He moved back to Banja Luka, but according to biographer Thomas Butler, "the authorities were not satisfied with merely banishing him." In 1907, Kočić applied for a license to publish a newspaper called "Otadžbina" (Fatherland), which was granted. The first issue appeared on 28 June 1907, during Vidovdan (St. Vitus Day), a holiday of great significance in the Serbian national consciousness marking the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo. In that issue, Kočić bitterly criticized Austro-Hungarian rule and its negative effect on the peasant, for which he and his managing editor Vasa Kondić were jailed. Kočić was imprisoned inside the Black House, the same prison in which his father had been held. He was first sentenced to two months' imprisonment, but persisted in his recriminations, leading to a second stint in prison that lasted eight months, then a third which lasted fifteen. Kočić spent the majority of his imprisonment in solitary confinement, but sympathetic peasants often appeared at his window and waved at him, which kept his spirits high. Midway through one of his stints in prison, he was transferred to a correctional facility in Tuzla, where he was not allowed to speak to his fellow prisoners or the prison guards. This had a negative effect on his psychological well-being. He slipped into a deep depression and became increasingly worried about the welfare of his wife and child in his absence.