The Disinformation Merchant

Buzhala cries “Islamic terror” to distract from Serbia-linked killings—because when justice knocks on the door, it’s his narrative house that risks collapsing.

On 21 April 2025, Koha Ditore¹ reported that Kosovo Police had arrested seven individuals suspected of orchestrating the targeted killing of Police Sergeant Muhamed Lika. The murder, executed on the evening of 1 April 2025 in Kaçanik, took place as Lika ascended the stairwell of his residence after returning from duty. A group of assailants, including at least one minor at the time of the crime, had shadowed him to the building, a premeditated ambush. Nine locations were raided in Kaçanik and Klinë, leading to the arrest of the suspects and the confiscation of firearms, vehicles, binoculars, and other evidentiary materials. The motive, as publicly stated by Police Director Gazmend Hoxha, appears to be directly tied to Lika's official investigations into previous cases, suggesting the killing was an act of retaliation by those entrenched in criminal circles.

What followed, however, offers a sobering glimpse into the state of Kosovo's media and its susceptibility to ideological infiltration, political manipulation, and narrative subversion. Berat Buzhala, a figure whose media enterprises have long enjoyed visibility disproportionate to their veracity, responded not with journalistic rigour but with an opportunistic reframing of the event. In a Facebook post² that projected a veneer of national concern, Buzhala claimed the suspects were children indoctrinated with Islamic extremist ideologies, drawing a parallel between this domestic threat and the one posed by Milan Radoicic, the Serbian paramilitary leader behind the Banjska attacks of 2023³. Yet, it is precisely this rhetorical sleight-of-hand that exposes the continuity of Buzhala's performative outrage and the deeper, consistent agenda that has defined his public trajectory for over a decade.

In a Facebook post that exemplifies his long-standing strategy of narrative deflection, Berat Buzhala swiftly redirects public focus from the systemic prosecution of organised crime to unverified claims of Islamic radicalisation. By falsely equating the assassination of Police Sergeant Muhamed Lika with broader ideological threats and likening it to acts committed by Milan Radoičić, Buzhala continues his pattern of protecting northern Kosovo’s criminal networks through diversionary rhetoric, all while attempting to cloak himself in the language of patriotism and public concern.

This was not a condemnation of violence. It was a misdirection. Buzhala’s sudden eagerness to attribute Lika's death to Islamic extremism, absent substantive evidence or investigative restraint, was not born out of concern for national security. It was a carefully calculated manoeuvre designed to exonerate the broader networks of organised crime in northern Kosovo, particularly those aligned with Serbian nationalist agendas, with whom Buzhala has maintained disturbingly porous boundaries.

Over the last five years, and arguably extending into the prior decade, Buzhala has cultivated a media persona that appears independent but is demonstrably shaped by vested political and criminal interests. His outlets, Gazeta Express and Nacionale⁴, have consistently amplified narratives that mirror the discourse emanating from Belgrade. These narratives include downplaying Kosovo's sovereignty, ridiculing government measures aimed at territorial integrity, and, most crucially, muddying public discourse whenever Kosovo security authorities take concrete actions against networks of organised crime and foreign interference.

What the arrest of Lika's killers symbolises is not just the apprehension of murder suspects; it is the Kosovo state beginning to enforce its mandate, extending the reach of its justice system even into areas previously seen as impenetrable. For individuals like Buzhala, whose work is increasingly seen as a media arm of destabilising interests⁵, this is an existential threat. His response to the arrests reveals as much. Rather than celebrating the efficacy of police work or acknowledging the institutional maturity required for such a coordinated operation, he instead deploys a false equivalence to hijack the narrative. In doing so, he deflects attention from the threat of Serbian-backed criminal syndicates, like those connected to Zvonko Veselinovic and Radoicic⁶, and instead casts the threat as an exclusively internal, Islamic one.

This, of course, is not the first time Buzhala has employed such tactics. His well-documented ties to Veselinovic, a sanctioned Serbian criminal whose operations include violent intimidation and illicit trafficking, have been largely ignored by institutions like the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK), who continue to shield him under the pretext of press freedom⁷. Even when Buzhala himself admitted to being investigated by Kosovo's intelligence services for alleged ties to Russian influence⁸, he dismissed the matter with derision—treating serious accusations of national security breaches as a public relations joke.

It is no coincidence that Buzhala's editorial choices increasingly reflect the Kremlin-informed strategies of destabilisation. His willingness to relay, defend, and reinforce disinformation narratives that benefit Serbia, be it through denying Kosovo's institutional legitimacy or platforming figures like Aleksandar Arsenijevic⁹, aligns with broader efforts to fracture Kosovo's internal cohesion. In particular, the speed with which Buzhala and his outlet amplified the statement of film director Nenad Todorovic (defending Arsenijevic¹⁰'s image with an AK-47) was not a neutral act of clarification. It was a coordinated defence of a man photographed with known participants in the Banjska terror attack, whose affiliations signal more than mere cinematic intent.

In that moment, as in many before, Buzhala chose not to challenge the forces that threaten Kosovo's democratic project but to offer them cover. He chose not the truth, but its mimicry. This selective amplification and strategic silence suggest a broader alignment: not with journalistic integrity, but with the goals of those seeking to erode Kosovo's sovereignty from within.

The real danger of Buzhala lies not in his bombast, but in his utility. He is not merely a commentator with poor judgement; he is, by all investigative accounts, a conduit. Whether by design or convenience, he enables malign actors to shape the contours of public discourse, presenting their agenda as populist truth while shielding them from scrutiny.

In the aftermath of Sergeant Lika's murder, his decision to redirect the narrative away from the context of institutional enforcement and organised crime prosecution toward a vague and incendiary claim about religious extremism is textbook propaganda laundering. It defangs the real threat, the one with guns, names, and histories, and replaces it with a politically useful phantom.

That Buzhala fears stronger law enforcement is evident. It is not the murder of a policeman that troubles him; it is the symbolism of an increasingly assertive Kosovo state apparatus. Because with every successful police operation, the likelihood grows that the impunity which has shielded him and his allies will shrink. With every raid, every arrest, every confession that chips away at the edifice of organised crime, the sword of justice inches closer to his own sanctum of influence.

And so, he screams "Islamic terror!" while his digital footprint is awash with nods to men blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury. He calls for justice while undermining the institutions that provide it. He mimics the aesthetics of journalism while violating its ethos. In truth, he stands precisely where it pains him most: in the shadow of accountability.

The Balkan region has long suffered from the intermingling of politics, crime, and information warfare. But what Buzhala represents is the metastasis of these dynamics into mainstream media, under the false banner of free speech. If Kosovo is to move forward, toward a future defined by law, transparency, and genuine democracy, it must not only arrest the criminals who pull the trigger. It must also expose the men who sell them the narrative to get away with it.

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1. Arrestohen 7 persona, dyshohen se motivet e vrasjes së Muhamed Likës lidhen me punën e tij si polic — KOHA Ditore.

2. Berat Buzhala’s Post — Facebook.

3. One Year After Banjska: The West’s Role in Serbia’s Balkan Escalation — The GPC.

4. Mercenary Journalism: Berat Buzhala’s Role in Destabilising Kosovo’s Democracy — The GPC.

5. Exposing Buzhala’s Playbook: Intimidation, Propaganda, and Misinformation in Kosovo — The GPC.

6. Berat Buzhala, Sanctioned Figures, and the Threat to Kosovo’s National Security — The GPC.

7. Media Ethics Under Fire: AGK’s Role in Buzhala Scandal — The GPC.

8. The Kremlin’s Shadow in the Balkans — The GPC.

9. Buzhala’s Maskirovka: How a Media Spin Seeks to Shield Arsenijevic’s Provocations — The GPC.

10. Aleksandar Arsenijevic: A Controversial Catalyst in Kosovo’s Political Turmoil — The GPC.