The Security and Information Agency of Serbia (BIA) denied the accusations that the leader of the opposition entity, the Republican Party, Nikola Sandullovic, was subject to torture, claiming that there was no violation of rights and freedoms, nor the exercise of illegal physical force against Sandullovic.

Earlier, the Prosecutor's Office in Nis confirmed for Radio Free Europe that Sandullovic has been in custody since last week, under suspicion of "having committed the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance".

In the statement issued by the BIA on January 10, it was said that they undertook activities "in order to clarify the past illegal activities of Sandullovic, which the competent prosecutor described as the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance." .

"By telling lies about the alleged illegal behavior of BIA members, Sandullovic and other promoters of the so-called Kosovo, want to spread misinformation and disturb local and foreign opinion, damage the reputation of BIA and destabilize the security situation of the Republic of Serbia", the statement said.

On January 2, Sandullovic published a video on X - formerly known as Twitter - in which he appeared at the "Adem Jashari" complex in Prekaz, laying a wreath at the monument commemorating the events of March 5, 6 and 7, 1998, when the forces Serbs killed over 50 members of the family of Adem Jashari, one of the founders of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

A day after the video was published on the X network, lawyer Čedomir Stojkovic announced that Sandullovic was arrested on January 3 and that his family has no information about his whereabouts.

The institutions of the European Union confirmed on January 9 that they are monitoring the situation and information related to the arrest of Sandullovic.

Sandullovic is the president of the Republican Party, which was founded in 2015, but which has not passed the electoral threshold to enter the Serbian Parliament.

He has a controversial biography, including being injured in a car explosion 13 years ago, and his arrest for "spreading panic" in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. /rel/