materials, to carry out his plan”.

He was arrested in February 2023 at the ‘Hani i Elezit’ border crossing after returning from Saudi Arabia.

He has the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal of Kosovo against the ruling against him.

According to the Ministry of Interior of Kosovo, about 30 Kosovo Albanians are part of militant groups in Syria and Iraq.

“The court continues the measure of detention of the accused B.V. until the judgment becomes final, but not more than the sentence imposed by the judgment of the Pristina Basic Court”, the announcement states.

He was also sentenced to a fine of 100 euros in the name of procedural expenses and the sum of 100 euros in the name of the fund for compensation of crime victims.