Radio Television Kosovo (RTK) has released an audio recording allegedly featuring political analyst Fatmir Sheholli speaking about his ties with Serbia and the Kosovo Serb political party Srpska Lista. On the recording, a man identified by RTK and other Albanian-language media as Sheholli can be heard claiming he enjoys “strong support from Serbia and Srpska Lista,” and describing Milan Radoičić — a former leader of the party and an indicted suspect in the Banjska attack — as his “close friend.”
The release of the recording came one day after Sheholli’s arrest in Pristina on suspicion of espionage, in an operation carried out by the Kosovo Police under the direction of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, and with the assistance of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA).
The Special Prosecutor’s Office announced on Thursday that investigators from the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Serious Crimes arrested Sheholli “on reasonable suspicion of committing the criminal offense of espionage,” under Article 124(3) of Kosovo’s Criminal Code.
During the search of his apartment in Pristina, conducted with KIA support, “material evidence potentially linked to the investigation” was seized, the statement said.
Sheholli was placed in 48-hour detention.
Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla also confirmed the arrest, calling Sheholli a “Serbian collaborator” and declaring that “the time of Serbian spies in Kosovo is over.”
“Anyone working for Serbia and against Kosovo will be prosecuted uncompromisingly and relentlessly,” Sveçla stated, promising that the case will be treated with “the highest institutional seriousness.”
“Individuals like him, who enjoyed unlimited media space in our country, have been collaborating with actors who constantly work to undermine our Republic and its progress,” he added.
RTK published the audio early Friday morning. The recording reportedly features Sheholli in conversation with a man and a woman, discussing certain “complaints” against one of them, mentioning “Wahhabis in that area and their finances,” and saying he would speak to “ministers or directly the president” about it.
At one point, the man — allegedly Sheholli — claims to be a “close friend” with “them,” saying his public position “may seem strange” but that he has “exceptionally strong support from Serbia and Srpska Lista.”
“That’s how it should be. I have to tell you that my great friend is Milan Radoičić, and he is a friend of ours as well. What they’re saying about him — take it with a grain of salt. Don’t speak about him the way you used to,” he is heard saying.
According to Koha Ditore, the arrest followed months of investigation carried out in cooperation with the Kosovo Intelligence Agency. The newspaper claims that between 2017 and 2020, KIA paid Sheholli €639,000, citing internal documents suggesting possible misuse of funds allocated to informants.
In March last year, Koha reported that a KIA inspector submitted a report to the Special Prosecutor’s Office stating that around €2 million from the informant fund was spent without proper recordkeeping — and that Sheholli was among the recipients.
Sheholli, a frequent guest on Kosovo talk shows and a regular commentator in both Albanian and Serbian-language media — especially pro-government outlets in Serbia — has previously said he worked for Kosovo’s pre-independence intelligence agency (SHIK).
Koha further notes that he allegedly admitted in the past to having served as an inspector in the Serbian State Security (DB) during the 1990s.
This is the third case of an ethnic Albanian arrested in Kosovo on espionage charges — following the arrests of Bedri Shabani and Muharem Qerimi last year.
However, a higher number of Serbs have been detained under similar accusations.
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